http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Ecuador , West , Canoa en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:08:33 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:08:33 UTC The more time Ryan and I spent time together the more I realize how old he is getting. Besides the fact that half of his beard as well as his chest hair are gray he is beginning to go to bed earlier around 930 and wake up ridiculously early. I have been told that that is clearly a sign of old age. For instance on Saturday thank god we didnrsquot go out even though it was Canoa days which bas http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-350424.html Six week down at the Sundown Spanish School. We are defiantly making progress but as they say in Spanish ldquopoco a pocordquo which means little by little. We are still taking 4 hrs a day 5 days a week. Ryan and I still canrsquot believe how difficult it is to learn a language. But with each day our vocabularies are growing. The dynamics of the school have really changed over the last week http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-335881.html so im not really sure why im in here right now and not on the beach. i am in my bathing suit which is a start. today is a GORGEOUS beach day. but more of that later. yesterday was great. basically i went back to the hostel and read one hundred years of solitude and took care of taylor. theres some bug going around that 4 people in our group have already had that includes stomach pains fever http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-331155.html Holai just spent the last week in Rio Muchacho near Canoa in Ecuador. Our large group of 22 has split up into 2 groups of 11...Quilla which means moon and Inti which means sun. im in the Quilla group. my two leaders are Chris and Janiva and theyre way cool. So on saturday we got up and took an 8 hour bus ride from Quito to Bahia. we drove through towns and tropical dry forests. one of the http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-330777.html Life in Ecuador in tranquilo chill as usual. For the last 2 weeks Ryan and I have been staying at the Sundown hotel and have 2 more weeks booked. We are taking 4 hrs of Spanish class a day 5 days a week. 2 hrs in the morning which is strictly grammar and then 2 hrs in the afternoon which is speaking and exercises. I canrsquot believe how much we have improved in 2 week. It is slowly coming http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-325991.html Since my last entry both the Republican and Democratic Conventions have occurred and the NCAA college football season has started how exciting Life here hasnrsquot been quite as interesting however it has been filled with activity. I do apologize for taking so much time between blog entries these days it is just that the blog has moved down on the priority list for a number of reason http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-320578.html httpwww.facebook.comprofile.phpid736005182This is Vanessa'shttpwww.facebook.comprofile.phpid642100943Here is Ry'sEnjoy http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-317414.html Well hello all.its been awhile ryan and i were lazy and would get sick of being in the internet cafes and sweating to death. we discovered the surf shak a bar that has wifi and for only 2 a day we can use it all day. good deal. oh and u can drink beer well actually u can drink beer anywhere.Things are still going really well. still plugging away at spanish classes 5times a week and both ryan an http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-317411.html I know I know Ryan and i havent written in along time but we have been busy plus internet access is a joke on the coast. Well lets see since we last wrote we took a 12 hour bus ride from Quito to Las Tunas which is along the coast. We were there for 3 nights in a cabaa called La Barquita they were really nice the bar was a giant boat. We went whale watching near Puerto Lopez and saw several grou http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-310274.html Sunday morning the girls and I woke up early to see the rest of our group off as they headed back into the jungle for another 3 weeks. That afternoon we once again packed up our backpacks and headed to the bus terminal. We managed to get tickets for a 1215 bus to Bahia a town on the coast. Though we were told the trip would only take 8 hours we arrived into the dark and deserted town of Ba http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-310214.html So for the past two weeks we have been traveling on the coast. We woke up on Sunday morning and after checking out of hostel we went to the bus station to buy tickets and we were so lucky cause the bus was leaving in 20 minutes we have had amazing timing like this our whole trip when we donrsquot know the schedules of anything and we end up making buses just at the perfect time good travel http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-310206.html Im about two weeks behind on this whole blog thing because I just havent had chance to get near a computer. Today I have a little free time since litterally ALL my clothes are at the laundry and I cant leave the hostel wearing only a pair of tights and a llama pattern jumper so I will use this opportunity to catch up. So based on notes Ive been making on the back of leaflets during horrendous http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-303679.html While we were out stuffing our faces with seafood the other night we came across a big group of American doctors eating in the same restaurant. From eaves dropping on their conversation we established that they were a Christan medical mission. Kit wanted to go and make friends. I was very much against this due to my irrational phobia of evangelical chrstians. Yes this is a little mean. But in http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-303672.html Our hostel spanish school is at least 30 minutes walk outside of Canoa. Not 15 minutes as stated on the website. This is a LIE. To try and get around the problem we have rented rusty old bikes to which we have afixed torches using part of my bikini top in an attempt at road safety. Mine will not change gear and is stuck in an extremely low one meaning I have to peddle like fred flintstone to g http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-300306.html I have overcome my reservations about surfers all being posey wankers who talk like theyre retarded knarley dude fuck off and decided to give it a go. At first I hit myself in the face with the board repeatedly and blamed Kit. This is strangely remeniscent of what happened when he was teaching me to snowboard. Pretty quickly though in fact on my THIRD wave I managed to stand up and ride it http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-299850.html So were in this tiny seaside village called Canoa. Were going to be here for about 3 weeks staying at a little Spanish language school right on the beach. The place is run by a local family. This Ecuadorian guy Huan Carlos his wife his Dad and various other relatives teach classes at the school and run the hostel. They have three puppies a kitten and a small child who all run around and clim http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-295867.html So American Airlines never answer the phone. They clearly just give out a fake number to angry bagless people. In the end we stayed an extra night in Guayaquil and went back to the airport where we just marched in and swiped my bag out of arrivals where is was rotating forlornley on a conveyer belt allegedy containing luggage from Panama. Whatever. The main tourist attraction in Guayaquil was http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-295412.html Hmmm to start off with the giant fire...late one evening just before bed i was wandering some dark dodgy street in San Lorenzo while Kate slept soundly away from the pouring rainwhen a rather impressive explosion ripped through the night sky accompanied by an orange glow a few blocks away....so hastily i headed toward the commotion...no not very smart i understand half a market plus a two st http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-295106.html I was just robbed. It was unglamorous i didnt even know it was happening. A guy came up to our table and passed out little forms that said he was deaf and he needed money... my bag was hanging on my chair and when he came back to collect money he was oddly friendly to us when we declined to hand anything over to him... gave us a thumbs up with the one hand that wasnt occupied stealing my stu http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-272544.html I was just robbed. It was unglamorous i didnt even know it was happening. A guy came up to our table and passed out little forms that said he was deaf and he needed money... my bag was hanging on my chair and when he came back to collect money he was oddly friendly to us when we declined to hand anything over to him... gave us a thumbs up with the one hand that wasnt occupied stealing my stu http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-272543.html I dont have a whole lot to say about good old Canoa. Its just a village on the beach not much going on. I just wanted one last chance to do some surfing before heading inland so Jaakko and I stayed 5 days and hit the water as much as possible. I guess the most memorable part was the full day journey it took to get there when we estimated to be about 3 hours. We took a bus they told us di http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-252444.html hi there more photos for you guys sorry computer playing up http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-248767.html Well we left La Hesperia a week ago and took a dusty rough 8hour bus ride to a small surfing town called Canoa. The area is very green and lush with lizards cacti orchids and many other plants and animals. We stayed at two hotels in Canoa both quite nice with great views of the ocean and sunsets. The waves are huge and surfers are almost always out. We will be back to take lessons in the nex http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-245508.html The itching has subsided the nausea has calmed and finally a restful night. After a week in the jungle nearly eaten alive not by snakes but various insects and a bout of some kind of food poisoning or flu bug not to mention the damn roosters squawking at all hours we finally feel at peace. But only because we have landed on the widest longest sandiest beach we have ever seen with waves c http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-227148.html Finally http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-216031.html After our amazing time at Sani Lodge we headed West towards the coast to Canoa. The 12 hour journey involved 3 taxis 1 bus and 1 boat but we got there in the end. Canoa is a beautiful sleepy little beach town with not alot going on. We stayed in the lovely Hotel Bambu and had a great bar on the beach and awesome food too. To be honest not alot was done in Canoa We enjoyed happy hour cockta http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-215389.html Hey So Ive now been in Canoa for almost three weeks. Spanish classes are going well. I have two instructors a father and son. The son runs the place with his family. They have a 5 yr old daughter thats pretty cute and who will speak with me shes a lot better than I am. The father whos about 70 keeps talking about me getting married no not to him... its quite funny but Ive alr http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-204337.html HolaAs I left it last I was wandering around Quito. My final day there I walked through a park where a lot of artists were selling their paintings and an outdoor market was set up. It was there in a nice booth of handicrafts and weaving that I saw a beanie type hat with the New York Yankees symbol. How sad I thought as I looked up and saw another NYY baseball cap coming my way. It was defini http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-200543.html Vide Verde our spanish school gives the option to study in either the rainforest or on an organic farm near the coastal resort town Canoa. It was our first overnight bus trip in Ecuador and it wasn't exactly how should I say comfortable. If you are over 5'10 you pretty much can't ride a bus in Ecuador for more than 2 hours. If your name is Kevin Patti dont get on a bus in Ecuador. Nigh http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-200440.html Were advised to go to the Doctor in St Vincente 20km from Canoa. He knows his shit. We get a taxi to bring us there.The surgery seems like the usual doctors surgery the nurse is wearing white theres a few very sick old people aroundWe get through the formalities in Spanish. Go into the Examination roon. The Doc doesnt speak English. My spanish is really not at the level to decribe exact sympt http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/West/Canoa/blog-192911.html