Wild Wandering in Wellies!

January 22^nd

Well we have been here for a awhile now and the work load has uped itself, we have done 4 lessons and we have two assignments in this week! It’s getting harder to do any work as the weather is still beautiful! But we have fit in a few save the animal explorations and adventure treks through forests!

Wild Wandering in Wellies!!

I’ll start with one of our most incredible animal rescue situations. We have been jogging most mornings at 8am (Laugh if you will but it’s true!), we get woken up by day light at 6.30 everyday and so everything starts a bit earlier here. So one morning we went out onto the beach and were just warming up when we saw these large markings in the sand, frequently we see bird feet or even crab but these were suspiciously large. We did a little investigation to cure our curiosity and came across a tiny turtle! He was wading through the sand blind looking for the sea! As we looked up we could see more, in total there were about 5 on the sand surface, all trying to get to the sea, but not succeeding. So we headed back to Kamala and told them there. Pablo, who works in the nearby aquarium, came dashing down to the beach with a large plastic box, I was thinking maybe he miss understood as there were only five on the beach, or so I thought. He found the hole that they seemed to of crawled out of and gentle pulled back a layer of sand, to my surprise the appeared to be another one, he did this over and over and in each layer he found another one and another one, it was like past the parcel! We never went for a run but in total we saved 17 baby turtles so I still think it was a productive day!



Oh poooor little turtles!



Okay I should get back to the adventure with random wellies. So for a weekend escape from essays and lesson plans, all the Celta students decided to go for a walk that was recommended because it had a waterfall at the end, it sounds scenic but it was definitely not what we expected! We set off in the truck; we were literally hanging off it! We off road into the mountains and jungle sprang out of nowhere! When we got there the mountains were towering over us. We had all opted to go for a walk up to this waterfall, and the guide said he wanted us to put on wellies! Which was a real shame, as I wanted to give my new walking boots an outing on Ecuadorian soil, but of course we agreed. It began pretty energetically with a step rise through the trees, but then it didn’t seem to stop, we probably walked uphill constantly for an hour and we were only thinking th walk would last that long! The nature was beautiful though I think that’s what kept me going also the fact that we had a BBQ at the end! After about an hour and a half more trekking over the hills and scaling them to get back down we reached the waterfall, sadly it has been too dry the last few weeks and yes you guessed it, it was completely dry!! Oh well it was nice to see a bit more of this crazy country!! 



Ian the welly explorer!





Watch out Ian!!

Coolest purchase yet:

Cat - $4 for a surf board for an hour (be aware of them flying in your face though!)

Ian – Open water diving course in the Galapagos!

Weather Report

Warm and breezy, possibly 30 degrees, dry and sunny mostly but the occasional rain shower (but it’s warm rain!)

Photo update!

Pictures!! (Thanks Mum and Dad for the new camera, we haven’t tried it out under water yet but here are a few above the water)

Taken from the lighthouse in Las Penas, the old town of Guayaquil.



How many Iguanas can you see?




Ian in Parque de los Iguanas



And Cat in Parque de los Iguanas

Tortoises chilling in Parque de los Iguanas

11th Jan 2011

Today I’m sitting on a crazy little stool in my cabana (these are little hut type buildings made from eco resources, in fact the whole resort we are staying in is eco, peaceful and beautiful it’s called Kamala). Ian and I came to the coast three days ago and we are very lucky to stay here now until February to complete our Celta course. We have a beautiful view from our cabana, it looks out on to the Pacific Ocean and the sandy beach is ten meters from the door! If your not jealous yet then you will be when I tell you we have a lovely hammock hanging outside!!

4 legged friends in the classroom

Of course the workload for the Celta keeps us too busy to really enjoy the scenery, well kind of! Everyone on the course is lovely, despite feeling a bit out numbered by the Americans (heehee), there are also Canadians, and an Ecuadorian. Last night we did our first lessons, we only had to prepare for 20 minutes and my trainer (Vicky) was very helpful and instructive about what I should do. The students came in and there were a few faces I recognised from around Kamala, but in total we had 13 students and 3 dogs, 2 of which got thrown out as they were very distracting! Hehee

Most energetic thing done today:

Cat: Being spun around like a sock in a washing machine as the Pacific waves are strong!

Ian: Taking a dog for a run! (Not Cat, Ara the Labrador)

Mosquito bite total:
Cat: 15

Ian: 17

Casa Catian!



The view out of the cabana





Inside casa Catian







THE BAR!!





Sun setting over Kamala beach





7th January 2011

Things we most regret not bringing

Cat: My beautiful camera

Ian: More normal clothes

Craziest food eaten today

Cat: Bananas that have been transformed to taste like crisps

Ian: Spicy breakfast tortilla which was actually an omelette

I’m sitting on the balcony of the hostel typing away we are both getting over the strange feeling of it being afternoon but feeling like its midnight! We really have had a fantastic day in this city. We began full of fear but it was well and truly blown to the wind as we walked around and wondered where anyone could feel a sense of fear, with the exception of an iguana hurling towards you because your between it and its tree!!!

24 hour review of Guayaquil

The first impression we had was walking out of Guayaquil airport at 8.30pm after a day of travelling from Leicester for Ian and Wales for me. Over 24 hours in the car and plane, but it has been well worth it.

After dumping our bags in the hostel, we went for a wander down to the Rio and found a bar where we could sit and admire how large the river really is. It looked around a mile to the other side, and this river splits right down the middle of the city. The next morning we were woken by a couple of our new Celta teaching group. Jamin the jogger and Laura. We went for breakfast in a small café in the city, and then walked around a little to take in the city during the day. It’s hot but not too bad around 26-28 degrees, I think it just feels hotter since we came from snowy and frozen Britain.

By this point we ignored the guide book as it seemed the only thing the guidebook got right was how chocolate brown the river is.

Places you should visit if your in Guayaquil:

The rio guayas

Malacon  – developed area alongside the river

Parque de los Iguanas

Las Penas