Fourteen students and two teachers embarked on an exploration of Ecuador that had been organised by the Geography Department.  Members of the expedition:  Sanjay Bilakhia, Adrian Bunting, Sushil Chauhan, James Durrand, Simon Gilbert, Chris Harris, Alex Holden, Ben Jones, Tom Kelly, Edward Meeks, Henry Oliver, Chris Sinclair, Daniel Storey, Harry Wheelhouse and Richard Willan, Colin Sedgewick (staff).

Volcan Tungurahua is one of a number of volcanoes that make up the Andean spine of Ecuador.  We travelled to Banos on the flanks of the volcano and cycled down part of the Pastaza Gorge .... the Rio Pastaza is one of the upper tributaries of the Amazon.  As we were leaving the area, the clouds dissipated to reveal the perfect strato cone of the volcano which started to produce small pyroclastic eruptions into the atmosphere.  The photograph shows plumes of ash being ejected.

We flew to the Galapagos Islands and hired a 20 berth cruiser.  Only a couple of the thirty islands are inhabited and tourists have to sleep on boats whilst travelling.  Each island has its own unique characteristic fauna and flora.  Visits ashore are stricly monitored and only designated landing sites and trails can be used.  One of the highlights was being able to snorkel with sea lions and turtles.  This photograph was taken from the summit of Bartolome Island looking towards Santiago Island and Sullivan Bay.

Guagua Pichincha is an active volcano that is close to the capital city of Quito.  We hired transport to reach the village of Lloa and then trekked to the summit crater rim.  Unfortunately the cloud descended shortly before we reached the top but the smell of sulphur was pervasive.  This photograph was taken on the way back down and shows the clouds rolling up the sub-Andean valleys from the Pacific lowlands. 

A large part of eastern Ecuador lies in the Amazon basin (Oriente).  We flew to the oil prospecting town of Coca and travelled by motorised canoe down the Rio Napo.  We stayed in an eco-friendly lodge to experience the rainforest at first hand.  Local Quechua indian guides led us on treks and showed us the vast array of plants (frequently medicinal), insects and birds.  Fishing for piranha, visiting a sharman and playing football with locals on a sandbank in the middle of the vast river were other highlights.

Quito is a sprawling city whose morphology is controlled by the 'alley' of volcanoes that lie either side.  We explored the old Spanish colonial city, visited the Citad del Mundo (where the equator line was first determined) and enjoyed sampling the sights, sounds and smells of a city in a LEDC.  In this photograph, Cotopaxi (the world's highest active volcano) is in the far distance some 60km from the city suburbs in the foreground.  We climbed Cotopaxi to a height of just under 5000m ..... the remaining 1000m involves a stenuous ice climb on the glaciers that surround the cone.