No sleep until Ecuador

Firstly, you might have noticed I've been pretty quiet recently. Basically, I'm working my arse off up here in cheltenham, so don't have time to even *think* about the blog. But I'll do my best to keep posting random stuff from over here.

I've had a manic weekend. Literally manic. Photos to follow soon, but on Thursday I went out with the Ghetto kids (until 4am), Friday I went out for Anna's birthday (until 3am), Saturday I went out with the brighton guys to Bugged Out (had about 2 hours sleep on sunday afternoon - photos to follow as soon as the digital camera owners have posted the pictures on MySpace) and on Sunday went for a Morroccan feast with Eliisa then stayed up til 3am watching Overboard with the Ange, Tristan and Jess. It was manic. I've felt like I was on another planet for the last couple of days, and its only since I went out last night and started smoking and drinking again that I've returned to earth. All good fun though. Looking forward to equally manic weekends in the remaining 8 weeks in the country.

And on that note, back onto the travelling front. Our first port of call after leaving London is Ecuador. This excites me greatly. But it also kinda scares me. If you've been, let me know anything which I should know before I leave now. I feel a little out of my depth, but its not worrying me too much right now.

The country has 3 distinct geographical areas - equatorial coastline, high-altitude mountains and rainforest. We're not just packing for a beach holiday here. We've gotta be prepared. According to one website (here) it looks like we'll be needing a whole range of clothing, just to cope with the changes in temperature. The main points to note are:

• one or two sweaters (light wool) and a warm jacket (it can get chilly at night in the jungle and mountains)


• fast-drying trousers and shirts and lots of cotton socks (the jungle is seriously humid)


• a good quality rainjacket or poncho


• comfortable walking shoes or good hiking boots


• thick sweater (for the cold Cotopaxi national park)


• shorts, t-shirts and sandals (for the hot coast)

Anyway, we'll make sure we are well prepared and if anyone can recommend suitable footwear, I'm all ears.

Aside from those preparations, I'm starting my jabs on friday (if I can get an appointment), so will try and get a photo of one going in. But I'll probably wimp out and not bother. And I'm gonna put a "departure countdown" clock on the site, so you know how long I've got left. Just so I can make you a little bit more jealous.

Laters dudes,

dunc