The Ecuador side was a breeze, although we were amused by the Customs office where the greasy looking character behind the desk fortified our impression of him by having pictures of half naked women under the glass topped table and about 5 DVD porno's on the desk behind him!

     The country side was beautiful travelling through cloud forest most of the way but encountering quite a lot of rain and very muddy roads. Poor Lodzi enjoyed a severe mud bath. We then arrived in Vilcabamba, a beautiful little town nestled in a valley. We stayed at the highly recommended German owned Izchkyluma Hostel set overlooking the town approx 4km away. We camped in the car park, and with a reputation for excellent food we treated ourselves with beautiful dinners.

     We spent 4 nights at the hostel, chilling by the pool, playing pool, watching DVDs, drinking in the bar and eating awesome food. We were sorry to leave but the rest of the journey waits. After spending a night in the highland area of National Park Podocarpus which was VERY windy and cold we drove east towards the lowlands entry of Podocarpus near the town of Zamora. After finding a nice position in the car park overlooking a river and the valley we happily camped for 2 days just outside the park entrance. The birdlife in this area was amazing where we spotted hundreds of species of bird on the forest walks we did. We also spent time swimming in the crystal clear rivers and showering in the freezing waterfall.

     Two days drive further north and we arrived in the 3rd largest city in Ecuador, Cuenca. A very pretty colonial town with obviously many very rich people around by the size of the houses and the smart cars. We spent the morning shopping for gas as we had now run out and fortunately were able to refill and also managed to find a very expensive BF Goodrich replacement tyre. Only being able to afford one, we now have 2 new BFs on the front, 2 rubbish Dunlops on the back and a well worn BF as a spare.

     Our next stop was Riobamba, a large town about 100km south of Quito. After arriving at lunch we both agreed this looked like a bit of a dump and continued to the very touristy town of Banos, East of Riobamba on the way out to the Amazon jungle. Banos is at the base of the very active Volcano Tungurahua which is on the UK embassy travel advice of DO NOT GO!! What do they know huh? After checking our emails etc in Banos we decided to stay at a Swiss run hostel about 20km away which had advertised climbing, canyoning and camping.

     Franco and Nina at Pequeno Paraiso Hostel are extremely friendly and helpful and have made us both very welcome. We are camped with Lodzi in the car park and have access to all the facilities on site. A popular destination for all the truck tour companies we have socialised with two truck groups so far although we now get a little stifled in crowds of more than the both of us.

     James has gone canyoning with Franco abseiling down waterfalls, jumping into huge pot holes a doing an 8m jump into a canyon pothole. Not Kerry's cup of tea. There is also a 45m sport climbing natural rock face onsite overlooking the valley and river which James attempted to climb on his second day with not too much success. We went climbing again a couple of days later with Franco and a friend which was excellent fun. James managed the wall twice and Kerry climbed the top half once and then "climbed up the rope" to get to the top the second time. We learnt a lot as Franco is a climbing guide as well.

     Last night we joined in the group BBQ and James ate Guinea Pig which he claims was quite tasty if not a little bony! In addition there was a big Earthquake in Peru measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. We felt the tremors here for over a minute which was an AMAZING experience. The Landrover was rocking to and fro and it was quite hard to stand. Franco and Nina have invited us into their beautiful open house where we have watched DVDs all day as it has been raining. Nina is cooking us Quiche for dinner tonight which we are really looking forward to. So we are sort of enjoying some home comforts.

     As you may have gathered we have been here almost a week and are really enjoying our stay but the next stop is back out to the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle for more birdlife which we hope to do in the next few days before continuing our tour of Ecuador. We are loving it here as the fuel is a third the price of Peru so are not worried about travelling all over the place. Plus Ecuador is tiny compared to all the other countries we have travelled in so far.

     We both hope all is well with friends and family back home and where ever and would dearly love for you guys to write. It is great hearing from you all.
Take care.