only one week left at the hacienda, time flies.
This week I saw a wild andean bear and watched it almost all day, very! thrilled about that. I also saw a possum yesterday night - and I just love them :). Trying to plan my holidays here has become a bit of a struggle, though. I spent almost my whole day off on going to Ibarra (next bigger town, 1 hr by bus) and trying to make a payment for a Galapagos Trip. 7 Banks and a couple of hours later I gave up.
At least I wont be completely broke when I return.
So, the new plan is to go back to Quito and catch a flight to Manta on Tuesday the 5. Then take the 2hr Bus to Puerto Lopez and stay there till Sunday. Puerto Lopez is on the coast and close to Machalilla National Park . I'll spend my days on the beach, on the Isla de la Plata watching Seabirds, snorkelling or maybe even diving (got certified in Honduras last year)?
I'll see...
On Sunday I'll fly back to Quito and on Monday catch the flight to coca in the amazon basin. I'll spend my last week there, camping in the rainforest, trying no to be eaten alive by mosquitoes and watch as much Wildlife as possible.
Then I'll once again fly back to Quito and then back home.

That's the plan.
Keep you fingers crossed it works:).

For now I'm just glad to be here, enjoying my time. Yann and me went bushwacking up a little stream to a waterfall today and every single muscle hurts...
(Btw. : yes that's work, we were looking fo Tapir and Beartracks)

Paramo

Already two weeks over...time flies.
Yesterday we were taken up to the Paramo at 4000 m (you can really feel the height, it takes the breath out of you) on the back of a truck, saw lots of Alpakas and a fascinating landscape.
Today Yann and me scrambled up an overgrown path up a mountain to look for bearsh... great fun ! :) (seriously)

Right now I'm trying to figure out what to do between the 5the and the 20th when I'll be travelling. I guess it's either going to be Yasuni's Rainforest or the Galapagos and ?. Both aren't cheap potions (and Galapagos is downright unaffordable...) but I do want to see some mammals here :).
I'll see... trying o figure out dates and prices.

In 10 minutes we'll be served dinner at the hacienda, in many ways this is a luxury volunteering holiday, which I enjoy a lot! (Yes, I'm old.)

Condors!

Took the Bus from Quito to Gullyabamba (Quito Zoo) on Monday morning. Got to meet Sarah (Canada), Erin (Canada) and Yann (France) my fellow volunteers and Sarah and Fernanda, the project coordinators. Together we were taken to "Hacienda Zuleta", the project site.
It's a beautiful place, a top hotel & a dairy farm with lots of cows, horses, a cheese factory, freeranging donkeys, a bunch of lovely dogs, fantastic gardens with hummingbirds and trails in the cuntryside.
We're the first bunch of volunters staying in our own house and kind of guinea pigs to get everything sorted, which is kind of fun.
The volunteer house is very nice, we've even got a fireplace. In the first week we got to know the place, were tought about condors and bears and moved the rabbit cages. The rabbits and guinea pigs are used as food for the 7 captive condors that live on a site close to the hacienda. One of our tasks will be to take care of them and to do behavioral observations. We'll also be wandering around the area, looking for other widlife, esp. signs of andean bears and mountain tapirs.
On Saturday we went to Otavalo, a two hour bus trip to an amazing market with all kinds of beautiful textiles. A really touristy place but still nice, and a fun day off and out. Being the only Gringos on a bus full of locals always is an experience in itself...

We already saw some wild condors, impressive animals.
The only thing that's been not so nice is the weather - it's been raining every day, but we've also had sunny spells. Today it was dry till 5 o clock pm and we were walking around in Tshirts all day ! :) Well, apart from the time we spent at the condors cages, were I were longsleeves to avoid being eaten alive by the mosquitoes...

Gotta go to dinner now (yes, we get it done for us :P).

Greeting from Quito!

Picture not mine, at : http://imagenes.viajeros.com/fotos/r/rg/rgohmb-bg.jpg

I`m in Ecuadors capital after a very long and tiring (but relatively uneventful) journey of 23 hrs. Had to run through Madrids airport (which I know by heart because I spent 8 hours there last year) but then my second flight was delayed so that my luggage made it as well :).
Got to meet someone at the hostel during breakfast and we spent the day exploring the city, including taking the teleferico to a viewpoint at 4700 metres, very nice.
Monday it`s off to the condor project where i´ll spend the next month.