Underwater fun

An hour and a half by boat from Santa Catalina is Coiba Island. The largest island in Central America. From 1919 until 2004 Coiba was home to a prison therefore access to the island was restricted. Because of this, the islands natural resources have survived almost untouched.
We snorkled in two locations just off the Northern tip of the island, and it was some of the best snorkling that I have ever done. We saw multiple species of fish, too numerous to count, swam with turtles and even got to hang with a couple of white tip sharks, who despite being smaller than Jaws still move in that 'sharky' kinda way.

Friends..

Originally uploaded by ladyhedda

We met up with Christine and Mike in Quito on our last night, and together we hopped onto a plane in the morning - destination: Cartagena.

The old city of Cartagena is built on an island, and at one time was surrounded completely by fortified walls. It's a beautiful city, with narrow streets and colonial buildings that provide lots of charm. The music here is distinctly different from the rest of South America, with a strong Caribbean influence in the beats that vibrate into the early hours from the bar under our hostal room.

Mitad del Mundo...

Originally uploaded by ladyhedda

Just North of Quito is the Mitad del Mundo - Middle of the World. It's not known as the Equator here, as the Spanish word for Equator is Equador, and we're in Equador, so that would be confusing.

We flew South of the Equator on April 1st, 2007 - 14 and a half months ago. We have both ventured into the Northern Hemisphere during that time (Michael to Sumatra, me to Malaysia and on a whistle stop trip to LA and London). However, the majority of our time has been spend 'Down South'. I have loved being 'Down South'. The stars are different. We saw the Big Dipper for the first time in nearly a year just recently. I was happy to see the stars that made me think of home.

Just South of the Equator

Another long day on buses, I know you want to hear about it...
We left Lobitos at 10am. The combi gods were shining on us as we departed after only a 15 minute wait. We bounced our way to Talara for the last time, passing the fishing boats, the fish processing plants and finally the new boats being built. In Talara we walked the 2 blocks to the bus station, and got ourselves onto the 11.30am bus - how's that for a connection, only a 30 minute wait!
It was a 2 hour ride North to Mancora (touristy beach town) where we grabbed lunch and then hopped into another combi for the 2 hour trip to Tumbes. In Tumbes the nice combi driver dropped us off at the CIFA office, avoiding the 4 long blocks we were going to walk. At CIFA we were able to get seats on the 4.15pm departure to Guayaquil in Ecuador. We crossed the border and arrived in Guayaquil at 10pm, where we ate dinner and got seats on the 11.20pm bus to Quito. We arrived in Quito at 8.30am, 2 combis, 3 buses and 22 and a half hours later.

Can't seem to leave.

Michael and I have been recovering from excessive bus travel. We're staying in a little town, on the ocean in the very North of Peru. The town is called Lobitos, and it's reached by a combi van from Talara, a 45 minute ride on dirt roads - 30 minutes if you get lucky and score a combi that can use more than just 2nd gear.
We've been staying with Darwin, his wife Naoini and their 19 month old son Miguelito. Naoini is an amazing cook, and Miguelito has been providing the entertainment.
I have been traveling into Talara on the combi daily to see a man about my back (more on that at a later date).... The combi vans leave Lobitos when they have enough passengers, 10 is the minimum number of adults (babies don't count) needed to make the driver switch on the engine. Each person walking in the direction of the combi becomes a potential passenger, maybe, just maybe they want to go to Talara too. Once the engine is on, we toot the horn, then we drive around the square, then we drive into Lobitos and circle the town - tooting the horn, then we drive over the hill to Nuevo Lobitos and circle there - more tooting, then, and only then, when we are absolutley sure that there are no more passengers to be russled up we hit the road to Talara.
Today I was waiting at the combi stop at 8.30am with two fishermen. The sun was getting hot, and the fish that were packed onto the roof were starting to leak fish juice inside the van, after half an hour a lady joined us, after another 30 minutes some more passengers climbed on board. We drove around Lobitos. At 10am, a hour and a half later, we hit the road with a full compliment of passengers, some fish and a box of Avon cosmetics.