"This is exfoliating my skin like crazy!"

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So. It's the third of December. Where, you may ask, have I been since November 9? And how did my jungle adventures turn out? Internet access has been, as previously mentioned, spotty, and I am having a difficult time catching up on my blogs. But I'm sure you'll forgive me, since my blog-absence has not been due to slackerness but to busyness. 😊 But since I'm about to be out of touch for another week I thought I'd post a brief update on my recent travels. So without further adieu . . .

November 11 was our last day in the jungle (sadness and despair). We spent the night in Lago Agrio, and caught an early morning bus the next day for Tena (another jungle town). We spent the next two nights in Tena (one more than orginally planned), opted not to take another, shorter trip into the jungle, and so caught a bus to Quito on Monday so we could get some stuff out of storage and run various miscellaneous errands. We spent two nights in Quito, and then began our trip down the Ecuadorian coast. We took a bus to Esmeraldas (a really unfortunate town), where we spent one night and then set out for Atacames, a tourist town just to the south, where we first laid eyes on the magnificent Pacific Ocean. Oh, it was so wonderful to see the ocean again. It felt like coming home. (Which is strange, considering that the Pacific is three hours from my house in California.) But it was like seeing a good friend for the first time after several years' absence. Unlike the Pacific of Northern California and Oregon, though, this water was so deliciously warm. It was perfect.

Atacames, though, was not perfect. It's a town -- like many coastal towns -- that relies heavily on tourism, and since November is the off-season there's an increased pressure from the vendors. The minute you walk down the street it seems that half the restaurant and hostal owners come rushing out of their place of business, trying to convince you to come to their restaurant or hostal. After awhile it gets to be a bit much, so I was glad to put Atacames behind us.

From there we actually went to Muisne, but due to unforseen circumstances decided to leave and head back north to Same (pronounced "saw-may"), a small resort town just south of Atacames. Poor Brenna got violently ill early Saturday morning (November 18) and didn't feel well enough to travel until Sunday. Except for feeling bad for Brenna, Ami and I were fine with this arrangement -- our hostal in Same was really nice (we dubbed it our "mansion"), with a pool, beach access and a great view of the ocean. Sunday we hit the road again, this time for Canoa. We spent two nights here as well, as Brenna was still not feeling up to snuff. Canoa is a small town and is, apparently, a great place to surf, so we saw quite a few other gringos around. It's a sleepy little town (but not on the weekends, I hear!) and was lacking the intense pressure we felt in Atacames. People didn't have the same Pavlov's dog reaction to us (gringos = money), which was a lovely change of pace. I understand why, in a city that relies on tourism for its livlihood, people respond to us that way, but after awhile I get tired of being seen solely as a tourist.

From Canoa we went further south to Bahía. Here we met up with Dan, the Willamette alum who stayed with us in Quito for a few days several weeks back. We spent three nights in Bahía, including Thanksgiving. It was an interesting Thanksgiving. I think all of us wanted to be back home with our families -- or at least eating a big, homemade Thanksgiving dinner -- but we did the best we could. We watched the sun set on the beach, ate really tasty pizza at a small pizzeria and chatted with our families on the phone. Not the best Thanksgiving ever, but good nonetheless.

We hit the road again Friday, November 25, for Puerto Lopez. I really enjoyed this town. Granted, most of the streets aren't paved, there are dogs and dust and bikes everywhere, but it has such a friendly, laid-back feel to it. (And I'm serious when I say laid-back. We had the slowest restaurant service ever while we were in this town.) Puerto Lopez is near Parque Nacional Machalilla, so we spent a day on Isla de la Plata (a small island populated by frigate birds and blue-footed boobies -- yeah!), in Aqua Blanca (an archaeological site) and hiking for eight hours in San Sebastian. Good times, big fun 😊 On Tuesday we went fifteen minutes south to Alandaluz, a really nice mini-resort with organic gardens and an oven constructed out of poop. Mmmm, poop.

And now we're in Guayaquil, and have been since Wednesday, November 30. Hurray for Guayaquil. Well, not really. I only like Guayaquil a little. I kinda miss small coastal towns. But the reason we're still in Guayaquil is because tomorrow I'm off for the Galápagos! Yep. The Galápagos. I am so stoked, you have no idea. I'm going on an eight day tour of the islands in a tourist class boat and will see giant tortoises, frigate birds, iguanas and blue-footed boobies. I'll return to the mainland on Sunday, December 11, at which point I'll call Brenna and Ami on the cell phone, find out where they are (for financial reasons they will not be joining me -- sadness), and then catch the next bus to them.

So. That's the latest news. The internet café is going to close soon, so I have to go, but I wanted to catch you up on our latest adventures. I'm excited and nervous about my upcoming Galápagos jaunt, and wish you all could join me. But I promise to take lots and lots of pictures, don't worry 😊

Anyway, thanks for the emails and thoughts and phone calls. Miss and love you all!

em

P.S. Check out Ami's photos and my Uncle Ray's website. He's posted a link to my blog, which I find so wonderfully touching -- thanks, Uncle Ray 😊

P.P.S The title quote is courtesy of Ami, on our first day on the beach. Classic, huh? 😉

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Comments

[uncle ray]

so wonderful
emily, i am living this trip thru you, i wish i had done something like this when i was single and footloose, not that i ever was! how will the rest of your life compare to this month or so that you have been traveling? hope you visit us when you return if you have time! love uncle ray