well, here we are again hey, god again, so much has happened!! cant even remember when i last wrote!! ummmm think i went to spend the last week in ecuador on the beach and luckily we met some friends there who we´d previously met and so it was awesome!! there were a few parties on the beach but generally just lazing about which was just what we needed before this tour - weve done so so so much already!! we went to the Ballestas islands to see penguins and sealions lazing in the early morning sun - think i have about 60 pics of them they were so adorable!! then we went sandboarding which was again brilliant, i was brave and tried to stand up and i was so scared cos i was going so fast down this sand dune i fell over on purpose a lot!! the next day we flew over the world famous Nasca lines in the tiniest plane which could only hold 6 people!! i felt very very ill right from take off! the lines are quite faint until you finally know what youre looking for but they are amazing! how anyone could have made so many animal and plant patterns in rock in such perfectly straight lines, i have no idea!! today we went to the colca canyon and saw condors (the worlds 2nd largest bird) flying. our guide was brilliant and we were able to stop off and see llamas and alpacas in the wild, we even got to stroke them and feed them milk!! i also held an eagle on my arm but was a little wary when the owner tried to put him on my head!!

ive been quite adventurous with the local culture and cuisine, have tried alpaca which is a cross between lamb and beef, lomo saltado - a local dish which is kind of similar to fajita mix really! there are lots of other soups and corns and fruit (ooooh today we tried a cactus flower fruit - it was like a really sour kiwi! bizzare!). i have yet to try guinea pig though - think thats gonna come in our next city - cusco. ive been dancing with some locals in traditional dance, been spun more than i could ever imagine but has been brill!!

so our plans for the next few days....we head to cusco at 5am tomorrow, we are there for a free day to look around, then we go to the sacred valley before heading to macchu piccu!! very very exciting!!! then its our jungle trek which again is going to be amazing!! but for now i think its another goodbye, apologies its so short but im having such a good time here, dont want to leave and am already thinking about extending my trip and heading to argentina and chile....eeeek!!!

right, miss you all loads, please keep in touch, ill hopefully get to write again after the inca trail!!

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