| 29
November 2000 |
|
Sadly said goodbye to the OSSO volunteers after
spending three emotional days with the babies of Fafecorp, the
special needs children of Mensajores de la Paz, and the delightful
boys and girls of the day centres in Turi..
|
| 26
November 2000 |
After a
stopover in Riobamba, we arrived in Cuenca where we were the
guests of OSSO (Orphanage Support Services Organization).
|
| 24
November 2000 |
On our way to
Guaranda we stopped at the rural villiage of Salinas where we
visited the various cooperative projects such as the wool,
chocolate and ceramic factories.
|
| 23
November 2000 |
|
Moved south to Banos.
|
| 20
November 2000 |
|
Crossing the Equator we drove northwest of Quito
to the tiny village of Marionitas from where we hiked uphill to
reach the cloud forest reserve of Santa Lucia. A new project
supported by Rainforest Concern, the lodge at Santa Lucia is still
under construction.
|
| 18
November 2000 |
Visited the
market town of Otavalo where the indigenous people gather every
Saturday.
|
| 15
November 2000 |
November 15
Returned to Quito after visiting numerous conservation and
community projects at Yachana.
|
| 11
November 2000 |
|
Drove to Misahualli in the Amazon. Took a two
hour boat ride to Mondana where we were to spend the next few days
at Yachana Lodge, a project supported by Rainforest
Concern.
|
| 09
November 2000 |
|
After spending a few days in Quito we vistied
Volcan Guagua Pichincha overlooking Quito. We parked the car at
the refuge hut and slowly walked to the summit at 4794m.
|
| 04
November 2000 |
| Visited the Indian
community of Cocha Janoquia in the mountains overlooking Riobamba
with excellent views of the imposing snow-capped Volcan Chimborazo
(6310 metres).
Drove to La Balbanera Chapel, at 500 years old
this was the first church built by the Spaniards in Ecuador.
The drive to Quito offered clear views of Volcan
Cotopaxi amongst others.
|
| 03
November 2000 |
| Car was fixed at
the mechanic. No clutch fluid, or leaks. Strange!
|
| 02
November 2000 |
| All Souls Day
National holiday in Ecuador. As we drove from Guayaguil to
Riobamba we passed several cemeteries which were overflowing with
people leaving flowers at the graves of their loved ones. It
seemed to be a joyous occasion with people eating and drinking.
As we were driving through the Andes thick
clouds gave no visibility. A perfect time for the clutch to fail!
We crawled into Riobamba in second gear.
|
| 01
November 2000 |
| Having collected
the necessary documents from customs we left the port with the
Land Rover at 1600 hrs. This was a surprisingly easy process. We didn't
use an agent and spent a grand total of 17 dollars (others we met
at the port were running up totals of several hundred dollars with
the aid of an agent).
|
