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The Bowman Adventures
Well we've made it to civilisation in the beautiful Andean hill town of Banos after another truly amazing week after having left Quito. Firstly we cycled down Cotopaxi Volcano, which is the highest active volcano in the world! We then met up with the rest of our group and guide and then took a public bus to some hot springs where we got to chill out for a night before heading to the Amazon. Ruth managed to fit in a hydro massage at the complex as she wanted to warm up for the jungle adventures......and what adventures they've been! We spent 4 nights in the Amazon jungle. For 2 we stayed in a lodge and then for the other 2 we stayed with an indigenous family. It has been amazing....we've done more hardcore rafting even more thrilling than NZ, have taken in several jungle walks climbing up waterfalls, avoiding bats and meeting lots of strange insects. We've gained an insight into the ways of life of jungle people and survived without electricity!! This really has been our best experience yet.....we're with a great group and our guide is fantastic...we really are experiencing the true Ecuador as we travel on public transport and sample the local cuisine (have seen but not yet tried Cuy- which is Guinea Pig!). Even our Spanish seems to be coming on a little!
From the jungle we arrived here in Banos. It is surrounded by the Andes and has the most active volcano in Ecuador looming over it - the town is on orange alert as we speak and on a clear day you can see the smoke rising from it! We've continued with the mountain biking theme of our travels and have taken in another excellent ride today which entailed us stopping off so I could do a canyon swing- the Ecudorian equivalent of a bungee- I tried but Ruth wouldn't do it!! The great thing about the rides here are that you bike down hill and then they load the bikes on a pick up taxi and drive you back up the hill! Much easier!
So the big game looms and the atmosphere here is amazing - Yellow Ecudorian shirts everywhere! I'm trying to keep a low profile and have considered dying my hair - but I'm determined to watch it and the guide has arranged it so that it is possible- I'm having to forsake a famous train journey but Ruth has promised that she'll take pictues of it from the roof where you're meant to sit!- don't worry she'll be with some others from our group! The guide has also assured me that the fans will be friendly towards me if we win!! ( I hope)
We've uploaded the latest photos onto the site......hope you enjoy them and we'll be in touch very soon.
Love to you all and keep us up to date.
Ed and Ruth xxxx
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