Brazil to Ecuador. Tuesday 8th August 2006

A reminder to all student participants that you can access my photo diary by simply clicking on the individual blog headings. As soon as I get the photographs uploaded they are available for viewing.

Will

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Going across São Paulo this morning by taxi was a surreal experience. It was 3.45am and as I was leaving the hotel, some people were just returning from a supper, and I can well understand why. If their hosts were only half as welcoming and stimulating as mine then supper could go on all night.

I feel as I travel across the city like someone in a music video. It is dark and atmospheric and the city has its own beauty at this time of morning.

I fly to Quito via Lima. It is amazing to realise that I could have flown from London to New York in less time than this 'short hop' within this vast continent. My first sight of the Andes comes from 37,000ft and what a view. Approaching Lima I am made aware of the famous the garua which is the mist that settles over the city between May and October.

Tonight I begin my Ecuador experience in earnest. I am dining at the world famous Mama Clorinda, which like everywhere "world famous"...it is getting more and more expensive as the number of visitors to Quito increases.

Immersing myself in local colour I want to eat only local food. My meal begins with a Vaso de Chicha de Morocho (a cold drink made from corn). It is surprisingly tasty (although an acquired taste). My first course is Locro de Queso ( a soup made with potato and cheese and served with avacado). This is very good and reminds of the fact that all across the globe people traditionally ate filling dishes of freely available local produce in the days before we had the wealth to be fussy...in this case a meal in a bowl.

I had to do it and so my main course is a half Cuy (Guinea Pig). It comes breaded with potato, avacado, tomato, lettuce and peanut sauce, and I wash it down with a Chimborazo Cooler of ice, ecuadorian liqueur, sparkling water, whisky and lemon juice.

Of all the foods I have eaten across the globe, I must say I don´t like Cuy...but don´t let that put you off.

We are serenaded by a guitar player that looks like Zorro and my day ends with a cab ride in a taxi with a driver who does not know where my hotel is. Unlike London though he apologises and only charges $2 for my magical mystery tour.