EcuadorGalapagos

There is so much I want to remember about the amazing people, places and experiences that have filled the first days after my 28th birthday in Ecuador, that I can't help but put them down in this letter.

Quito, Ecuador's capital city (incidentally the highest capital city in the world) is a spectacular sight to behold nestled in the Andes. The whitewashed buildings, narrow, endlessly winding streets, lively town sqaures filled with the laughter, dancing and color of the Ecuadorian people are irresistible. All the while the city's guardian angel poised at the top of the mountain watches over the bustle below.

Together with a Canadian couple that Zee chatted up we survived a harrowing taxi ride to the centre of the earth....here a GPS reads 0'0'0' and some truly strange phenomena occur as the earth's centrifugal and centripetal forces cancel each other out. I was thrilled to balance an egg on the head of a nail and Zee was dismayed to experience a Samson like loss of strength of his anti-gravity muscles. Of particular intrigue was the fact the equator line is a universal drunk zone where no one is able to walk heel to toe in a straight line despite the most valiant effort....hilarious video of our attempt available on request!

Next, it was off to the Amazon rainforest in Tena. A motor canoe carried us deep into the forest along the rivers that form the highways of the Amazon. Juan, our guide and protector in the forest had a shy and unassuming exterior that hid the depth of his talent and knowledge. With our machete wielding guide carving a path through the jungle we made our way into the Amazon. We each received a makeover with a headpiece made out of leaves and fierce face paint. We encountered trees whose sap looks like dragon's blood, found ants whose hook tentacles are used to hold lacerations together (I am keeping this find on the down low or else I will find myself out of a job!) and swung from vines in true Tarzan style. On our second day in the forest we inevitably found ourselves caught in the midst of a torrential (and even that word underestimated the awesome force of the rain) downpour in the aptly named 'rain'forest. But not to worry, Juan made us a waterproof shelter within moments using the forest around him and his ever present machete.

Finally, the day of our flight to the Galapagos archipalego is upon us. The view of the volcanic islands, that inspired Darwin to formulate the theory of evolution, is breathtaking. Each island an emerald in the sapphire carpet of the Pacific. We are greeted by our guide Gustavo, or Galapa'Gus' as some cheeky tourist nick named him. Gus is a marine biologist in arguably the most biodiverse place on earth and we were incredibly lucky to have him as our guide. We meet the 13 other strangers that would become fast friends over the coming days on Daphne, our yatch and home as we explored the islands. Papa, I know that you would love this place and I thought of you often as I swam with sea lions, giant turtles and penguins in the wild. We watched with delight the mating rituals of the blue footed boobies and rooted for the underdog as the bullying Friget birds tried to shake hard earned prey from the smaller birds. We were lucky enough to witness the awesome sight of two sea lions battling for spot of alpha male and the somewhat dubious sight of thousands of iguanas spitting sea salt. I felt my blood turn cold as I watched a school of sharks swim by in what was aptly named 'sharknado' by the group. My heart melted as I held an endangered baby turtle in the palm of my hand.

 Almost as interesting as the animals on the islands were the people on our boat. Our days were punctuated with the resounding laughter of Liam, a solicitor from Ireland. I was lucky enough to be educated by him about the global financial situation as we walked down a golden beach and watched sting rays swimming about in the shallow waters. Andy, an anesthesiologist from Manchester kept us in stitches with his dry sense of humor and contributed to my medical training by quizzing me on the vertebral structure of a whale skeleton we encountered during our adventures. Grit, a beautiful German surgeon and I held on to each other and giggled hysterically as a particularly curious sea lion swam up to inspect us in our snorkelling gear. We killed ourselves laughing when Gus's mating call attracted the attention of more than one female at the tortoise breeding centre. I will forever remember sharing a beer with Gus under a carpet of stars and talking about the shockingly similar pranks we had played on our teachers in school (guess we turned out okay despite it all). My cheeks redden at the thought of the gang of us tearing up the dance floor at a disco to Saturday night fever as the locals looked on in either awe or terror (it was hard to tell). It was with a heavy heart that I left this piece of paradise on earth and made the trip back to the mainland.

Next, our action packed adventure took us to the valley town of Banos nestled in the midst of the mountains with waterfalls cascading down the jagged cliffs. Here we went white water rafting down the rapids with our slightly manic guide, Mauricio. He insisted on forcing the raft into head stands and ensured that everyone of us had the chance to experience the thrill of going overboard even as he made impossible leaps off the back of the raft several feet into the air and always managed to land squarely on his feet. Meanwhile the action on the raft was being photographed by Oscar out in his kayak. It was quite a site to watch him nonchalantly check his handiwork in the midst of the furious water and give us an enthusiastic thumbs up. Next up was soaring through the Andes on a zipline in every ridiculous position imaginable with our hearts in our mouth and our knees weak from the adrenalin.

A bus ride then brought us back to Quito and our Ecuadorian adventure came to an end in the place where it began.

I must end by saying a special thank you to Zee. Thank you for making me push my limits in pursuit of the ultimate high, for indulging my whimsical requests with a smile and for always being there beside me to share the thrills of this incredible adventure that took us across the ocean,  volcanic mountains  and the rainforest. There is no one else that I would rather laugh and reminisce with!

Zee's addendum (not to be missed!):

Hello guys,