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Published: February 22nd 2008
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Ecuador
Arrival in Quito From the time we arrived it was plain sailing to the hostel. Quito airport is a tightly run ship. As soon as you have your bags a taxi desk takes your destination address and fare ($7) and writes you a receipt to give to the driver who awaits you a short walk from the exit. A butch looking woman put our bags in the boot and we set off bound for the Chicago Hostel where we had two nights booked.
The air was a strange combination of smog and lack of oxygen (2,850 m above sea level). A full deep breath impossible. Quito is the 2nd highest city in South America and foreigners often suffer from altitude sickness especially if the arrival there was not by gradual ascent - which ours was not! I was trying not to think about it too much though!
When we pulled up outside the Chicago Hostel it was very dark (11pm) and the front door locked. I was worried they had forgotten about us. My Spanish was about to be put to the test via the intercom!. Luckily a lovely old man called Jose was eagerly awaiting
View from Bus
Quito - Canoa our arrival and he did indeed understand me. The reception was quaint, living room style with a fridge full of beer for $1. We were happy! Our room was simple but perfect with great views of the city.
In the hostel we met some lovely people on similar voyages to our own. Milly from England was on a year long adventure and heading next to work on an organic farm outside the city. Heidi from Oregon was awaiting the arrival of her brother and then headed for the beach to surf. Alec the Swedish nurse was planning on staying in Quito for 4 weeks to learn Spanish and volunteer at a local hospital.
Alcohol is not advised at that altitude so we waited til the second night and just had one!
We stayed two days in Quito, mostly resting and getting used to not being able to breathe properly and then headed for the beach side town of Canoa.
Canoa via Manta An eight hour bus journey ended up being 10 and when we arrived in Manta we realized we should have gotten off an hour earlier to connect to another bus to Canoa. Late
and grumpy and with the help of a lovely local English speaking lady we ended up at a Manta budget hotel. After looking at three different rooms getting cheaper each time we ended up in a small fan assisted room con baño for $20.00. The only drawback was that the window overlooked a dark storeroom with no fresh air!
Staying in Manta was a means to an end with its only redeeming factor being the awesome Chinese restaurant we found where we ate like kings for a total of $8!
The next morning we jumped in a cab to the central bus terminal. It was mental. People everywhere and loads of vendors selling all sorts. After some confusion at the ticket desk i.e. me not having a clue what the guy was trying to tell me his colleague led me to the bus I needed and explained using all sorts of hand gestures that I pay on board and that it´s about to leave. I scrambled back for Tom who was guarding the bags and made it back in time. Soon we were on the way to Canoa with only one change along the way.
Also on
our bus was James from Armagh. He has been travelling for 3 months and is a tad browner than us! He gave us some good tips on getting around and suggested that some flights would def be a good idea to cover the ground we want.
Both the scenery and pot holes along the was were immense!
Upon arrival in Canoa we headed straight for the beach to find a place to stay. We landed at Coco Loco a cool bamboo style building with an outdoor bar and lots of hammocks. Emily from New York State greeted us and gave us the good news that they had a double room available with private bathroom and balcony overlooking the ocean for a cool $8.50 each a night - yes please!
We parted ways with James, got settled and then headed straight for the ocean and my first encounter with the pacific!
My First Injury! The tide was on its way in and the waves strong. The pull as the waves ebbed was immense. I got a little too brave at one point and got dragged along the sea bed on my front sustaining a "carpet burn"
type injury in my private region! It killed. I hobbled back to the shore and summoned Tom (frolicking away) to come and help. Foolishly I had a peak at the damage and became quite weak when I realized the extent. It took us about 20 minutes to get me back to our room (a 30 sec walk) as each time I stood up the world spun and I came close to fainting. We eventually made it though (I crawled most of the way!) and some tears and sudocream later (good ole sudocream - really, never leave home without it) I could walk again and headed for the bar (where else) to oder us 2 well deserved Pilseners (the local brew and only choice on the beer front, but thankfully tasty!).
While waiting for Tom and giving the mosquittos some Irish blood I chatted to Frans from Holland who was the previous owner of Coco Loco and now lived a few hundred yards further along the beach. We hung out and got drunk with our fellow guests - Mike and Patricia the Organic Farmers from Maine, Jess and Ashley from Boulder and Boston, L.A. (Laura Ann) from Georgia who had
the nicest Southern accent I´ve heard as well as the owners - Elizabeth from Alaska and Mau from Mexico.
Two days in we felt ready for a bike ride. With Emily as our guide we headed in search of an archealogical dig her boyfriend was working on near a local beach. 16k and much sun burn later we found neither the dig nor the beach but felt better for the excersion (mmmm).
The next day we headed on a day trip to a local Organic farm (Finca Rio Muchacha) with Mike and Patricia. It was a fun packed, awesome day with Dario the owner seeing to it that we enjoyed every minute. We waded through some serious mud (as it´s rainy season at the moment it rains at least once a day) in a Land Rover and on horse back, had a homemade lunch with the staff and some American volunteers AND the best of all we made chocolate from SCRATCH - of course that was the highlight for me! I even got some ground up cocoa to bring home!
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Jenny
non-member comment
nostalgia...
These photos made Antonio and I a bit nostalgic for our travels. Love the chocolate-making photos! Looks yummy. Enjoy!