Over the last few years I have traveled a fair bit of this planet. Along that journey, I have been to some areas of the world that people would describe as being a little dangerous. Yet over that time I have experienced very little in terms of crime, with the only incident being in Vietnam, where I had my camera pick-pocketed out of my bag.
They say that South America can be a haven for crime and often against tourists, but a lot of it is to do with where you go and how you behave. From travellers I meet, Quito is often cited as one of the more dangerous cities to visit and many of those people have just made the trip down from Columbia. Of course you hear the stories too. Often back-packers are robbed and mugged here in Quito as im sure they are all over the world. Although Ive never personally experienced it, im sure London is a pretty dangerous place if you walk down the wrong street at night. Most of the cases of crime that I have heard here in Ecuador are from people not being very street-wise. You will often hear of stories where a girl, walking down the street at night has had her camera stolen, which she was wearing round her neck. I mean - your just asking for trouble really. I always think of myself as being pretty careful, and so after 6 and a half months of living in this city I had not experienced a single incident of trouble or crime. However, it was complacency that would get me into a situation - which I hope no-one finds themselves in.......................
I dont normally go out on a week night but after some strong persuasion, I was forced (yeah right) to go out for a night on the town, in the bar haven area of the Mariscal. It was a Wednesdasy night and myself along with a whole group of people decided to go to the club - Bungalow 6. It was pretty rubbish so at about 1.30am me and my friend Leanne decided to call it a night. We were both pretty drunk to be fair and casually jumped into a the back of a taxi. I was delighted at how cheap the driver was quoting, just $2 to get home. In 6 and a half months I have never been offered such a cheap price to get back from the Mariscal at night.......................
Halfway through the journey, the taxi driver slows down. Normally taxi drivers never slow down at night, most will even drive through red lights just to get you back, as stopping can be pretty dangerous. Where this driver stopped too was pretty unusual, there was no need to slow down where he did - something wasn´t right.......................
A second later, two men jumped in, one either side of the taxi so me and Leanne were now trapped in the back of this taxi, sandwhiched in the middle with no escape. They both had screwdrivers which they held to both our stomach´s and neck´s. They poked and scratched us with them to show that they meant business. The driver was told to keep moving. We were being kidnapped.....................
The guy who was on my side then pulled out a small spray can of MACE, opened my left eye and sprayed directly into it. He did not spray my right eye. Within 4 or 5 seconds you cant see a thing. There is no point trying to open your eye - its impossible. Ten seconds later it streamed with water and then my nose started to run. Because of this I never once saw the criminal who was sitting next to me. During the whole journey I only got a glimpse of the guy sitting next to Leanne once, but it was breif and I would never of been able to identify him.........................
During this time the guys started to sift through our things. They took my mobile phone (worth very little) and about $15 in cash. They didn´t want anything that wasn´t worth monetary value, hence they let me keep my keys to the hostal. They took Leanne´s camera and a few other belongings. I didn´t know this at the time as I couldn´t really see anything but Leanne told me after that she was touched (everywhere) during this journey. Some people in this world are very sick.......................
Despite it being quite a blur, the whole event must have lasted about 10 minutes, before they drove us out to a quiet part of Quito, opened the door and kicked us both out with nothing. They got back in the taxi and drove off. Leanne at this point was a screaming mess and I still couldn´t open my left eye. Everytime I tried, the fresh air would make it burn and sting. It was pretty painful. We were now in the middle of no-where, probablly a dodgy part of town, so we didn´t want to hang around. It was dead quiet, but luckily, after a few minutes another taxi driver went by. I hailed him down and soon enough we were back in the hostal. I paid him with money that I had in my room............................
I had to wash my eye out about 5 times and about an hour of waiting before my eye could be opened. It was still pretty sore. We also found out that somehow they had managed to miss Leanne´s money, $30, which earlier that night she had moved from its usual spot (her bra) and put in her back pocket. In terms of value, these criminals didnt really get their hands on too much. I guess they will just go back and do it all again though..............................
The next morning I noticed that I had some scratch marks on my stomach and arms. They wernt serious - I didn´t even notice them at the time. It took until that afternoon before my eye was fully back to normal. Leanne was not sprayed with MACE nor was she hurt with the screwdriver. We later headed to the Police Station to write our reports. It was purely for insurance purposes, so Leanne could get money for her camera. For me it was solely to have a souvenir of the horrific event. We filled out two forms in English. The policeman didnt even read them. He just signed and stamped them both before sending us on our way. Any tourist could go in there and get a police report whether you had been a victim of crime or not. I believe they just file away their copy of the report but they may as well put them straight into the bin. They were never going to do anything about it as this sort of thing happens probably most days. To be fair, we couldnt give them much information about these guys anyway.......................
The whole event was pretty scary, but we were both fine a few days later. After hearing this tale, many have said, "oh you have to come home straight away, its not safe out there". No one said this to me during the first 6 and a half months I had been here. It´s a natural reaction I guess, but you cant let things like this ruin everything else in your life. These things unfortunately happen. I had certainly become complacent here. The lack of trouble resulted me jumping into any old taxi on that night. Legitimate taxi´s have orange number plates and a 3 or 4 digit code on the side. If you take these, your chances of coming to harm are masively reduced. There are so many taxis though that are not legitimate and these are the ones you have to be careful about getting in to. The only thing I could tell you about the taxi that we got in that night is that it was yellow. Stupid I know. Also, if something seems too good to be true then it usually is. A taxi from the Mariscal at night never costs $2 - I should have known something was up.................................
After all is said and done, there are some positives out of all this. Both me and Leanne were not seriously hurt, this could have turned out a lot worse. We will also both be a lot more careful in future. I certainly wont be getting complacent again, especially about which taxi´s I get into. The story of us both has now been told a hundred times or more around the hostals. Everyone knows it and passes it on to newcomers who dont know the city. Hopefully it will be just the advise that they need not to make mistakes like we did that night. Finally, it should hopefully be advise on how to respond when facing such a situation. We both remained very calm, let them take what they wanted and walked, relatively unharmed. Many people I have spoken to after said they would have tried to take these guys on, but when people have weapons and are desperate, like these men both surely were, then they will be willing to go far. Only in extreme circumstances, when in the most dire situation, should you attempt to become the hero. In this case, it was unnessary to take risks which could of seen us both come out of this situation in a far worse state...................................
Over the next few days, I actually had a lot of anger towards Ecuadorians. I know thats wrong but I actually couldnt help it. It took me a while, but I eventually got over it and carried on with life as normal. With one horrible incident now behind me, along came another................England Vs Germany in the World Cup. Some-one, give me a brake!!!
Monday, 5 July 2010
Kidknapped, Assaulted & Mugged - My First Experience Of Crime In Ecuador
Sunday, 4 July 2010
The Fever Starts - The South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Finally Kicks Off
Only a few weeks after the Tungurahua Volcano decided it was time to blow its top, far away on another continent, events were about to begin that would reunite the entire world. It was of course, the World Cup.
I cant believe that it has already been 4 years since the last one passed us by. I went out to Germany then, to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the party that only the World Cup knows how to ignite. This time I would watch the drama unfold in Ecuador. Unfortunately, Ecuador had not made the tournament. By all accounts they were pretty unlucky and narrowly missed out on making the biggest stage in football. Locals here however, told me that they would support all their South American neighbours, of which Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile had made it. They did also say that out of them all, Argentina would get the least support, as apparently the nation is a little bit arrogant when it comes to sporting events, and especially football.
For me though, there was no need to support anyone but my home nation of England. With a team full of so called superstars and one of the best players in the world, Mr Wayne Rooney fronting our line, how could I not be anything but hopefull. I watched the first ever World Cup match take place on African soil. It was brilliant. Finally the World Cup had arrived.
It didnt take long for my dreams and hopes to slowly fade away. I watched the first game in a local bar here in Quito. A miserable 1-1 draw with the USA, which was partly a result of disasterous goalkeeping that Harry Redknapp´s wife, Im sure, would have done better in keeping the ball out!!!. It was an interesting experience though. Four years ago, in Germany, me and a group of friends were filmed on TV, dressed in all our England gear, and which eventually made it onto the BBC news. This time, me and my group of friends decided to get painted up. I had huge England flags plastered onto my face. So maybe I shouldn´t have been suprised when halfway through the game, a film-crew burst through the bar door and started to film and interview us. It was for an Ecuadorian news broadcast. I got interviewed, although it was mostly given in English, before they then decided to just hold the camera onto my face and record my facial reactions during the whole of the second half of the match.
During the next game against Algeria, my misery continued after perhaps one of the worst England display´s I have ever had to endure. It ended 0-0. Again I watched this game in a bar, with the only consolation being that at half time, the bar (called The Coffee Tree) provided a free raffle of which I won first prize. I had won the World Cup football, The Jabulani, which I was delighted about, as it had caused so much controversy during this World Cup. I have had a kick about with and cant really see what all the fuss is about to be honest.
England´s last group game provided a better performance (although not totally convincing) as we beat Slovenia 1-0. I watched the game at work. the tech boys had set up a projector and a large screen to see all the World Cup games. It was brilliant. The result was enough to put us through to the knock-out stages. We were still in, just, yet our poor performances meant that we would have to face the Group D Winners and that just happened to be Germany.
It was the old enemies. Another match with the Germans would probably end up resulting in some sort of cardiac arrest for me, but nevertheless, I would still go into this game with hope and pride..........as I didnt have much else to go in with. Before that crucial game arrived though, I would have to go through something far worse than an England Vs Germany World cup knock-out game. I had become complacent in Quito and as I would soon find out, that was a bad thing to do...........................
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Quito Buses, A Whole Load Of Touristy Things & Saying More Goodbye´s
I barely remember how to catch a bus in London. From what my vague memory does conjour up - it was a pretty simple and un-exciting affair. Things are quite different here in Quito. Catching a bus in Ecuador is an art-form, mess it up and you could be in trouble. Im not afraid to admit it took me about 2 months before I started using public transport here in Quito. My main reason for that was becuase buses are everywhere and not even the driver (it appears) knows the route he is taking. They dart off all over the city without a care in the world, especially a care about where he´s meant to be going.
The great thing about wanting to get a bus is if you are on a main road then a bus will be in view every 20 seconds. It thus means that once you work out which one you want you dont often have to wait very long. They are also very cheap, a ride costs just $0.25 so you cant go wrong - where-ever you end up!!! I have now successfully worked out which buses go my route to and from work and I have now worked out how to get on and off them. There are official bus stops but the vehicle will slow down for you where-ever you are as long as you wave one of your arms around at it like some sort of deranged hitch-hiker!!!
The buses never actually stop though, so to get on you have to brake into a gentle jog before leaping onto the moving bus. When your on, you are often treated to the delights of people selling stolen sweets for cut-down prices or some weird speach or song, with the general end-product of them trying to flog something completely pointless to anyone mad enough to think its a great purchase. The last time this guy was trying to sell some weird stone on a necklace, but not before getting everyone on the bus to perform some bizarre voo-doo ritual with them first. Getting off the bus is equally as challenging as the buses again dont stop. It thus involves jumping off the bus but then running for the first few meters as the momentum takes you forward. When its a crowded street the difficulty level increases exponentially, as you are forced to continue your run whilst weaving in and out of people.
Anyway, enough of buses. Tungurahua Volcano was still bubbling and Quito was, well, still Quito. My American buddies however were all getting ready to leave. Their University course was over and they were all returning to their homes in the States. Brenna was leaving too. Before she left she wanted to do some touristy things in Quito. I really wanted to join her as I had done very little touristy activities in the city that I had now lived in for 6 months. It´s always the way - you never do these things in your own back yard. In my home town of London, I still havent been on the London Eye yet!!!
One of the things we did was to climb up the Basilica. Situated in the Historical Centre of Quito´s old town, the gothic Basilica del Voto Nacional stands upon a hill. I can see it every night from the terrace of the Secret Garden but had never ventured to take the scary climb up one of the towers. The ascent requires crossing a rickety wooden plank inside the main roof and then some steep stairs and a ladder to the top. From there you get a fantastic view over the old town of Quito. The church is pretty spectacular too, with instead of gargoyles engraved on its side, it has turtles and iguanas carved on. Its pretty cool.
We also went to the Museo Etnografico de Artesania de Ecuador, which displays pieces representing Ecuadorian culture and art. We headed to Carolina Park, with its Botanical Gardens of worldly flora but especially with a large range of samples from the Amazon Rainforest and finally we headed out to Guapulo. This is a very odd place. On a busy street in Quito is a large, modern hotel, simply called Hotel Quito. It is a huge building complete with Casino. However, take a walk around the back of this hotel and hiding there is a huge expansive view, which sprays off into the horizon. There on the other side of the hill is a large valley and within this lies the town of Guapulo. It is known as the back-drop of Quito and it is impressive especially if you can find it in the first place. I bet most travelers passing through this city never even know of it´s existence and thats a shame in a way. For us though it meant no tourists cluttering up the narrow, cobbled streets that lead down the hill-side. From behind the hotel is the official look-out point but then you can walk the steep streets through the quiet town of Guapulo. Theres a large church / sanctuary at the bottom which you can visit too. Along the walk down you can stop in small cafes, which generaly sell a cold beer and an incredible view. Here you almost feel like your not in Quito anymore.
Before Brenna left, her parents came over to Ecuador as a vacation. We met and had a good chat over dinner. Her Dad used to work at GNS in New Zealand where I had worked just last year. He was a geologist and so naturally we got on famously.
Eventually all my American friends had to leave and that included Brenna. We did some final parties out in the Mariscal, and then once again I said goodbye. It never gets any easier.
However, at home in London, one of my friends Ricky is getting married, but not until next February. He is however having his bachelor party in September and he is having it in Las Vegas. I decided that it was an impossible invitation to ignore as all my boys would be there. It would be one hell of a reunion on an incredible occassion. A few weeks later I booked my flights. I would be spending 4 nights in Vegas with the boys at the end of September, but then I will stay on in LA for 6 more days, where I will see Brenna once again.
I will have 4 months to wait though, still, im sure there will be some more chaotic events here to keep me pre-ocupied until then. As it turned out I didnt have to wait very long..................
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Tungurahua Volcano Blows Its Top
On the day I ran off to pay the fees for my new work Visa, 4 hours south of Quito something big was about to happen. I arrived at work early on Friday 28th May, 2010. I was in by 8am and started immediately on the processing of seismic data from the Tungurahua Volcano.
In January this particular volcanic zone had kicked into life, producing hundreds of explosions, ejecting material and showing increases in deformation and gas production. A few months later however, it went quiet without ever actually erupting. Then we saw nothing, not a single explosion, until the 26th May, 2010. Just two days earlier a large bang was heard from the volcano and it concerned us. It wasn´t followed by anything else that day but a large expolsion like the one we saw that day is enough to make any volcanologist double check their seismic signals. It was sudden, unexpected and we didnt really know what it´s significance was. We found out two days later.
At about 8.30am I leave to sort out my visa - I still had to pay my fees so off I went, perhaps for the 800th time, to the immigration office. By the time I had returned at about 10.30am - Tungurahua Volcano had erupted (above photo courtesy of Robert Gibson, who sent all of us at the Instituto some amazing snaps).
The Instituto Geofisico was pretty chaotic. People were running around all over the place. Data was coming in fast from all angles as our seismic instruments scratched little squiggly lines frantically. Many people were already packing their gear to head down there. For me however, I was responsible for seismic processing of this volcano and as data was speedily coming through I was assigned to start making calculations, graphs and tables of the many explosions that were starting to appear. I spent that day continually calling my boss, Mario, updating him on his cell phone on what the signals were doing and what the graphs were showing - as he drove down to the volcano.
The press got word pretty much straight away and so within perhaps an hour they were in talking to the Institute Director , Hugo Yepez. Camera´s were everywhere filming our instruments and recording interviews for the Ecuadorian news. I admit I spent a small amount of my time trying to get my face on TV. The news of the eruption eventually made it world-wide, appearing on the front page of the BBC website.
Over the next few days the volcano was in its most active phase. Explosions increased to hundreds per day. I couldnt keep up with it. The explosions sent out shock waves, which caused windows to brake in towns around the volcano. An immediate evacuation was put in place on some of those small villages. Pyroclastic flows were observed and an ash cloud rose from the active crater which was later blown south-east, covering large parts of the coast and Ecuador´s largest city, Guayaquil, in a fine layer of ash. For a few days, airports were shut in the south of the country, halting some internal flights and a few heading to Peru. Coincidentally, at around the same time period a large volcanic eruption in Guatemala caused chaos in flights heading north out of Ecuador, so the country was essentially sandwiched between two volcanic ash clouds, causing mayhem.
Over the following days activity slowed down, but it wouldn´t be until June 15th more or less, that the volcano really went quiet again. Everyday, even now (at the end of June), we still have meetings on Tungurahua, trying to understand what the volcano is doing and what it might do in the future. We can certainly not say that the volcano has finished it´s erupted sequence, but for now, it is at least taking a rest.
There was only one fatality caused by the most recent eruption at Tungurahua. A man in Guayaquil, a city some hours south of the volcano, fell off his roof while trying to sweep off the accumulation of ash!!! Volcanic eruptions can have far reaching effects and often in the most unexpected ways.
For all of us here at the Institute, our job is certainly not over. We will continue to watch closely over the coming months to see what this active volcano does next. For us volcanologists - it has already taken us on quite a ride.
A Country Of Beaurocracy, A Man On A Motorbike & A Volcanic Ash Cloud - All Intertwined In Deciding My Fate!!!
How difficult is it to obtain a Visa??? Well, I can confidently tell you now - that if its a work Visa for Ecuador - its damn difficult. If your thinking of applying for one you will need the following three things just to get you started:
1. The patience of a spider.
2. Some initial hair before you begin the process (as you will lose it by the end).
3. Some amazing people to help you out when everything looks bleak and your need is greatest.
Here is the fiasco I went through in trying to obtain my work Visa.........
Initially, your gonna need a 6 month tourist Visa. If you dont have this to begin with then you cant transfer over to a work Visa later. It´s purely for the purpose of government money making. With the tourist Visa at hand, you then have 6 months to get your work Visa. You of course need a ton of documents to obtain it, far to may to list here, but one that is crucial - is a work contract. Without it, theres little point in even heading down to the immigration office.
This was a problem for me because the University which I work for (EPN) couldn´t get out work contracts until the budget for the new year had been released - and naturally, it hadn´t been released. The months ticked by.............
On the final month of my current Visa, things started to happen at the University, yet it wasn´t until just under two weeks before my Visa expired that it finally came through. Here´s the deal. If you can get all the paper-work to the immigration office and it is accepted for processing by the final day of your Visa, then your okay - you either get your new Visa or you get some number of days to pack your stuff and leave the country. However, if you can´t get all your bits together in time then you have to leave before your Visa runs out or you wind up becoming an illegal and risk the chance of jail, deportation and a hefty fine. Iv´e seen this happen to a friend of mine - Ravi, some months ago. So, when I finally recieved my contract 11 days before my Visa was up, I just prayed that I had all the correct documents to get my application in.........here is the chain of subsequent events. The deadline day for my Visa was Tuesday 25th May 2010.
Friday 14th May (11 days before Visa expires): I head down to the immigration office with a friend, Silvana. She speaks good English and of course Spanish, and she kindly said she would help me out, just in case there were any problems. She also kindly drove down to the office as it was quite far away. Unfortunately we find out that it is the wrong office - it is only for people applying for work Visa´s that are indefinate, all other Visa´s have to be applied at a different address. We then come out of the office to find Silvana´s car being towed. The rest of the afternoon was spent tring to get it back.
Monday 17th May (8 days before Visa expires): Silvana and I walk to the right immigration office. They tell me I am missing three things. Two of them are very simple to get, in fact I have one of them that very same day. The other I obtain a few days later. However, the final document I need is my University Certificates, first to be notarised and then to have an apostille placed on them. This is essentially a government stamp to say they are genuine. The documents are in England and I now have just 8 days left to get this process done and then for the documents to be posted out to me here in Ecuador, otherwise I have to start packing my bags.
You can post the certificates out to the office in England but that takes time, of which I didn´t have. It would thus mean someone would need to go to the office and hand it in - in which case it can be done in just 90 mins. The office though, is in Milton Keynes - an hour and a half drive north of London and I now needed someone to take them there.
Luckily for me, a very dear friend of mine and my parents said that he would take on the challenge. His name is Frank Gilbert, a man of nobility, fortitude and superior qualities above us all.
Tuesday 18th May (7 days before Visa expires): Frank, a real man on a mission heads straight over to the notary to first get my documents approved by a solicitor.
Wednesday 19th May (6 days before Visa expires): The masterful Frank jumps on his motorbike and heads for the M1. At unbelievable speed, he reaches Milton Keynes and gets the apostille on my University Certificates. Before returning he successfully completes his mission by getting the documents to DHL delivery service, where my papers would now have to travel across the globe - and fast.
Frank´s mission was over. I would here like to thank him personally for his incredible speed and efficiency in helping me out on this. He will go down in the Alex Steele book of legends. He is a hero to many but especially - a hero to me.
Friday 21st May (4 days before Visa expires): You can track your DHL package online and over the next few days thats exactly what I did. My hands were now in DHL´s hands and I admit that I wasn´t really very happy about that. Perhaps the most ironic part of this story is that the only real reason that DHL would fail to get my documents out to me in time, the last pieces of paper to finally get my application in - so I can continue to work as a Volcanologist out here in Ecuador, was a potential delay due to the volcanic ash cloud that was spreading over Europe from the Icelandic volcano that not even a volcanologist can say the name of.
My package travelled across the world, covering two hemispheres and 5 countries in all. It made it to sunny Barbados, across Venezuela and through Panama. It finally made it to the depot in Quito, Ecuador on the Friday. I then hoped it would be delivered the same day. I was wrong. I called the office to find out that the delivery guy was ill and it was scheduled to come out to me the following Thursday. What they were basically saying to me was that they can get a package across a planet in 48 hours but then it would take them 6 days to get it three blocks down the road. I didn´t have 6 days to wait so I rushed down to the office to pick it up. Eventually the documents were in my hand, two apostilled certificates, complete with fancy purple ribbon and a sealed mark - oh how it was worth the wait. It was the final piece of the puzzle. Unfortunately for me it was now the weekend and typically it was also a public holiday in Ecuador on Monday. It would thus mean that it would come down to the final day for me - my D-Day, the last chance. I would have to get them to accept all my documents for my application or otherwise I would have about 12 hours to leave the country..........and I hadnt even packed!!!
Tuesday 25th May (Visa expires at midnight): I didnt say goodbye to people or even pack my bag. I hadn´t made any arrangements to leave the country - I guess I was purely acting on hope. I returned to the immigration office and gleefully handed them my papers. The man in the office looks at my passport, sees my visa runs out today, doesn't seem too bothered but does lift his eyes towards the ceiling and makes some small tutting noise. He tells me however that I am missing one more thing. You wont believe what it was (well you would believe it). The University certificates with all the fancy ribbons etc, was apparently not good enough - they wanted the notary and apostille of my certificates - NOTARISED, here in Ecuador. Off I go again - and I now only have hours left.
I get it done of course. I wasnt gonig to let this final hurdle stop me. The documents were notarised and with about one hour before the immigration office closed, I got my documents in. A few days later I had a brand new work Visa. It allows me to stay in Ecuador for another year but more impoartantly it allows me to continue doing what I do - monitoring volcanoes.
I would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved in helping me get my Visa, a single stamp in my passport that ended up costing me a whole load of grief. If you plan on obtaining a work Visa here in Ecuador, I suggest going back to the start and reading this again, and then just make sure - that the job you are applying for, really is worth losing all your hair over.
For me, life could continue with what I hoped would be some sort of normality..................I was wrong of course!!!
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Back In Mindo
As life continued to roll on in Quito, so did my plans for weekend trips away. My American friends were soon to be leaving these southern lands and returning to a whole new hemisphere. Before they did so, they wanted one final Ecuador trip together. The place they chose was Mindo and I was asked along for the ride.
They had actually all been to Mindo, and so had I, but no-one was ever going to complain, heading back again. It´s definately one of my favourite places in this country and I couldn´t wait to return. The ride is just two and a half hours from Quito and a weekend trip to Mindo is just - easy.
Out in the cloud forests, this lazy town (one street) is perfectly designed to escape the craziness of the big city. When we arrived, everyone had one thing in mind - canopy swinging. I was certainly up for another go as heavy rain and thunder clouds cut my last expedition short. We must have done 12 or 13 lines, flying above the trees from one part of the jungle to the next. I had already experienced swinging normally so many times, so I decided to go for the superman position where you essentially fly over the forest like a bird. I, along with a few others in our group also attempted the Mariposa (Butterfly) position, where they hang you upside-down so you head faces the floor, your legs are up in the air and your arms just dangle all over the place. It was fairly disorientating as you glide over the tree line but all worth it. we also had the interesting experience of finding two Ecuadorians (one with a guitar) in the middle of the jungle, completely drunk (to the point they could hardly walk). We all had to help rescue them with great difficulty, as paraletic didn´t quite do these two justice.
We later headed on a long jeep ride out of Mindo. We were all standing in the back when it proceeded to pour on us. It was one of the most interesting taxi rides I have ever experienced but also one of the most fun. We ended up at a pool, where we stayed and everyone ate Cerviche (cold fish soup) - I had pork. I did try the Cerviche, and despite my hatred for all things fishy, this actually wasn´t too bad. I´m not sure I am at the level of having a whole bowl just yet though!!!
That night while eating our deliceous pizza (Mindo is famous for pizza), all the lights went out in the entire town. We spent the rest of that night partying with Mindo in the dark. On our second day, we took the 30 minute walk to the Mariposa farm. You pay a few dollars and then walk through into a large open area with plants and many Mariposa´s, that´s butterflies to the average English speaker. Butterflies of every colour and size would fly around your head or land on your brightly coloured t-shirt. We also got a talk on the evolution of the butterfly and saw the whole process (cocoon and all) with live examples - very cool.
We later headed back and left the beautiful town of Mindo. Now it was time to get back to business. My fun was over - I had work to do and it wasn´t volcanic - it was beaurocratic. My time in Ecuador was nearly up and I still didn´t have my new visa..........................
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Baños
Some weeks after our trip to Tena, we arranged our trip south to the town of Baños. Only 4 of the American group ended up going along with me, but later we would also meet up with Jefferson (my Ecuadorian brother) and Sarah, a good friend of mine from the Hostal.
Baños which means `baths´(because of it´s geothermal pools) in Spanish but is also used to describe the toilet, is located about 4 hours south of Quito and slightly east of the capital too. It lurks under the highly active volcano of Tungurahua which over the past few months had, to the suprise of many of us, calmed down somewhat. I had spent some-time in January, just 15 minutes outside of Baños, in the observatory, watching Tungurahua during it´s highly active phase. I only came in to Baños only once, to eat pizza, but I neaver really got the chance to experience the place, so I was happy to see it properly this time. During the whole weekend - I never saw Tungurahua, as it was constantly covered in cloud, as it often is!!!
Baños is a pretty small town, and in some ways is very similar to Tena, due to it´s location on the fringes of the Amazon Jungle, but it has a far greater tourist population, of which there is no escape. The hostals in the town though are well catered and the restaurants are varied and of very high quality - the food here is really good. The town appears famous for making Taffy, a chewy, sugar candy very similar to English sea-side `rock´ but not quite as tough. Baños is also, quite simply an adventure play-ground of activities - it is definately New Zealand´s version of Queenstown. There are tons of things to do, from hiking to mountain biking, bathing in geothermal pools and jumping off bridges. You can hire quad-bikes and take off to where-ever you desire or do night time volcano tours.
Our first day was what would be described by the average human as jam-packed. We first headed off to the San Franscisco Bridge. Here there is an activity which the locals call puenting. It is simply jumping off the bridge with a rope attached to you while the other end is attched to the opposite side of the bridge. Basically you jump just like a bungee, freefall, before swinging under the bridge. You are then lowered to ground. You don´t fall as far as you would on a bungee jump, but the bridge is high and the fear factor is equally daunting - you still have to take the plunge which is always the scariest part.
All the people that I went with hadn´t done anything like this before and they all wanted to face their fear. I hadn´t done anything like this since New Zealand and I was equally as fearful, especially when I saw that they don´t use a bungee rope, but simply two ropes used for rock climbing. I had told my parents (especially my Mother) that I wouldn´t do anything like this again after my New Zealand adventures, but parents have to understand that their children are designed not to do everything they say - it´s just how we are!!!
The cool thing about this bridge jump (puenting) is that they have two platforms, so two people can go at the same time. So, surrounded by georgeous jungle and cloud forest scenery Brenna and I took the plunge together. You could see the pure fear in Brenna´s face before she jumped - but then to put your body and your mind in that situation is exactly why we do it in the first place. It´s the same reason we go sky-diving or on rollercoatsers. The jump was brilliant, as the adrenaline and memories of New Zealand came flooding back. When we had completed the jump I could see that Brenna was hooked and I knew this wouldn´t be the last bridge jump we did on this trip. It wasn´t, we did one the next day.
After everyone had jumped, we rented mountain bikes and rode from the road which leads out of Baños. It takes you along a large river in a deep valley. You get great views over the whole area. Waterfalls are a prime feature of this part of Ecuador and they are everywhere. All along our ride, we could see waterfalls springing out of the surrounding cliffs. The interesting thing about this road is that waterfalls actually fall onto it, so during this journey you often get wet, which is no bad thing in the heat of Ecuador. We rode for someway. Eventually we found a place where you could get a cable-car across the valley and right over, perhaps the largest waterfall in the area. We took the bucket cable-car across. At the other side we took a short trek in the jungle surroundings before returning. The way out of Baños is mostly down-hill, which was nice. We had treked some miles out of town but there was no way that we would go back up-hill by bike, so we hailed down a Chiva (bus) and headed back to town.
The food in Baños is pretty amazing. They have high class restaurants of all nationalities of which we endulged greatly. However, after some months in Ecuador, it was finally time to try Guinea Pig. At home it is a dear pet to many, but here, this rodent known as Cuy is a delicasy, though I´m not exactly sure why. It is cooked on a stick and looks vile. We shared one between four of us. It is placed whole, in front of you and then with a hacksaw, is chopped into quaters. Someone will be entertained with the head, another with the rib-cage, others get the legs etc etc. It tastes about as good as it looks. It´s like very chewy chicken, well at least thats when you can find any meat on the damn thing. I wouldn´t describe this lunch as a meal, instead it was more like an autopsy. One enthusiastic guy with us (Josh) decided to really get involved, scouring out the eyes and eating some of the brain like it was some sort of biology lesson. I always had one eye on that boy after that lunch. The rodent was served with a plate of rice and a potato. The thing that worried and confused me most about this whole meal experience was that the rice and potato tasted equally as bad as the Guniea Pig. In summary, I am in no hurry to try it again.
Later that evening, we also hiked up a famous walk-way, which is mostly a large number of steps behind the town of Baños, and which eventually reaches a small statue. The views over Baños are pretty special from up there. We also headed out on the town as the night-life in Baños is suprisingly good. Bars appear quite hippy, but everyone is in for a good time. A cervaza or two was consumed.
The next day, we took our second bridge jump. Brenna and I jumped together again. It went exactly as the first time except that while hanging under the bridge about a 5 seconds after we had left the platform, a small plastic tube flew past me from above and hit the rock floor below, smashing into pieces. We later found out that it is used to protect the rope and it had fallen off, but we were told that we were never in danger. My thoughts to all this was.........hmmmmm!!!
After our second bridge jump, myself and Max headed over to the geothermal pools for some hot bathing. The girls all went for massages. The pools were packed full of Ecuadorians but they were hot (some a little too hot). We had a good soak in there as my bottom was still recovering from the bike ride, of which (apart from a short stint in Samoa) I hadn´t participated since I was about 6 years old.
Later, we all met up and took our bus back to Quito for another week of work. It would be a busy week. I really needed to sort out my work contract and get my new visa as the time was fast running out for me in this country. Still, it didn´t stop me planning my next weekend trip away. But where???
