Hello All

I arrived in Quito last night at about 8 local time. I successfully collared a cabbie and about 20 minutes later I arrived at the hostel. GVI had given us details of how to make a reservation etc but I figured that was a bit over cautious of them... so I didn't bother. Turns out I should have really. The guy who owns the hostel reckons I'll be fine for 4 nights but then it might get a bit sticky. No problem as there's plenty of other gaffs to stay in around here.

Looking back on what I've just written you may think Mario and I sat down and had a good old chin wag about the pros and cons of reserving a bed. Unfortunately it wasn't quite like that. Despite my best efforts with those CDs before I left, actually listening and understanding a native speaker is nigh on impossible. As is making myself understood. My chat with Mario left me feeling woefully stupid and there's only so much grinning and nodding you can get away with. In addition everyone else at the hostel appears to be Swiss or Spanish. Having checked the notice board I've discovered that a lady will kindly come to the hostel and give intensive one on one lessons for the bargain rate of $5 an hour. I just hope she's not busy, but even if she is then there's plenty of other Spanish schools in Quito that I can investigate.

Our man in... Miami

Ow do. It's my second day in Miami now and I have to say that jet lag is a pain in the arse. True to form though (harkening back to the Atlanta escapade) I've done my best to beat it. I just spent a bit of time working it out and yesterday I was up for 29 hours straight. Brilliant. The flight was delayed by an hour or so and but wnet smoothly apart from that. Got to the hotel alright and then got changed and went out to find some food. The old travel habit of talking to complete strangers kicked in and I got chatting to this bloke called Karl. He'd just finished a tour in Belize with the army and is trained in all things jungle so got a few tips off him. The night progressed and we got talking to some German ladies (for some reason Miami is awash with our European friends) and before we new it it was 5 am. They like to stay up late here. Up at 9.30 this morning and now I'm so tired I can hardly type. It's been a nice day though. Just ligging by the pool, the odd swim in the sea. I met up with the German contingent again for a couple of beers but I've had to head home now to put the jet lag to bed. I've been invited to a night on a casino boat tomorrow so we'll see how that pans out. Should be good.

I'm off to bed... I'm shatt e r e dzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Two Weeks to Go

Man, two weeks to go... I can't believe it! Pretty scary to be honest but I am really excited. I've got most of my kit together now and am in the process of packing all my worldly goods to put into storage. I'm moving out on the 23rd (Saturday). Matty H is coming down to drive the hire van up to Yorkshire. Bang me stuff in the garage and then hop it to Manchester for final farewells. I'm only finishing work on Friday so it's all a bit stressful at the moment. Still, it's keeping life interesting as I'm desperately trying to learn Spanish, sharpening my bird identifying skills (sorry, sharpening? More like blagging) and in an intense fitness program of... erm... trying not to smoke as much. Looks like I'll be set then! As for what it is I'm going to be doing in Ecuador you can visit the company's website here and the specific project I'll be working on can be found here. If you're interested the website is pretty good but in a constant state of change so the link might not work for long.

Probably my two best pieces of kit so far are my bins (binoculars for Bill Oddie ing) and my new camera... Pentax istDL. Here's a shot I took the other day before boarding the London Eye:

Taking a digital camera to a rainforest might not be the best idea. Hmm. Got to try it though. If anyone's got any tips on keeping it dry etc, please feel free to share them.

Incidentally, watch this, it's unblievable!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ol7XJJlz9E

It never rains it pours.

What a dismal picture. Life is what you take from it. If you sit back and accept the norm then there you go... you get the norm. That makes plenty of people happy and I respect them for that choice. Unfortunately I tried it and it hasn't worked for me. So I'm off again. Is it a knee jerk reaction??? I couldn't possibly say. I'll tell you again three weeks in. Right now it feels like the rightest thing I ever did do. Av it. I'm off to the Amazon for a 10 week expedition. Bugs, spiders and all other disease ridden foul creatures are welcome but I envisage little room for passengers. Wish me luck and give you loads of tropical disease.

Love and kisses,

An idiot.

My Apologies,

This blog has become a statistic. It's heavily under used and just a waste of virtual space..... hang on... 'virtual space'?? fuck it then, it can remain a dormant beast for as long as it likes. Needless to say I never joined the vientienne underground. I am now a sedentary bottom feeder, living the life of a bum. I like it though. I have to admit it was better when I was on the mive but the whole village feel of where I am now is quite nice. Actually, it's better than quite nice. I'm back where I feel I belong. The only bastard is that my feet won't stop itching. Old wives' tale... I think not. They are honestly itchy... I've tried scholl and everything but it did abate a bit the other day when me and my new squeeze booked 2.5 (decmal you know) weeks in Borneo (Malaysia masive side). Old wives, I salute you.

Peade out