Thought I'd let everyone know I'm still alive and well in South America! Costa Rica was excellent - spent a couple of days kayaking, then caught a ride to the Pacific Coast and learned to surf. Afterward, I headed to Monteverde (cloud forest), where I met three wonderful Germans who adopted me and took me back to the beach for a few days (I gave myself a sunburn for Xmas - how strange!).

Caught my plane to Quito without any snags (so far so good, but that won't continue for long - my flight from Lima to Cusco has already been cancelled due to the tiny issue of the airline going out of business...guess I'll figure something out when I get there) and spent a day wandering around the Old City (beautiful) until Andrew and his group of students arrived.

Our excellent mountain guide did a great job of gradually acclimatizing us, and we've spent the past week or so climbing some spectacular mountains. Summited Cotapaxi (world's tallest active volcano) a couple of days ago (me with a streaming headcold!) - left the refugio at midnight and hit the top just after sunrise. Amazing panorama!

We're now back in Quito anticipating day at a hot springs tomorrow.

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