Hey, everybody!
This is what Ecuador looks like! The last days were really busy as we went to see the old colonial part of Quito as well as the new town which, whith its shopping malls and McDonalds, KFC´s and so on, looks like any big city somewhere in the world. Somehow it´s strange because at the same time you have so many poor indios (mainly women) sitting on the streets with their children begging for money or food.
On Saturday we went to Mitad del Mundo which is the place where you can stand with two feet in the two hemispheres - really touristy but fun anyway! They had a nice little museum where you could do all the experiments and it is really true that water runs straight down the sink without making any swirls (neither clockwise nor anticlockwise)! For anybody interested in why this happens: it´s because there are no corriolis forces on the ecuator - if you don´t know what this is: check your physics notes from when you were 15 ;-))
However, the people are nice and weather is ok. It rains sometimes and is not as warm as I thought, but what do you expect when you´re nearly 3000 meters up in the Andes?? Our hostels so far are great! Roof terrace, great views, and the one we´re in now even has an own kitchen so we can save a bit anc cook ourselves.
Yesterday we booked a last minute decadent first class cruise to the Galapagos Islands which was still bloody expensive althouhg it was really last minute (starts this Thursday for eight days). But we have a really good guide who can tell apart the red and bluefooted boobies ;-) and all the different kinds of turtles and iguanas, and who knows about the history of the islands and so on. Further we´re on a catamaran boat with only 16 people on it so there´s no risk of landing on a shore and frightening all the animals with a herd of 70 tourists all with their cameras clicking… Unfortunately we´re still not sure if we really go because the fu…ing banks here do not give us our money to pay the trip (it must always be cash in Ecuador…). We were in about 10 banks yesterday and today and still didn´t get enough to pay the whole trip. And now my account is closed so that I cannot get ANY money for the next 7 days! How nasty is that??!!!! So we´re trying to get the money and let you know if we succeed. If not we´re going to the bar where we were Friday night and get pissed to forget the missed chance!! They make the BEST Caipirinhas there for as little as 1,50 dollars (and each customer has to spend a minimum of five dollars…). So either way we´ll be happy somehow and let you know soon!!
All the best to all of you! Hope you´re well and not too depressed about wheather in Scotland (for the ones who stay there ;-))
By the way: Fiona: Why does the mail to your Arbertay account come back?? And did you two already buy a house???
