Having passed a very pleasant two and a half months in and around the USA - covering many sights, many miles and spending far too much cash (more than a healthy bite from the travelling budget!) I find myself (with Chika) back in South America. Quito, Ecuador to be exact. Sitting in the same Hostel that I left behind last November and planning the route ahead. Given that i've already spent quite some time in the areas to the South and East of Ecuador and the country is on the west coast, it looks like we'll be heading North into Colombia.

I'm currently trying to assess the situation at the Ecuador/Colombia border as there have in recent weeks been real serious issues between the two countries – verging on warfare! So, not wanting to take too many chances with that one. Of course, I’ll keep you all posted. Worst case I’ll fly from Quito into Bogotá.

My flight from LA to Quito involved a transfer through Bogotá Airport. The photo in this post is a list of the items that you are NOT allowed to carry on flights from this airport – it was a LONG list. As well as the usual items such as Golf Clubs, Firearms, Knives, Sharp Objects etc. they felt it necessary to explicitly list items such as:

Bow and Arrows
Stun Guns
Harpoons
Hitting Clubs
Daggers
Dynamite
Ninja Stars
Tear Gas
Hand Grenades (or grenades of any kind)
Axes
Flame Throwers
Machetes
Brass Knuckles
Chainsaws
Neutralizer Gas

Certainly a thorough list and I felt fairly certain that I didn’t have any of those items in my hand luggage. Is this the kind of stuff that Colombians typically carry? Do I need to stock up before I venture back into Colombia??

Welcome back to South America.

Posted by Russ Jones at 1:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Just a quick entry to say that I am safe and well in Ecuador and wasn´t involved in the bus crash which you may have heard about on the news.

Currently back in Baños and having fun. Hope you all are too.

Posted by Russ Jones at 3:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Amazon

I’m still in Ecuador and I’ve just come back from the Jungle area around the town of Tena. As with previous jungle trips, I’d like to think that I put up a good fight against the various deadly bugs – but ultimately they won again!

Anyone who saw the aftermath of the Brazil Amazon trip will have seen what a hit I was with the mosquitoes there. This time it wasn’t the mosquitoes but the tiny flies with the ‘big teeth’ that were the problem. They’ve made a right mess of my legs and every bite (plenty to choose from!) is insanely itchy.

Whilst I was in the jungle one of the local guides gave me something called ‘Sangre de Drago’ (Dragons Blood) which is the BLOOD RED sap of a particular Amazonian tree. It is pretty odd to see a tree ‘bleed’ when it’s cut. Anyway, strange as it may be, it’s something of a miracle when it comes to soothing the bite of the ‘Killer Amazonian Big Toothed Death Fly’ (don’t think that’s the official Latin classification but it works for me.)

Ailments aside, the jungle trip was great. Covered a lot of miles wandering through primary Amazonian forest, climbing through canyons and up waterfalls, swimming in Lagoons and floating down rivers in inner tubes. Learned quite a lot about medicinal plants too. Who knows when this gradual buildup of Jungle knowledge will come in handy?

So now, I’m back in Tena and getting ready to go White Water Rafting. Tena is Ecuador’s rafting capital and we’re taking on some Class IV rapids tomorrow. Should prove an exciting day. I’ll let you know.

Anyway, here are few more photos from the Ecuadorian Jungle:

Posted by Russ Jones at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)