Photos, Cotopaxi and the Galapagos

Having officially received my "diploma" for my 50 hours of Spanish lessons, and managed a decent salsa with Jorge (my gorgeous salsa teacher), I´m now off for a bit of the travel malarky. Today I´m heading to the Secret Garden´s other half in Cotopaxi national park with a gang from here - I think there may be about ten of us! - to make an attempt on the great volcano and chill out a little. Tomorrow night it´s back to the hostel as I´m on an early flight to the Galapagos on Monday morning. I´ll be staying on a yacht called the Merak, which looks beautiful and far comfier than some of the first class stuff, but because it´s a real sailing boat, and has no air conditioning or hot water guaranteed, it only counts as budget class! amazing. I´m back to Quito on Friday night, and leave Quito on Sunday to join my truck north!!!

I´ve just uploaded my photos - see the slideshow on the right - i think you can open a bigger version in a new window - no captions, but it is roughly along the following lines;
Quito´s historic centre, the view over the centre from the hostel terrace, the footie match Deportivo v Cuenca, the Puhlulahua crater, Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world, where the official and historical equator lines are drawn), more views in and around the old town and from Guaysamin´s Capilla Del Hombre (Chapel of Man), Llama Night with the school gang, Machachi (down south of Quito) and our visit to the traditional healer who used guinea pigs to diagnose illnesses and perform a cleansing ritual on my classmates (I didnt do it, cos I dont think its fair that a guinea pig has to die), the Basilica, and the Secret Garden pub quiz´s winning team (i.e. mine!!! - I put our win down to my excellent recruitment strategy...)