Eileen Donan castle is one of my favourite castles. This 13th century castle stands on small island and is joined by a beautiful bridge to the mainland. It was a stronghold of the Mackenzie clan and the Macrae clan and was largely destroyed after the Jacobite rebellion by the English. We travelled to the Isle […]
Read MoreVanessa and I first met in Ecuador and have since met up again in Thailand and London. I jumped at the chance to come to Wales especially as she lived in the wonderful village of Caernarfon next to the Menai Straits.It was great to meet up with her friend Barbara again too. John the DJ […]
Read MoreMy favourite part of the trip was visiting the town of Silvia on Tuesday market day where the Guambiano Indians still wear their bowler hats and bright blue capes and skirts. The men also wear skirts and outside of Scotland this was a first for me. They travel in brightly coloured buses with all their […]
Read MoreRiobamba has the largest percentage of indigenous people in Ecuador. It is surrounded by small interesting villages near Chimborazo. It is famous for the “Devil’s nose train” but unfortunately you are no longer allowed to ride on the top of the train as some tourists were killed this way. In fact the trains are all […]
Read MoreThis time I backpacked the Galapagos flying from Quito to Baltra. We chose Santa Cruz as our base because most day trips could be done from this island. We got the airport bus to Canal de Itabaca crossed by ferry and then a taxi/ bus to Puerto Ayora which sounds difficult but in reality […]
Read MoreJust outside of Quito in a lovely valley is a small town called Alangasi where Easter is celebrated with devil masks and a crucifixion ceremony. Alangasi is a small village with a beautiful church as its centrepiece. The wise men are depicted by short men wearing very tall hats strapped to them to save them […]
Read MoreVilcabamba is called the sacred valley of longevity because it supposedly has the highest proportion of people still alive at the age of 100. It certainly has fresh water running down from the surrounding Andes mountains. This beautiful valley has a great climate and because of this many foreigners have chosen to move here “gringoes” […]
Read MoreAli Pickard and I wanted to help the mothers earn a better income than the $3 per day they got working in the markets, which was very much under the national average. Our initial products were earrings and brooches made out of recycled paper and old maps. We then bought equipment through grants that I […]
Read MoreCENIT welcomes people from all religions or creeds and offers educational, psychological, and medical programs, as well as job training, to working children and their families. Its hope is that with these services, the children and their families might improve their quality of life. CENIT complies with all the requirements of Ecuadorian law with regards […]
Read MoreCarnival in Guaranda, Bolivar Ecuador is such fun. Deep in the Andes this small town has the best February Carnival in Ecuador. Being a tourist I was constantly sprayed with foam or water but all in good nature and more of a way to say hello. I had to keep my camera constantly under wraps […]
Read MoreMama Negra festival is held in Latacunga which is a town under the shadow of the volcano Cotopaxi. A local dignitary pays for this festival and the people party. I got sprayed with perfume and blessed by the drunken shamans who then demanded a fee for the honour. Mama Negra rides by on her horse […]
Read MoreMindo is a cloud forest about 2 hours from Quito. It has it’s own micro climate and attracts wonderful birds like Hummingbirds, Toucans and Tanagers which are seen regularly. Nearby you can also find the Cock of the North a beautiful red crested bird. Each lodge in Mindo seems to have it’s own particular birds […]
Read MoreRio de Janeiro’s botanic gardens are lush and tropical with one whole area dedicated to Orchids. I loved the Victoria Leaf water lily and if you look closely one of them has a small tortoise living on the leaf. The gardens are alive with life and I saw squirrels, monkeys, toucans and many other birds […]
Read MoreEl Basilica church a grey stone church with wonderful stained glass ,stone birds and fabulous tower with great city view. Huge circular stained glass up very steep streets to Basilica and then up a ladder to the twin towers. Museo de San Fransisco & Plaza. The museo was an old monastery lovely gardens with […]
Read MoreThey fly upside down, backwards, swoop, fight, float, hover and each has it’s own particular personality and I have fallen in love with these tiny iridescent birds. They flap their wings about 80 times per second which makes a kind of hum and from there you get it’s name. During courtship they will flap their […]
Read MoreSua is a very small pretty village with a long white beach on the coast of Ecuador in the province of Esmeraldas. Almost everyone in the village is a fisherman and they go out in little dugout canoes to fish. It is also place where you can see the whales from June to September. In […]
Read MoreThanks to my friend Maryanne I was lucky enough to go to Camp Africa which is on the coast of Ecuador in Esmeraldas. Camp Africa is a small beach hut run by Archimedes an Afro-Ecuadorian. The culture Tolita inhabited Ecuador from 500 B.C until 500 A.C . There are two important settlements of this culture, […]
Read MoreBaños is a beautiful city with hot springs, waterfalls and mountains on all sides but it is also an adventure town where you can race downhill by bike, climb mountains or volcanoes, soak in a hot spring, take a cable ride and party all night. It makes a terrible sticky toffee thing that stretches for […]
Read MoreThe Selva near Siona Lodge Ecuador felt more like secondary rainforest as opposed to primary but was still a beautiful place to visit. Siona lodge was on the fresh water lake with Caiman swimming underneath the lodge watching for food to be thrown out. Eoin and I fished for baby Piranha and when encouraged to […]
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Photography, Travelling, Dancing,..
