Volcano Ecuador | Anotherdayinparadise2's Blog

Ailsa’s theme is ‘Pathways’, and I had fun seeking out a few photos of paths I have seen on my travels.

Here in the North West Province of South Africa we have ‘The Palace of the Lost City’, where the African theme is carried through every detail of the design and architecture. These life-size elephants line the pathway up to the entrance to the Lost City. Each of the elephants standing on the bridge has a powerful loudspeaker inside, so you can listen to the realistic surround sound of the jungle. Every hour, a special hydraulic system starts to shake the bridge like in an earthquake, and a concealed dry ice system shrouds the bridge with white mist. The sound system then plays a powerful rumbling sound, making you feel like you are in the Indiana Jones movie when the huge boulder started rolling towards him.

Here are pathways leading up to Machu Picchu in the Cusco region of Peru. This 15th century Inca site is almost 8,000 feet above sea level, in the middle of a tropical mountain forest.

Here is a pathway up to what looked like a shrine built into the rock, on our travels through Ecuador.

On the road from Cuenca to Quito, we stopped off to visit some mud huts near an active volcano. Such a pretty little pathway led up to them, but I couldn’t stay inside for very long, as there was an open fire, and the hut was full of smoke.

Here’s a rather interesting pathway in Montana. This rock formation is called“Devil’s Slide,” and according to the brass plaque there, that red pathway is where the long-horned sheep have been coming down for centuries to drink at the river. I would have loved to see them come slipping and sliding down that rock face, but there weren’t any thirsty sheep that day.

Here are a couple of pathways on the idyllic island of Koh Phi Phi Leh, in Thailand, the film location for the movie ‘The Beach’.

I seem to remember that this well trodden pathway led to the restrooms. 🙂

In Bali, there are many pathways along the green rice terraces.

Here’s me heading down the path at our resort in Nusa Dua on the south-east coast of Bali, to spend some relaxing time at the pool.

There’s a rather steep path down to the beach at Fontelina on the Isle of Capri. This magical beach rests at the foot of the legendary Faraglioni, and is where the Roman emperors residing on Capri, once came to bathe. The faint-hearted don’t have to take this route, as it can also be reached by shuttle boat from Marina Piccola.

Rather more easily accessible for me, is this pathway onto our beach, just down the driveway, but we have wet weather today, so I’ll take a rain check.

My favourite pathway photo ever, was sent to me by my son when he was on vacation in Bermuda. It made me want to get on the next plane.

I hope you’ve enjoyed dallying with me along the paths from my travels. To see more bloggers’ interpretations of Ailsa’s theme, just click here.

This week, Ailsa has asked us to post photos which pay homage to the four elements, earth, air, water and fire.

My earth photo is a view over La Paz, the capital city of Bolivia, and was taken on our drive from El Alto airport. La Paz is 3,650 m (11,975 ft) above sea level, and that night, the extremely high altitude affected me quite badly. A few glasses of Andean Coca Tea, given to me at the hotel, seemed to relieve my altitude sickness, and the next morning I was fine.

My air pic is of the cloud above one of the many volcanoes in Ecuador, and was taken as our vehicle bounced along the Pan American Highway.

The most sparkling stretch of water I’ve ever travelled across, has to be Lake Titicaca in the Andes. It’s the highest navigable lake in the world, with a surface elevation of 3,812 m (12,507 ft).

I hope this qualifies for the fire element; a fiery sunset snapped as we cruised the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef off the north-east coast of Australia.

If not, I’ll just have to make do with this paltry bit of fire in a 16th century English pub/restaurant. Of course the sherry did create a bit of fire in the belly. 🙂