Joel put this round-up together while I organised our flights for the next leg of our journey. All is to be revealed soon!

To say we feel a great sense of privilege is an understatement – our fifth month of adventure has resulted in a truly extraordinary collection of experiences. From the radical geography and inhabitants of the Galápagos Islands to the enchanting green tangle of the Amazon Basin, it’s been one hell of a journey.

Due to the great diversity and fantastic sights, Ecuador has been one of the stand-out destinations on our fairly extensive itinerary and the Galapagos Islands were a top-notch addition. We felt that our stay of three weeks was the perfect amount of time, and although we were there longer than most, the islands definitely justified the investment. Ecuador hasn’t been without its fair share of challenges. Surprisingly, Galapagos was pretty rustic when it came to hosting tourists, and unless you’re forking out for a five star multi-day boat cruise, you’ll be paying in full for all those wonderful sights with a fair bit of diarrhoea, sweat and tears. Still, that’s what it’s all about when you want to see something special in a remote location and we wouldn’t take back our time there for the world. The Galapagos amazed us with its alien residents and if you ever want to see giant tortoises, sharks, marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, sea lions and sea turtles, then we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this exotic archipelago – all hardships included!

Quito was the port of arrival for our return flight from Galapagos and we were looking forward to eating virtually anything that was fresh, healthy and fit for consumption. We shacked up in a quiet and non-descript bed & breakfast that had plenty of space and a functional kitchen in which we could stage a serious re-nourishment of our wary intestinal tracts.

Quito had a lot more going for it than most cities on the continent, and a combination of the lively La Mariscal ‘new town’ and the fairly grand geographical setting made our time here a nice reprieve.

The highlight for us was probably the afternoon we spent wandering the hills above the city, which we accessed via a lengthy gondola ride.

Due to a botched hotel reservation, we were thankful to have escaped a potential stay in the ‘old town’ which, despite its historic Spanish architecture, sported a rotten underbelly that made the streets anything but inviting. With batteries recharged and some exciting jungle plans made courtesy of a shonky travel agent, we happily waved farewell to Quito.

Sani Lodge sat on a lagoon concealed from the water traffic of the Rio Napo (Napo River) by a tract of dense jungle, and the place was stunning. Our first sightings of wild chestnut-fronted and blue & yellow macaws was a rare thrill that I had longed for since childhood. Alli and I loved every minute of our stay here – even when giant cockroaches stormed Alli’s bathroom sessions and a community of termites constructed a significant nest in record time beside our bed. The abundant life in both the murky brown waters and the stifling jungle was a terrific eye-opener. We both knew that our Amazon odyssey could not finish here, so we quickly got on to plotting our next move.

A friend in Galapagos had slipped us the contact details of a village local who could grant us access to the deeper reaches of the Amazonian wilderness, so we needed a few days to re-gather ourselves and make the arrangements. We hopped a crowded bus and left the wretched Amazon access town of Coca, en route for Tena – a small and quaint settlement, four hours’ climb into the highlands. Tena is perhaps South America’s most renowned white water destination, so we combined a blast on some fast water with a stint in the office, knocking off a decent chunk of workload. It turns out I’m a natural on the river and our guide reckoned it would be a crime for me not to pursue the sport – my relative competence as a beginner combined with Alli’s confidence in the water kept us on the safe side of the sometimes brutal rapids, which wrenched any ‘swimmers’ down into the violent washing cycle. When we did bail out, a feeling of helplessness would hit us instantly and we would be trapped under the water for a few moments on every occasion. Paddling a tandem inflatable kayak called a ‘ducky’ sure beat rafting, and these nifty little kayak/raft hybrids made for a damn good ride.

Planning our next Amazon stint turned out to be a challenge to say the least, but we got it done and headed back to the much despised town of Coca for the gruelling 12 hour boat ride down the Rio Napo towards the Peruvian border. Although there were some uncomfortable aspects associated with this adventure, the place we finally reached was mind blowing in terms of wildlife, isolation and variety. Despite food that could rot your bootlaces, fleas in Alli’s bed and tarantulas and scorpions in our shack, this journey ranks among the top on our list of ultimate life experiences. Returning again to Coca and then on to Quito was bittersweet for sure but we had crook guts and needed to get cracking for Mindo – our current location and a place we are very, very happy to be. Mindo is perhaps the least scummy place we have been in for months and this charming, semi-boutique mountain town is offering some much needed respite from the relentless but necessary miseries of remote Amazon travel. Great dining, refreshingly friendly locals and a super pleasant bed and breakfast accommodation is going down a treat and consequently, our health is on the mend. Standby for a glimpse of what is also the orchid and hummingbird capital of the world through the eyes of our sparkly new camera!

Mindo preview – courtesy of our new hardware

Cities/countries visited: Ecuador (Galapagos Islands, Quito, Amazon, Coca, Tena)

Best Place: Sani Lodge, our first taste of the Amazon Basin. The comfortable accommodation, delicious food and gorgeous outlook charmed us from the start, not to mention the numerous exotic critters. While we saw greater diversity and animal numbers in our second trip, the tricky organisation and dodgy living conditions took the gloss off.

Favourite Memories: This month, there are so many! We loved our day at Tortuga Bay in the Galapagos, and snorkelling through ancient lava tunnels with sharks, rays and turtles was incredible. Our first taste of white water in Tena was exciting, with the potential to be addictive, and obviously the wildlife encounters in the Amazon were one for the books.

Favourite Meal: This is a hard one. We’ve had some of the most shocking culinary experiences of our whole trip this month. But – one stands a cut above the rest; and that was the feeds of beef, mash and veggies we enjoyed most nights in Quito. The whole eye fillet we purchased from the upmarket supermarket tasted like home, and bet the pants off every cut we ate in Argentina!

Worst Place: Coca, the dirty, dodgy and humid oil town that is also the gateway to the Ecuadorian Amazon. This place was a nightmare.

Worst Memory: Our hotel and meals in Rocafuerte, the border town we had to stay in before getting to our second jungle accommodation (Joel), sleeping with tarantulas and scorpions metres above my head in the Amazon (Alli).

Worst Meal: Um, pretty much all of the meals we’ve eaten this month! The Galapagos and the Amazon were incredible experiences, but they would have been more enjoyable if we were fasting.