Hoping to get the 9am bus to Quito I headed off in the rain to the bus station in Banos. Getting to the bus station in plenty of time I found that the 9am bus had crashed so won't be going.... I confidently booked on the next bus out at 9.35am. We headed out of town on time only to hit a trafic jam just by the "Welcome to Banos" sign which we sat in for over half an hour while another traffic accident was cleared up. This did not appear to be my day for transport...

After attempting to catch several buses that said they were going to Banos one eventually stopped and we headed south. By the time we arrived in Banos it was getting dark and was gloomy as I made my way to my hostel. The first night I was lucky and only had one other girl in the dorm - a young American who was volunteering at a school near Puyo. I headed for dinner at Stray Dog which had been recommended by Bailey in Cotopaxi and had a good steak and chips - it ...

After a 2 hour journey we arrived in paradise - according to head volunteer Tony. The views across the fields to Cotopaxi were indeed stunnning and the hostel itself was gorgeous. We settled down for lunch, were shown to our rooms and given a welcome talk from the slightly crazy French Tony including introductions to the three dos - Daisy and Mash the dashounds and Milo the Dalmation. After this the new arrivals headed out with welly boots on a walk to the water...

Arriving at the new airport means that you are an awfully long way from the centre of Quito. Finding the cheapest way to my hostel was the first challenge and it turned out to be the airport shuttle to the old airport (on the slowest bus in history but it did have wifi!) and then a taxi (mine turned out to be an unlicensed one). Arriving at Secret Garden I was allowed to dump my bags in my room before trooping up 3 storeys to the reception on the roof terrace. T...

Arriving early at the airport allowed me plenty of time to do all the pre-arrival administration required before you go to the islands - pre- registration, paying the first toll and getting my luggage check to make sure nothing I took would destroy the environment. The flight was relaxed and arriving in Baltra I had to pay my $100 entry to the national park and start to protracted journey to the main town of Puerto Ayora - shuttle bus, ferry and local bus taking...