Off to the Amazon

11th August 2006

That is all from me until I come out from el Oriente around 18th September. I will be between Tena and Coco by the Napo river until then.

Ciao

Photos from Chile and Ecuador

As usual the titles of the photos do not seem to go with the photos. Another guessing game but this one should be a lot easier. The photos start from the bottom as I am running out of time to rearrange them.

The street where I stayed in Otavalo. The house is hidden but is on the left of the street.



Red the dragon posing on an aloe vera plant



The lechero tree about 500 years old and a spiritual tree for Ecuador



On the hike to the lechero tree. Chrissie buying water with Suzannah admiring the flowers



Otavalo market but only a small part of it with volcano in background



Cheesy photo of me standing either side of the equator





Santiago and smog



Carla who has just finished the hat for Ryan.



Bill our host



Chile view from the hostel Refugio Aleman

Last lot of photos from New Zealand

I will let you guess some of these. If you really want to know about them you can ask me by e mail or comment on here. The beginning starts at the bottom of the page. The first lot are from East coast of NZ South Island after Dunedin and the last three - two from Wellinton and the top one in New Plymouth. That is all the clues.

Santiago, Chile to Otavalo, Ecuador

8th August 2006

Arrived in Otavalo on Sunday via Quito. Met Chrissie, the volunteer coordinator, at the hostel, Villa Nancy in Quito. Melissa, from Chicago, USA and Suzannah from Tunbridge Wells, UK are the two other Spanish learners on the course. They will be teaching in the community from next weekend when I travel on to the Amazon. On the way to Otavalo we stopped at a quirky museum which is on the equator and we watched some experiments which showed different actions on the equator compared to either side in the north and south hemisphere. We could see the monument built by the French 200 years ago, supposedly on the equator but it isn't.

Met by host family when we arrived in Otavalo. I have a room with tv and a desk to study. Very difficult the first night but the family are very friendly and Rossie teaches Spanish at the school so she does speak to me in English when things get too difficult. There are still lots of long silences at the dinner table. I am getting fed alot. Three big meals a day.

The lessons are not very exciting as they consist of lots of grammar - just like learning at school all those years ago. I am used to the modern way of learning. Still something will go in, I guess, though it is very boring when you are sitting one to one with a teacher for 3 1/2 hrs.

Otavalo is lovely and I recommend a visit. There is a colourful market every day plus an amazing fruit market. On Saturday the market mulitiplies around the surrounding streets and I think is the biggest in South America. I wander around knowing I can not buy anything. 8th August 2006

Arrived in Otavalo on Sunday via Quito. Met Chrissie, the volunteer coordinator, at the hostel, Villa Nancy in Quito. Melissa, from Chicago, USA and Suzannah from Tunbridge Wells, UK are the two other Spanish learners on the course. They will be teaching in the community from next weekend when I travel on to the Amazon. On the way to Otavalo we stopped at a quirky museum which is on the equator and we watched some experiments which showed different actions on the equator compared to either side in the north and south hemisphere. We could see the monument built by the French 200 years ago, supposedly on the equator but it isn't.

Met by host family when we arrived in Otavalo. I have a room with tv and a desk to study. Very difficult the first night but the family are very friendly and Rossie teaches Spanish at the school so she does speak to me in English when things get too difficult. There are still lots of long silences at the dinner table. I am getting fed alot. Three big meals a day.

The lessons are not very exciting as they consist of lots of grammar - just like learning at school all those years ago. I am used to the modern way of learning. Still something will go in, I guess, though it is very boring when you are sitting one to one with a teacher for 3 1/2 hrs.

Otavalo is lovely and I recommend a visit. There is a colourful market every day plus an amazing fruit market. On Saturday the market mulitiplies around the surrounding streets and I think is the biggest in South America. I wander around knowing I can nHowever, if I get back here in November, my suitcase will be full.

Auckland to Santiago

3rd August 2006

An uneventful flight to Santiago although it was delayed for an hour. I only slept a couple of the eleven hour flight so had to try and keep myself awake once I arrived at Santiago at 1pm the same day as NZ was nearly waking up for the next day.

I was very unadventurous and did not leave my hotel, Plaza San Francisco. The next day I was picked up by Carla the ski guide for Chilean Ski and we drove to the ski resort of Farrelones near to the three resorts, El Colorado, La Pava and Valle Nevada. Excuse the spellings but I am writing this without my diary with me so relying on memory which is not a good thing in my case!

The hostal I stayed in was Refugio Aleman (see listing in the latest Lonely Planet). Very comfortable and laid back. Run by Bill who owns a hostal in Patagonia - Erratic Rock which I am definitely going to put on my list to visit. (Also in Lonely Planet). Lots of English speakers staying so I did not have to rely on the very little Spanish I have. The skiing was great. Carla took pity on me being the only skier in the hostel apart from the American and Canadian ski teams there. The rest were snowboarders. Carla and I went out skiing for a couple of days being joined by Jennifer from Melbourne for one day. Jennifer was also a snowboarder but did not mind slumming it with skiers. I skipped my last day skiing and chilled out at the hostal by the fire watching Lord of the Rings Part one for the fourth time. Sad I know.

Now back in Santiago and found an internet but by Spanish is not enough to sort out my photos. I went exploring today through the smog. Climbed up a very steep hill at Cerro San Cristobal and found a large statue of the Virgin Mary and some beautiful views of Santiago and the Andes - and was above the smog. I came down by the funicular. Lots of photos providing the camera has managed to penetrate the smog. Have I mentioned the smog enough? That is all for now.