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Published: March 7th 2009
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Our march along the west coast of South America in search of waves continued across the Peru-Ecuador border to Monteñita, Ecuador. We crossed the border (a border crossing deemed the ¨worst¨ in all of South America for shady practices that commonly occur there) smoothly during the night and arrived in the muddy streets of Monteñita early the following morning. Now, Monteñita had been hyped up to us for quite some time. Months before I even embarked on this trip, Palo was telling me that good times await in Monteñita, and every backpacker we´ve met along the way has reaffirmed his words. Frankly, however, the timing was off for us. We arrived in Monteñita for the last night of Carnaval and it was an absolute zoo. The tiny, tourist beach town was overwhelmed with Ecuadoreans and more Americans than we have seen anywhere on our trip. Prices for accommodations were double in every hostel and hotel. We eventually rented futon mattresses on the floor of a terrace of a hostel for $15/night (this is a fortune on a backpackers budget) since we could not find a single other place to stay. The beach was littered with bottles of rum, tequila, and beer
and several thousand drunken beach goers making the beach not particularly inviting. (Reading the second half of the last sentence makes it sound like it should be amazing, but most of the beach goers were men and the girls´ bikinis just aren´t the same as in Uruguay and Argentina.) The surf was also blown out and crowded. Spoiled by the great conditions I had in Peru during the preceding week, I passed on surfing in Monteñita.
Despite the level of mayhem that we arrived to (and weren´t particularly in the mood for), Monteñita was still a beautiful stop and I can definitely see its potential as a place for spending a lot of time. The streets of the two block ¨downtown¨ area are lined with stands selling all sorts of crafts and a wide variety of food. Drew and I dabbled in all the street food, as has become customary since we now have stomachs hardened by over 5 months of traveling. I was a bit hubris however, in regard to my stomach, when I sampled the raw seafood street food. I had been on a bit of a Ceviche binge of late and I couldn´t pass up the
delicious delicacy. It was tasty going down, but that will be the last time I have raw shellfish purchased from a pushcart in a 3rd world country - lesson learned.
After a taste of the wild nightlife in Monteñita on our first night, we woke up to an entirely different town the next day (and one I liked much more). A mass exodus of visitors took place throughout the day. Where thousands covered the beach 24 hours earlier, Drew and I had an expansive beach playground to throw a frisbee and practice our hand stands. The personality of the downtown area, with its street vendors of every kind, remained, but we could now walk down the street without feeling like we were on a NYC sidewalk at rush hour. Though we weren´t in the mood to take advantage of all that Monteñita had to offer, I would still recommend a stop here to anybody passing through Ecuador.
From Monteñita, we continued north up the coast to the port city of Manta. First a little Manta background information. Though Manta represents an important port city for Ecuador, its primary economy is tuna processing and canning - this is where
Ceviche Cart on the beach
These guys were all over town... your Bumble Bee tuna comes from mother! This is a place common to gringos, but gringo retirees rather than gringo backpackers. We found ourselves in Manta, not because we had heard great things about it from a guidebook or other travelers, but simply because we had a free place to stay via couchsurfing. For those of you who are unfamiliar with couchsurfing, the concept is simple. You make a profile, similar as to with facebook, and offer to host or show around travelers who come to your neck of the woods, and in exchange, when you are traveling, you can find people willing to put you up with them. There´s a little more to it of course and there´s no obligation to host anybody, but that is the gist. (Check it out: www.couchsurfing.com) Drew has couchsurfed many times before, but this was my first time and its probably all downhill from here. We found a place to stay with a retired, widowed American woman named Linda. She certainly doesn´t represent your typical couchsurfer, but we thought we´d give it a shot, especially because she already had another 26 year old, named Rose, living with her (via couchsurfing) for a year,
Balcones del Mar...
The site of our couchsurfing home in Manta. and frankly, we had nothing to lose. We were pretty shocked when the taxi driver pulled up at the address we had been given, an oceanfront condo. When you´ve been traveling for 5 and a half months and living in hostels, simple amenities are an incredible luxury. Drew and I were welcomed into Linda´s home by Rose (from Oregon), Cristian (from Cordoba, Argentina), and Lisa (also from Oregon) and then given the house tour. The 5 of us shared two large bedrooms, each with AIR CONDITIONING and large televisions with CABLE!!! We had free LAUNDRY!!! Free INTERNET!!! Real (as in not instant) COFFEE!!! Clean bathrooms with consistent hot water!!! It was literally like being in a hotel.
With few ambitions for this stop on our trip, we rolled with the flow and let Rose, who had the most Manta experience, lead the way. The five of us walked through the streets of Manta, exploring the markets of a neighborhood called Tarqui. From Tarqui we made our way to the Manta waterfront for a stroll on the beach and to check out the shipyards in town. Our wonderful, yet relatively uneventful, day was capped off with a feast of Thanksgiving
proportions prepared by our host Linda. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, stuffing! We weren't the only guests of honor at the dinner however. Many of Linda's friends and neighbors came for the fun and among them were Garrett and Anya, both of whom live in Manta and became part of our couchsurfing entourage. The next day our group (now of 7 including Garrett and Anya) rented surfboards and got wet in some thumping shore break just down the beach from Linda's condo at a place called Malécon. Though the conditions were poor by any standards, everybody caught waves, and I personally had my first rides of Ecuador (even if they only lasted 2 seconds and ended with a pounding in 6 inches of water).
The rest of our time in Manta was all about doing nothing. Lisa, like Drew and I, had been on the road for over 5 months, and all three of us were keen to sit in AC and watch HBO. We all made it through the next few days only leaving the condo for brief trips to the grocery store when hunger eventually outweighed the basic need of doing nothing and also for night time
activities such as casinos (won $4!) and Ecuadorian pool parties (I do recommend). Drew and I extended our time in Manta by two days and even still, it was incredibly hard to leave. After 5 days, our vacation from vacation came to an end, but with more wonderful new friends and not a single article of dirty laundry!
Our run on the Pacific Ocean has concluded and beach time will resume in the Caribbean. Drew and I are currently back in the Andes! Much love and aloha as always...
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