Friday 10th October

Depart Banos for Cuenca today, up 7am decide I actually have time to put on some make-up today which makes me feel a bit more human, go for a walk before breakfast at 9am to have one last look around Banos and feel a little sad about leaving here. Breakfast spread is same as yesterday so I have an omelette again with a good coffee. We are to depart 9.45am, await taxis outside our accommodation as ordered by Carla but they don't turn up, we have a public bus to catch so we start walking to taxi rank as if we wait too long we will miss our bus (the perils once again of not having a designated tour bus but it is an adventure tour and it does make it interesting). What a crazy place the streets are this morning, there is some sort of foot race happening and the traffic is mad we have a lot of trouble getting to the bus station but manage to make it just in time. We board bus for 2 hour trip to Rio Bamba where we will have a toilet stop, believe me you don't get many so we must make the most of it. Sang very kindly offers to stay and watch our bags as it is quite difficult to get off with them as we are seated at the back of the bus and not much room to get through very narrow aisles and people standing up talking and not moving to let us Gringos through. While stopped here they load some furniture including a rather large wardrobe onto roof of bus, we are hoping it is tied on securely. Arrive Cuenca 7pm it has been a very long day and we are all tired, we drop our bags off and meet in foyer 7.15pm to go to dinner, Carla takes us on a short (we are hoping as we are all tired and hungry) tour to the town square where I come over all dizzy and nauseous, I think I am dehydrated as being on the bus all day with few toilet stops I didn't drink very much, the group make me sit down and Rebecca gives me what she has left of her water, 10 minutes or so and I am feeling much better but still a little light headed so we go to find a restaurant. Go to 2 restaurants which are very busy and I feel like I can't wait much longer, finally we get seated and I order a bottle of water which does help but don't get my meal until 9pm everyone else gets theirs before me and are kindly offering me food but I am feeling ok by now just very tired. The meal was excellent. Get to bed around 11pm, finally.

Thursday 9th October

Up 7.30am, as breakfast isn't served at our accommodation we must go to restaurant where we had dinner last night but is included in our tour costs, very good spread I have ham, cheese and onion omelette, bread roll, croissant, coffee and fresh juice with Julia, Sarah and Sang we eat well as we have a big trek ahead of us. We leave 10am to tackle Tungurahua volcano otherwise known as "The Black Giant" this is an active volcano the largest in Ecuador yet the most easily climbed apparently since Banos is already set on its hillside, periodic drills keep residents and visitors aware of the poitential risks. It is 5.016 metres straight up but I am trying not to think too much about that as I really don't like walking up hills and this one is continuous with no reprieve until we reach the top but me being the determined creature I am will not let it beat me. I find the going very difficult with the altitude and the heat and my heart is nearly pounding out of my chest, Julia on the other hand being Swiss is very used to hills and does it easily with those long legs of hers taking three strides to my one and she hardly breaks a sweat and at the same time manages as always to still look gorgeous. The ground is very uneven and even the formed path, if you can call it that is very rocky with lots of exposed tree roots so have to watch every step. We take a couple of wrong turns as guided by Julia asking for directions from the locals in her broken Spanish (but at this stage she knows more than the rest of us) . Thank goodness one of these wrong turns leads us to a rather ramshackle looking cafe but they are advertising coffee which twigs my interest so we decide it is a good excuse for a well-earned break, I ask for cafe leche (coffee with milk) but alas being a remote Sth American cafe they don't have milk so I accept it black, the female owner comes out with a chipped mug washes it in a large plastic container of water (I hope that's all it is but goodness only knows how clean it is or how long it has been sitting there) then returns with what is the worst cup of coffee I have ever had so when she isn't looking I tip most of it out in the garden so defeating the purpose of a caffeine fix, the others opt for bottled soda drinks yes much smarter than me I am thinking but I really wanted a coffee. After taking some photos of the cafe's very cute puppy and cat we once again head off, it is now raining quite heavily making the going very slippery as it just turns to mud but finally we arrive at Luna Runtun Resort and Spa at a height of 2.260 metres for a very well deserved lunch in Cafe Del Cielo I have a delicious curry vegetable crepe, cake and yes a very good white coffee and I think I've more than earned it. The views from the restaurant looking back down over Banos are more than worth the effort to get here, just spectacular. It rained quite heavily during lunch so we have decided not to continue our climb to the top but none of us are actually looking forward to the trek back down either as we think it is probably going to be harder and perhaps slower than coming up, yes we were right it is precariously slippery and Sang lands on his backside a few times but I do much worse while tring to look for firm footholes I tread in a hole and like Alice in Wonderland almost disappear into the bowels of the earth covered in mud, oh what a sight, I call for help and Sang comes to my rescue with his trusty walking pole which he passes to me to hang onto while he pulls me out as there was nothing else that I could get a grip onto oh my little Chinese hero I now am a bit reckless as I am already covered in mud so don't care if I slip over but do manage to stay upright for rest of the descent but Sang is still slipping and sliding so I very wisely decide not to follow in his footsteps and make my own way down. Meanwhile a very fit and surefooted Julia and Sarah have ploughed on ahead unaware of my plight. We arrive back in Banos at 3.30pm after 11km the trek taking us 5 1/2 hours which when we set out thought it would take a leisurely 3 to maybe 4 hours. I have a very enjoyable shower fully clothed in order to remove some of the mud and then spend quite some time trying to clean my raincoat. I have a back, neck and foot massage booked for 5pm which I am now really looking forward to so has Rebecca, Sarah is having a pedicure and Julia is having a manicure at 6pm so Rebecca, Sarah and I head off together. Rebecca and I are put in same room to await our fate, and I would have to say it is the best massage I have ever had I feel so good after I could nearly climb another volcano (just joking). We all meet at 8pm for dinner at our breakfast restaurant and another excellent night is enjoyed by all, we are all loving Banos very pretty place with lots of activities and all agree we could easily spend a week here.

Wednesday 8th October

Early departure today for Banos, Julia and I slept in didn't hear alarm or the knock on door we were supposed to get at 5.15am for 5.45am departure, luckily I happened to wake at 5.30am to go to toilet and realised we had 15 minutes to get packed, out the door (as it was a public bus and not a tour bus it was not going to wait for us so we had to be on it) and on bus so I managed to wake Julia (she had earplugs in so wasn't hearing me) fortunately she took my advice and packed her bag last night and just left out what she would need for the morning which she wasn't going to do, she thanked me. Oh what a mad dash just pulled our clothes on , so no shower well don't think we smell that bad. Arrived Banos 11am it is wet, lunch is toasted ham roll, chips and coffee , 2pm we depart for our adventure activities I am suffering with a bad back so decide to only do zipliner which involves being attached by your back to a cable and flying across the top of a gorge, great fun but the ground rush at the end was a bit scary but I survive. After all completing our task we continue on for the others to do the bridge swing which I decline due to my back not wanting to jar it and make it worse so I reluctantly watch the others have terrifying fun which they all enjoy immensely Back to Banos with some free time for laundry, emails, shopping, etc. 6.30pm we have a half hour salsa lesson for $A5.oo not as easy as it looks on tv but I will learn. Tea is at 7.15pm in a beautiful traditional restaurant and I have the best trout in a garlic cream sauce and some very good Chilean red wine. Tomorrow is a free day so have organised to do a trek up volcano with Julia, Sarah and Sang where we will have lunch in restaurant at the top if we make it.

Tuesday 7th October

Heading back to Misahualli today breakfast at 8am boiled eggs, 3 small slices of bread toasted, jam and butter, coffee with powdered milk, yuk milk goes all lumpy for some reason don´t like it much and we are given a knife and fork to eat a boiled egg in it´s shell not quite sure about that. Depart 9am for 2 hour jungle walk with our guide Wilfredo who teaches us a lot about the medicinal and culinary uses of the jungle plants, even tricking us into eating lemon ants, none of us are very impressed when he tells us, shows just how gullible you can be. Gemma, Rebecca, Louise, Sarah and other Gemma decide to return to camp by floating down the river on inner tubes while the rest of us go back in the canoe. I have a bad back so decide I may be better off in the canoe but I would really like to go in the tubes. I get soaked in canoe on the way back going through the rapids when water washes over the canoe and at this stage have no more dry clothes so decide to sit in the sun and dry off until lunch, I actually lay down on a seat and go to sleep and when I wake I have a group of about 10 native children standing over me, maybe I was snoring and they were intrigued I´m not sure but I wake up and entertain them with some drawings which they enjoy but then they are very easily pleased as my drawings are not brilliant and they always have a smile. After lunch we sadly depart for Misahualli, I have enjoyed my time in the jungle more than I thought I would and the native people especially the gorgeous children are so freindly. Tomorrow we head to Banos which we are all looking forward to as there are lots of adventure activities to keep us busy. Banos is a scenic little town named after the 5 sets of thermal baths found there and is a part of Llanganated National Park nestled on the side of Tungurahua volcano. In spite of the volcanic activity that forced an evacuation from Banos during 1999/2000, the town is a popular tourist destination, the attraction being the hot springs, the amazing scenery and the accessability to the jungle. Banos here we come.

Monday 6th October

Up 7am today breakfast at 8am leave Misahualli 9am decked out in gumboots and looking very elegant, we can only take our day packs containing pyjamas, change of clothes, toiletries, cameras, insect repellant and leave the rest of our worldly goods in the safe keeping of our hostel. Travel by motorised canoe to go down Rio Napa River(a tributary of the Amazon) to a point locally known as Monkey Rock, the official starting point for our first jungle trek of approx 5 hours taking us through the secondary jungle, pretty tough going at times with the heat, humidity and especially when it rained quite heavily making it very muddy and slippery, we negotiate what we are told by our guide to be 4 quite steep hills but I am sue there are many more. On arrival at jungle hut site we have 20 mins to freshen up for lunch which is local food served in a larger jungle hut. As we settle in for lunch Gemma notices a small tarantula spider(just a small one but still far too big in my opinion) sitting very quiet and still beside her on the banana leaves which are used as a tablecloth, one of the staff at her request very nicely pick it up and throw it outside. Lunch is lentils, rice, carrot and parsnip and banana chips. We have some time to rest up after lunch and then at 4.15pm we are once again transported by canoe up river to visit a native family who demonstrate basket making to us, we also try some local mashed potato and a nasty drink made from same potato. The father demonatrates how to use a poison dart to catch prey of which I also try but am sure I would starve if having to depend on this as my weapon of choice to catch my food (guess it's a good thing I don't live in the jungle). The family have 13 children but 2 months ago acquired a television set powered by solar enery so I guess now they will have something else to do. We head back to camp where dinner is served at 7.30pm more lentils, carrot, parsnip, rice, curried chicken and dessert is tree tomato in a sugar syrup very nice. We make a camp fire and sit around and talk but everyone is ready for bed by 9.30pm it´s been a big day.

Sunday 5th October

We have a 7 hour bus trip today so up at 7am will depart 10.45am gives me time to go to supermarket up road and also internet cafe, this will be our last chance to communicate with family and friends as we are going into the jungle. We catch taxis to bus station for our journey to Misahualli via Tena, stop along road at 2pm for lunch buy ham and cheese rolls for 50c each. Misahualli is a small quaint town very close to the river with lots of monkeys around. Check into our rooms and then some of us go for a walk to take photos of monkeys and also to check out the small and intriguing shops. We see a monkey take off with a tourist's mobile phone, watch it sitting under a tree and it actually looks like it is trying to send a text message, obviously has been observing us humans and our mannerisms, we see another with a cigarette lighter and Sarah becomes worried when she sees flames thinking the monkey is going to set itself or the jungle on fire, they are very clever little monkeys. Dinner tonight is at restaurant at our accommodation, beef, beans, fried banana, after dinner we go upstairs to bar and dance till 9.30pm. During dinner Carla gives us a briefing on the next 2 day's activities in the jungle, sounds like the trek in is going to be quite tough going but should be fun. Sharing with Julia tonight who is from Switzerland just get nicely settled into bed when she finds a rather large flying insect in her bed so she changes from the top bunk to the bottom, our pillows tonight are like rocks and I end up tossing my on the floor and sleep without it. Didn´t get much sleep it was so humid and the fan was whirring away all night and also lots of bugs in our room, I am wondering how much worse it will be in the jungle but hey it's an adventure.