Dschungelblog!

We gave it some serious thoughts, but finally said “good bye!” to our surfboards and decided to board our late plane back home… Late at night on Saturday we arrived in Berlin - as you can see with all our luggage (big luck!!) but very hungry (no food in the last plane…) and happy to be back home.

We’ll be in touch soon,

Romy & Heiko

Hi everybody!

You last heard from us from Riobamba where we wanted to take part in the ultimate tourist attraction of the area: a so-advertised “mind-blowing ride on the most hazardous train in the world”. Well… wasn´t that exciting if you ask us! The best thing of the day was the break with a nice Morocho (hot drink with milk, spices, and corn) and Banana-Empanada and the minute we could change from sitting on the roof of the train (freeeezing!! but said to have better views) into the cabin! When we wanted to leave Riobamba the next morning we found ourselves again victims of a bus driver strike and had to wait another day until we could leave for Guaranda where we had great difficulties in finding the bus to Salinas where we were headed. After asking no more than eight people and getting eight different directions pointed out we finally made it into a bus that at least went past the road to Salinas. The rest of the way we had to walk - the sign said 5.5 kilometers, but we decided it were at least eight!! And that with our big backpacks and in freezing cold highland mountain misty weather… Finally mangaged to stop a pick-up to give us a lift for the rest of the way. Not so sure if that was a good decision as this guy was crazy going down the muddy road with about 100 miles per hour!! When the other people on the car started to pray we as well were worried… but made it safely to the town where there is nothing more to do but eat chocolate and cheese from the nearby factories and hike in the surrounding area. Which is all we did until we left.

Next stop Saquisili indio market where we found ourselves standing totally impressed in the middle of the animal market while the indios around us were making their deals and sold everything from screaming piglets, to sheep, cows and llamas! A great sight and good cultural experience! After a short shopping frenzy we boarded the bus to Chugchilán which was already full of people and the goods they had bought over the day. On the roof there was a sheep standing near a new matrace for somebodies bed while in the bus we had to climb over sacks of corn, chicken and whatever else to get to our places where we were stuck with our luggage for the next four hours while slowly climbing the bumpy road to Chugchilan!

From there we intended to take the only bus at six in the morning the next day in order to go to the volcano crater lake of Quilotoa. Well… the bus was there but didn´t go where we wanted so we asked a passing-by truck to give us a lift and reached the laguna with a few more bruises from sitting on some sacks in the back of the truck…

However that was all forgotten when we set eyes on the lagune! Really impressive colour and size and all! The following 22km hike back to the hostal was not as nice because I had a bad cold and was coughing and gasping my way up while Heiko was sitting on the roadside waiting for me. Have to say that I found out I´m operating better on sea level than in high altitudes!!! I´m not a llama though!!

One day later Heiko had a cold too and after we left Chugchilán with the only bus at 4.30 in the morning we decided to chill out and recover a bit in a nice hostal in Latacunga for a few days!

After that we took a bus up to Otavalo which is THE town to go shopping for souvenirs especially weavings of all kinds! Spend a few days there and had to leave because money was all gone… Which was a good thing because the best and also last highland experience was waiting for us: the trip to the rarely visited nature reserve El Angel. We were really impressed with what we found after a 45min taxi ride up the mountain! A landscape so alien that it seemed to be from a different planet! Crazy plants called frailejones gigantes growing in millions everywhere on the mountains giving them a totally surreal look! Had a great time wandering through the reserve watching the lagoon disappearing in the mist and clouds and admiring the huge plants which are related to daisies - with the slight difference that they can grow up to 7 meters in height!!

A few hours after this strange experience we were already back to Quito… Quite a change I would say! Tomorrow we leave again for another trial to take a picture of Cotopaxi without clouds, then we´re headed to Mindo for birdwatching and my birthday and the last few days we´ll be back at the beach of Mompiche to relax before flying back home!! Yeah, six months already over - unbelievable!!

All the best for you,

Romy & Heiko

PS: ThanXX to Efrat for sending us the raftingtour-pics!

A new update on our adventures, this time in the hot climate of the Oriente.

Tena, a charming small jungle town with loads of stores selling natural medicine made from local plants (couldn´t take their products serious though, because all of them cure all different kinds of diseases you can imagine…) was our base for various trips into the rain forrest and the surrounding areas. We hired a guide because we didn´t want to get lost and also wanted somebody to go ahead and check for snakes ;-) We learned a lot about the plants and animals we saw (and also about those animals where we only found the footprints in the mud). Saw Millions of strange looking insects including a huge Tarantula, also monkeys, snakes, birds - well, everything you think would be found in a primary rain forrest! Also did a crazy night-walk in the woods to see glow-in-the-dark mushrooms and hear the monkeys muttering about in the trees before we went to bed in our lodge and fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle.

Adventurous were our rafting, cañoning, and caving trips! I think all of you know what rafting is about: A number of people in a small boat and only the guide knows how to maneuver ;-) Was great fun and we meet a very nice ex-concert pianist from Israel on her first holiday where she didn´t have to watch her fingers!! This is what I like about travelling, meeting loads of cool people from all over the world!

Well, and then there was the day with the canons and the cave… We set off with a nice hike to a beautiful waterfall/canon thing and were utterly scared when the guide said that THIS is the one where we are going to go down (without any life vest, helmet or rope!!). It was soo scary climbing down a wall only with your hands and feet on the slippery stone and behind you is nothing and then the canon and a river with very strong currents. At one point we just had to jump in and swimm a bit until we reached the next climbing point - SCARY but at the same time really cool!!! When we were through and drying in the sun we were really proud of ourselves and asked the guide if that was his normal thing to do with tourists. He just said with a mean smile that you cannot do that with the usual old and fat German tourists - so we got the eXXXtratour! The last bit was caving, which means climbing, swimming, crawling through a huge cave with a torch in your mouth (because most of the time you needed your hands to hold on to something!) admiring stalactites and - mites (don´t ask me which is which!!) and strange rock formations. Good fun as well but unfortunately the digital camera got wet someway through the course and now after we let it dry for some time it only takes pictures at night… no more daylightpics on the blog I´m afraid!

But not only were we on a quest for adventure! Also had some great cultural experiences. Such as the invitation to our guide´s family with a sampling of the totally unknown fruits they had in their garden, yucca-cooking and chicha-preparation (local fermented drink made from yucca - we do not recommend it yuk!!) Also all people were sooo friendly! Even as we showed up without notice in Limoncocha we were given a warm welcome and a roof over our heads!

Also did Piranha fishing (Heiko and me together had 3 and Servillo our host about 15 in the same time…) and could later try some of the fried catch - delicious! The highlight of our time in Limoncocha was a nightly excursion in a dugout canoe. The whole lake was gleaming in the light of millions of glow-in-the-dark insects sitting all over the swimming plants on the lake! In between there were a few red caiman-eyes we could spot in the flashlight and once a 5m caiman made our canoe seesaw and we were wondering if he´d already had dinner…

Going back into civilisation was a little harder that expected. The bus didn´t show up even after 4,5 hours of waiting and we had to stay in some oilworkerhostal in a town that wouldn´t exist if it wasn´t for the oil drilling in the area. Signs of the big companies are everywhere because they own everything from bridges to houses or sports courts… Next day, the bus finally came and we drove back through areas where instead of grass there is a huge pipeline in the middle of the roads, which sometimes even goes through people´s gardens!!! Also the refineries burning gas the whole time because it has a low value… F*ing unbelievable!

Our last stop in the jungle was a German station with loads of German volunteers called Curiquingue. There we could climb one of the tallest trees in the area on a ladder that didn´t look vrey safe. But you got the greatest view ever over the whole forrest and so we did it!! Another time, adrenaline in our veins…

Before finally leaving Tena and the Oriente, we stayed for the local fiesta that had just begun and now we are sure that processions are boring all over the world!! But it was a good opportunity to try loads of different local dishes - some good and some not so…

The last few days we were in Baños with its thermal baths where you can soak away the dirt from the jungle which we did! Great views onto a still active Volcano Tungurahua and we were wondering how much an insurance for your house would cost you in that area! Today we left for Riobamba and enjoy the view of Chimborazzo in the distance. You can imagine what we will be doing the next days: Hiking and looking at loads of mountains, Lamas, and Indians!!

Take care,

xx Romy & Heiko

Our first trip into “real jungle” is over and we are already planning the next one. The rainforest did its name justice and welcomed us with … yes, RAIN!!! But no normal rain, we had downpours every night that are impossible to describe. Amazing! What wasn´t so amazing is arriving at 5.30 a.m. in some little jungle town with the night bus, it pours down and you have no place to go except from some roof in front of a closed shop to wait for the canoe to your final destination… But we could see the town wake up and were eyed by every single inhabitant managing to stroll by the one road looking at those tourists with their backpacks and white skin. We stared back and waited for our contact person to emerge from one of the shabby huts along the road which actually happened later to our big surprise!! So off we went with Max, the american guy we had met in Quito, for 4 hours in a canoe up the river to San Miguel the nearest community to the Cotocachi Cayapas Nature Reserve with something like a hostel. Travelling up the river (which is the only way of transportation and until a few years ago the people didn´t even have motorboats!!) we catched a glimpse of indo-life in the jungle. Simple wooden cabins with an old granny in front sorting out cocoa beans or some other produce, children bathing in the river, women washing clothes, whole families in one dugout canoe (6 people whith dog!)…

Luckily the major part of the days it stayed dry and very sunny and so we managed to go and see something of the reserve. Our guides couldn´t be convinced of our idea to stay over night in the jungle in that weather - they refused even though we said that we don´t mind getting wet in the tents. Apparently they did!! Well, that´s Ecuador ;-) But the hours we spent walking through that thick green vegetation were just great. Saw loads of strange plants (and learned about medicinal uses) and HUGE trees that alone form a whole eco system with other plants and animals living on them. Couldn´t believe that for a tree that is over 150 years old loggers only get 100 Dollars!!! Incredible and outrageous if you think about that and also about the hundreds of plants and animals that are killed when cutting this one tree!! And logging occurs everywhere, even within the boundaries of the nature reserves because the people do not have other opportunities to earn money… They try with eco tourism but that cannot provide for all of them…

Living in this little afro-ecuadorian community for three days was a great opportunity to talk to people and find out about how they live. There was this 24 years old woman with 4 children and no good tooth in her mouth - couldn´t believe she was my age!! And also the football game between ours and another community where Max and I learned to cheer in Spanish for “our” team! Then we also went to visit another community with only indigenous people living there, talked to them a bit and had a look at their village. The children wouldn´t let me go - really liked my jewellery and were competing about who was allowed to hold my hands. Because we wanted to give something to the community for showing us arround we agreed to buy them some food in a store down the river. I went there with their chief (to prevent him from buying alcohol) and was totally surprised when he bought dried fish!!! You might think they have enough of that along the river - but I didn´t want to argue with him … We also went to a woman weaving baskets out of palm leaves and also ate some strange fruits our guides organised from trees along the river. Everybody was very friendly and helpful and life there was soo relaxed that I would go crazy after a while ;-) The only thing you can do at nights is playing cards and drinking sugar cane schnapps - which we three did and had good fun with as you can see on the picture! The looser of the game had to go under the table and crow like a rooster (anyone who´s interested, I can teach you). Unfortunately Max didn´t take the schnapps that well and the next morning when we left the village at 3 a.m.(!!!) he was puking into the river from the canoe… Those americans ;-)) All in all a really exciting and great experience!

Another striking but not so nice experience was travelling along a very bumpy jungle road at night and suddenly seeing huge lights in the distance. First we thought of fire but discovered later that this were the chimneys of the largest oil refinery in Ecuador. The whole area smelled of oil and had this grey and somewhat depressing look. The nearby towns all developed because of the industry there and are full with men … and whores! Also some people were we were sure that they´re after some crime every second of their life. Not a very nice experience but part of getting to know a country in total.

After all this vegetation and jungle thing we thought it was time for a little bit of relaxing and beach and decided to accompany Max to Mompiche, a tiny fishing town with good waves for surfing. We rented a board and off we went on the waves - well, we didn´t surf but we tried ;-) Good fun and the wish to have some more practice before we leave!! Our time there was extended by the fact that in whole Ecuador bus drivers were on strike against the high petrol prices… so no bus for us to leave. Not that we were very sad!! A few days later everything was back to normal and petrol is still more expensive than it used to be here… Not very much the people can do against their corrupt government… But also bus drivers should learn to turn of the motor if they wait in the bus stations for hours!!! Apparently it doesn´t occur to them that they could save some petrol with that.

On a day trip from Quito yesterday we went to the thermal springs of Papallacta on 3300 meters in the Andes!! What a great relaxing feeling sitting in hot water coming right out of the mountain and watching the cloud covered mountain scenery around you!!! Outside it was really cold so there was steam from the hot water everywhere - strange!! On the way back again great Andean views but also some tricky situations with the mad bus driver overtaking trucks when he couldn´t see. Those are the moments where the Ecuadorians always say an “Ave Maria”.

Today we´re off to the jungle again, this time in the oriente east of the Andes. Fingers crossed that there is not soo much rain and we can sleep in the forest to see some animals!!

Romy & Heiko

After spending the last weeks in the sun we were quite surprised finding ourselves freezing after our arrival in Quito!! Here we are, planning the second half of the trip and cannot believe that time went by so fast (and we haven´t been doing half of what we intended to do…)

The last two weeks on the farm were quite interesting as we could witness some traditional festivities going on in the local community. They all involved a lot sugar cane schnapps and also the ever-present Pilsener beer. While the women were singing a never ending song where new verses were added when the old ones had been repeated 3 times, the men were sitting in the dark drinking, applauding, and hoping the singing would soon stop to start with the eating, dancing and even more drinking part of the fiesta ;-) Unfortunately the day after the party one, apparently still drunken guy, decided he had to cut a tree. Which is not that bad itself if you don´t consider that deforestation problem but in his case the tree hit the electricity cable and the whole area didn´t have light, showers, anything for the next 4 days!!!

Workwise there wasn´t as hard work as in the first weeks (the moon must have told them, its time for easier stuff now!! Or the guru of the farm SAI BABA - you can tell from the picture that this guy cannot be normal!!!). However, we decided that two weeks on the farm would have been enough because you really feel a little abused as member of a regular workforce (thus stealing ecuadorians jobs which wasn´t the deal) and also as source of money (those who wanted to stay for the christmas meal had to pay 5 dollars more although they all paid the 280 for full board and living costs on the farm!!!). We decided not to stay for the meal and spent christmas in Canoa where we had an earthquake on the 23rd!!! We couldn´t believe it at first but it was a real earthquake with glasses shaking in the bar and our bed trembling… Scary but no bad effects!!

New years eve in Canoa as well was very interesting as we got to know the custom of burning the old year that is represented by large puppets resembling politicians, comic heroes and so on! The whole street seemed to be set afire at midnight and it looked a little bit like a war-site especially the morning after. The whole night we had to “enjoy” the latino dance music thing they like here and Heiko was muttering about “at least mixing songs propperly, now matter how bad they are!”. But unfortunately the 62 years old DJ wasn´t able to do that. But we had fun watching our co-volunteers from the states and Canada dancing.

After this exciting time in Canoa we decided to leave and stopped in Don Juan, a tiny spot with about 4 houses and a few more huts. We checked into the only “hotel” at the place where Jesus pictures and figurines were hanging at the wall right next to some eighties softporn pictures - very nice! We set out to see howler monkeys in the nearby woods but didn´t succeed - at least we could hear them which proved that they actually existed (which Heiko strongly doubted during our strenuous uphill hike in the heat). The next morning we were woken up by pidgeons fighting on our tin roof which made a quite impressive sound and continued north along the coast to Punta Prieta where we had a last day on the beach with dangerous rip tides (as a consequence of the earthquake a few days earlier) that prevented us from swimming! But now we have a really good tan that even the bad Quito weather wont destroy too fast! Stayed in a lovely cabaña there and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, excellent food, and conversations with the french owner and his cute family who didn´t want us to leave that early. However we had to leave because we needed to extend our visa in Quito and preferred to be early for that than too late.

On the way inlands up to the Andes we stopped in Santo Domingo de los Colorados where we visited one of the last Colorado or Tsáchili Indian communities. A kind of weird experience. It was definitely interesting to learn about their culture and see how they live today but I found it such a peculiar situation when this guy dressed up and painted himself just for us two and then he and our guide started to perform some of their traditional music for us which was better than any latino stuff. But still, they didn´t feel comfortable in their dresses and that made it kinda weird…

Well, now back to Quito and struck by my first stomach-bowel-diarrhoea-thing since we are here! Well, had to happen at one point but didn´t expect to get it from a veggie burger in a tourist restaurant in the middle of Quito, would have been more authentic in the middle of the jungle ;-) Feel better today and tomorrow we are off to extend the visa hoping they will actually do it! Heard stories that they only give you one months more instead of 3 and then you have to go back and pay every time - south american money-making bureaucracy!! Then we plan to leave asap because of the shitty weather and increasing numbers of crimes we hear of (one German girl murdered in her hostal and a guy from our dorm mugged with a knife on his way home…). A trip into the jungle seems a good alternative eh?? More later!

xxx Romy & Heiko

After weeks of silence from our side we managed to buy a few minutes of reliable internet about 25 km away from the farm where we´re staying right now! But let´s start with the end of the last report:

After leaving Vilcabamba about four weeks ago we took a bus through the highlands (again) to make our way to the coast, we were longing for after weeks in the Andes. Looking out of the bus window most of the time to enjoy the great and ever-changing scenery we were distracted by some strange people coming in. Mostly they are trying to sell you something from food to homemade gifts and creams and so on. Once we also had a grandpa with a huge cock under his arm that was screaming frequently to wake everybody in the bus up!! We´ll never know if his destination was one of the still practised cock-fights or if it was the soup of the owner…

Next stop was Alamor a tiny town still in the mountains where I had a funny and somehow disgusting experience: there were two large complete chicken feet sticking out of the soup I got for dinner!! But as a hard east german girl who is used to eating what´s on the table I managed to eat the soup around and leave them in ;-)

After such a nice evening meal we felt strong enough the next day to make a trip to the petrified forrest of Puyango which is one of only three worldwide. Millions of years ago it was hit by lava and the big trees were instantly petrified and broke into huge pieces some time afterwards. Those pieces can still be seen and the guide said that the area is not yet fully researched and they expect to find dinosaurs there as well. Will they be thrown into a soup, too?? Who knows! The way back from the forrest at midday was less enchanting: 37 degrees and no cloud in sight, huge birds drawing their circles in the skye waiting for us to collapse and be their food. But when we didn´t believe in it anymore, the road finally showed up and we could take a bus home.

Next day was Guayaquil Ecuador´s biggest city which is said to be full of crime and nothing worth seeing. We didn´t expect much and were totally surprised that we found a cool city with nice people and some great areas!! Nice surprise! Went to the cinema there for an english-speaking film with spanish subtitles (it was said!!). The film was russian with spanish subtitles… But we made it and were proud of ourselves that we understood what it was all about!

The weekend was spent at Montañita a prototypical surfing village with more surfers and tourists than inhabitants - not very exciting except from the possibility to make fun of all those cool surfing guys with their muscles and no brains ;-))

Then we finally made it to Bahía de Caraquez the starting point for our journey to the Río Muchacho Organic Farm where we were to work for the next four weeks. The owner of the farm is a somehow esoterical guy who has this guru called Sai Baba from india and who plans work on the farm after the phases of the moon!! Very interesting. The farm itself looks like a great whole little world in the beginning. Everybody is nice to each other, animals are only used for their excrements and eggs and milk but not eaten, and everybody seems happy. After a few weeks there now we saw what´s going on behind the scenes and know that not everything is working well. Even the animal world is not as whole as it seemed! Apparently the chicken are the worst-off on the farm and are at the end of the food chain for dogs as well as pigs!! We´ve seen a pig catching and eating a chicken more than once!!!!!

But however, the idea is great and I think in ecuadorian terms they try their best. But the german psychologists already have an evaluation questionnaire in mind that would help to gather ideas for improvement from all the volunteers who work there. A typical day on the farm starts at 6.45 with a weekly changing morning duty. You either feed cows, horses, guineapigs, pigs, chicken or help in the kitchen. Then its breakfast and then you work until noon in the vegetable garden. Then after lunch everybody has an own project, Heiko and me prepare a garden with medicinal plants for the local school children and tourists to be guided through. The morning duties sometimes suck because they are not as nice as they initially sound: just feeding and cleaning the animals. The pigs really stink!!!! and the grass for the guineapigs (am I pronouncing that right??) is extremely sharp and there are hundreds of ticks in it waiting for their fresh blood every morning… just to name a few annoyances! However, we still like it and enjoy most of the time! Think this is a once in a lifetime experience. Don´t expect that I´ll be chasing little pigs or feeding and milking cows very often in my later life.

Ok, that shall be it for today, the air condition in here is freezing me to death if I don´t go out into the sun soon! We both wish you all a great Christmas and New Year and hope you enjoy yourselves!! Take care! We´ll think of you when we have our new years cocktail on the beach ;-)

Romy & Heiko

…this is what we imagine in our daydreams while relaxing in a hammock! But so far we haven´t sold the flight tickets to Germany yet ;-)

After moving to the Rumi Wilco nature reserve in the outskirts of Vilcabamba we started working there the same day. Waking up the next morning we both realized that volunteering equals muscle aches the next day. No wonder, considering the fact that we were throwing stones in the river and carried arround huge bamboo roots and trees. Even though, motivation was still up on the following days and we had a nice time working with co-volunteer Pedro and the owners Alicia and Orlando. Typically we would be waked up by the screams of the neighbours cocks and those of some donkeys in the distance, get up, work for a few hours, relax, go to town for foodshopping, and then cook and have a very relaxed evening with Pedro in our shared kitchen watching the stars at night. The desert would be either homemade crepes or the cinnamon rolls brought to us (still oven-warm) by the neighbour - you see, nothing better than volunteering in Vilcabamba! And after a few days even the hard-working German personality changed and we stuck to Pedro´s motto: “Hey, you are volunteers, don´t work so fast! Otherwise they give you more things to do.� and were happy when we got some tasks like translating texts or helping out with the computer that could be done in the shade.

The last weekend we went for a nine hour hike with Pedro to some waterfall in the National Parque - and actually found it although in between we didn´t think we would. The hiking was definitely worth it and as you can take from the pictures we had a lot of breaks! Next day: more muscle aches and mosquito bites though…

A few days ago then our hosts had the brilliant idea to offer Heiko and me to stay in the Pole house for the same price. You can´t imagine how fast the backpacks were packed and we were ready to move in there! It´s just great and the photos don´t do it justice! You have to come and stay there if you really want to get the feeling of living in the wood with the river passing by just 6 meters away. Had a bonfire and were watching the stars with loads of strange noises in the wood around us - veeery nice!

However, if we don´t leave tomorrow, we´ll never do and that would upset at least some of the people at home so we´ll pack our stuff and leave Vilcabamba with only the best memories!

That´s all for now. We´ll be back soon with news from the coast (where it is supposed to be even hotter with more mosquitos…).

Take care!

Romy & Heiko

Hi everybody,

here some slightly late news brought to you via Vilcabamba-net which is as slow as the tortoises on Galapagos…

After a sad “good bye” to the Galapagos we boarded the plane and later the bus in Guayaquil that was supposed to bring us to Cuenca, a town in the south Andes. We did arrive but sometimes didn´t believe we would. Going over the Andes is one thing but going over with a mad busdriver, really bad roads with holes in them that would hide a whole car, and loads of steep descends into the valley is another thing!! However, the ones who were still able to look out of the windows witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets of their entire lives.

Arrived in Cuenca we enjoyed the fiesta that was going on and were annoyed by bad hostels. The first one featured the famous bed bugs that bit us allover and when we moved to the second one we were to “enjoy” their eighties-dance-trance-techno party at night in the courtyard until 4.30 a.m.! You can imagine… But except from that the town was nice especially if you´re interested in the mixture between colonial and indian art and architecture. Even though we did not sleep much we managed to go to a Sunday market in one of the nearby villages (see the photo with the pile of huge papayas!). We saw sweet old grandmas selling even sweeter fruits we didn´t even have names for sometimes. Also some lazy men who got drunk after they´d just been to church (a big event still with a lot of singing and praying) and hung around on the central plaza to relax and chat with their pals.

After a few days in Cuenca we hit the road again and arrived in Vilcabamba where we still are. We cannot imagine that time went by so fast and it is already two weeks we´re here! You get sucked into the tranquility and relaxed atmosphere so that it is hard to leave! People here are said to get far over 100 years old and it seems no wonder if you look at their lifestyle: loads of fresh fruit, no stress, and total disinterest for what is going on in the rest of the world! Everything here goes very slow. Even the internet … The town is tiny and doesn´t even have an own bank but it is a great place with many foreigners who settled here because it is such a pleasant area. They have their own bars and restaurants or craft shops and make a living. Also Vilcabamba is a great place for hikes into the area. We had some great experiences here.

But we´re not only hiking and lying in the hammocks all day as you might probably think. For a week now we´re working in a private nature reserve to help the family there. But more on this in the next blog entry…

This is us back from the best trip EVER! The “enchanted islands”, as the Galapagos are also called, are truly the most startling experience in our lives so far! Now we’re convinced that evolution really works in the way Charles Darwin proposed. But let´s begin at the start.

The journey set of in the Charles Darwin Research Station where the Giant Tortoises (that give the islands their name) are reared and then reintroduced to the wild when they´re about four years old. So we could se hatchlings of all ages as well as some of their mums and dads - they´re so tiny when new-born but can easily weigh about 500 pounds when they´re grown-ups!! There is a different kind of tortoises on each island and they all adjusted to the special environment and the food available which makes each subspecies unique! Our great guide could instantly name each turtle we saw and told us all about their heritage. There is also one totiose in the station which is called “lonesome George” because he is the only one left from his subspecies - how sad is that? He refuses to mate with any of the ladies they´ve brought into the area where he lives… The best thing about the tortoises is that they´re so relaxed. Not even a crowd of tourists with the clicking of their cameras right in the face of a tortoise could make it move or even blink!

From the station we departed with our luxury catamaran which was our home for the next seven days. We visited various islands with one highlight after the other! To name just a few:

• we went snorkeling with sea lions that are so nosey that they touch you and make bubbles right in your face
• we also saw a white tipped reef shark (Bry that´s for you ;-)) which was quite uninterested in us… and some people from our boat dived with hammerhead sharks
• we saw a number of different rays with a 10 ft (3.5 meters) manta ray being the biggest (honestly, the beast was bigger than the boat that we used to go out snorkeling!!!)

Of course there were loads of colored fish and many different starfish, sometimes the sea bottom looked like an inversed sky!!! So for the snorkeling alone it was just great!

However, during our landings there was an abundance of birds to be found nowhere else (Darwin’s finches, flightless cormorans, bluefooted boobies,…), also marine iguanas (reminded us of Jurassic Park), again sea lions (with the cutest pups ever!), and loads of weird plants such as the Palosanto trees that look totally dead right now but our guide promised us that they would be entirely green in a few months time or the variety of opuntia cacti that look different on each island according ot the type of turtle that lives there and eats them (or the turtles look different because the cacti are different on each island - this is the question with the hen and the egg which neither we nor our guide could answer to our satisfaction).

It is unbelievable how tame all the animals are, they just come towards you and don´t move away even if you pass by right next to them. You really don´t need a camera with a big focus, just go there and take pictures! Further we saw the currently active volcano while passing by with our boat at night - also an unusual sight. By the way, all the islands are volcanic so we were walking on lava, lava sand or lava rocks all the time. And in between the landings and snorkeling we had time to relax on the sun deck or enjoy the delicious food prepared by the very relaxed crew!

The trip found the best end to be imagined with the invitation to our guide’s birthday party. We were the only Europeans in the small pub and after a few original Havana Club rum on ice we had no problems making ourselves understood and having fun with the locals! I had to prove that even German girls can swing their ass to south american music (even though the size of the ass could not keep up with the local´s ones). We had such a great night and the way back to the boat with a taxi-boat through the dark harbour was an adventure in itself!

Yeah, that was just a short impression of our trip and we hope the pictures bring it to live a bit more! Right now we´re enjoying Cuenca, a nice colonial town in the south Andes. A big fiesta is going on all weekend so we have some party again and wander around the crafts markets where they sell so nice stuff that we could already been packed with presents if we wouldn´t have to lug them around all the remaining time…

Bye for now, Romy & Heiko