Swimming with sea lions

The best part of the Galapagos Islands for me was the snorkelling. It was out of this world. The water was a perfect temperature and the clarity was amazing.  Turtle There were a few things I really wanted to see: a turtle, a shark and swim with a sea lion.  We hit it lucky with the turtles because it was breeding …

Animals of Galapagos Islands

The main reason we headed for the Galapagos Islands was of course the animals. Let’s say we weren’t disappointed! Before we left the airport we encountered the huge grasshoppers of the island and at the ferry docks there was a sea lion lounging under the seats.  Blue footed booby One of the first islands we went to was home to …

Exploring Ecuador

After we finished our volunteer work, we did a ten day tour of Ecuador. We all piled into two very small mini buses to travel around. First we went up, way up. The altitude we were at (about 4000 metres) meant I was often short of breath. And what do you do when you’re so high up? Well you hike …

Volunteer Work – Digging Ditches and more

The whole reason for going to Ecuador was to do volunteer work. The group was based in Misahualli and took a canoe down the Napo River to Pakay Chicta, the village where we were doing the work. So what work were we doing? First we helped teach the children at the primary school English. Apparently when they get to high school …

Flying Halfway Around The World

I have just spent the whole of December in Ecuador. It was an amazing experience, one which I will remember for a long time to come. Over the next month or so I want to share some of those experiences with you and a few of the lessons I’ve learnt. The first lesson deals with long haul flying. You might noticed that …

Preparing for a trip

At the end of the year I’m heading off to Ecuador to do some volunteering. It’s now getting to the countdown stage and as I’ve mentioned before, I like to be prepared, so it should come as no surprise that on the weekend I bought myself a backpack. My husband and I have been looking for a while, trying to …