The last two weeks

---

So it’s been a while. I can’t say I’m surprised though, as I’ve noticed the trend of travelers (such as myself) blogging less and less as they get further into their trips. Why? Because we’re spending less time writing about things we’re doing, and spending more time actually doing them. Nonetheless, I feel I should try my best to keep the one or two of you who actually ready this in the loop, so here’s my attempt to cram a whole two weeks worth of info in one post.

The weekend before last involved an adventure to Isla de la Plata, which is known as “the poor man’s Galapagos”. As you Spanish speakers will know, Isla de la Plata means “island of money” and is thought to be location where pirates stashed their booty back when pirates existed. The reason it’s called the poor man’s Galapagos is that it’s an island with diverse bird species that can be reached for 1/50th the price of getting to the Galapagos. It’s a cool place, but I’m pretty sure it’s nothing like the Galapagos. It’s only one island, and we only saw 2 or 3 different bird species, although there were plenty of them all along the trail.

Anyways, on this Saturday before last we left on a group bus with other students studying Spanish here at the school to Puerto Lopez, another coastal town about 1.5 hours north of here. It was a little warmer, but unfortunately still cloudy, as it has been most of the days here in Montañita. Puerto Lopez itself is a nice town, with a bunch of street shops and small restaurants lining a long span of sand, palm trees, and Pacific Ocean. After reaching Puerto Lopez and checking into Hotel Pacifico we left for a “nature walk” in Agua Blanca, the site of an old indigenous civilization that enjoyed hut building and pottery. It was an interesting little walk.

After dinner back in Puerto Lopez, some of us decided to walk around in search for dessert. As we were walking, a kid (whose name I do not remember, and will thus refer to him as Pablo) came running up to us and threw a water bottle at me. At first I was kind of confused, but then I realized he just wanted to play catch, and so we threw the old water bottle around for a bit. Meanwhile, his older brother, who apparently likes to sing, started singing for the girls, who cheered him on. Then his sister joined him and they started dancing. It was kinda strange, but pretty cool nonetheless. Eventually we left to continue our search for dessert, but along the way we came across a shop selling soccer balls. I figured that since Pablo was playing catch with a water bottle, he could probably use a soccer ball, so I bought one for him. The girls wanted to buy something for Pablo’s older brother and sister, so we returned with a soccer ball and a bunch of ice cream for the whole family - Pablo, his brother, his sister, their mom and grandma. The mom and grandma were really nice and brought out chairs and invited us to sit with them to chat and practice Spanish. Good times.

On a side note, I think it’s really interesting how people in developing countries are so much happier with so much less. The standard of living is substantially lower from what we’re used to at home in the US, and yet everyone seems so much more content with their lives. On top of that, everyone here is really friendly and personable, even with people they don’t know. It just makes us North Americans seem kinda stuck up. Just look at how people greet each other…in South America, we greet each other with kisses (guy-girl/girl-girl, no guy-guy action though), and in North America sometimes a handshake is considered awkward.

Anyways, back to the trip. After walking around town we headed back to the hotel, so we could wake up early Sunday morning and catch a boat to Isla de la Plata. If I didn’t feel so nauseous towards the end of the boat ride, I probably would have said that the boat ride was actually better than the actual tour of the island. We saw a bunch of whales breaching/jumping, and a group of dolphins even swam alongside our boat on the way back. It was really cool. However my stomach just couldn’t handle the slow up-down motion when they killed the boat motor so we could stop and get close to the whales. I made sure to open my eyes or tilt my head whenever I heard other people on the boat shout or gasp, but otherwise I was pretty out of it (thank you Dramamine) for most of the ride back. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of whales or dolphins, but Allen has a few, so either he or I will put them up on Facebook for you to enjoy.

Last week was pretty much just like every other week - Spanish classes, beach, surf, salsa, fiesta, Allen getting dengue fever…ok so dengue was new. Fortunately it was a milder case than the deadly bouts you may have heard or read about, so Allen is alive and well.
Anywho, for the most part, we’ve been keeping the weekdays for learning Spanish and resting, and the weekdays for exploring. Last weekend was no different, as we took a three day trip up to Guayaquil, Cuenca, and Cajas National Park. I’m not sure if any of you have ever heard of (or done) couch surfing, but it’s pretty awesome, and definitely worth checking out if you’re traveling around the world. Basically, you can go to www.couchsurfing.com, make an account, and look up people living in the cities you are traveling to who would be willing to let you sleep on their couch for however long. Usually you’re not expected to pay anything, but you should of course, be willing to return the favor and let them surf your couch if they happen to be in the neighborhood. It’s a great way to get to know people and cities, since most hosts enjoy meeting new people and showing them around their hometowns. Each person also has feedback/pictures/other info on their profile page so you can check them out and make sure they aren’t sketch before you sleep on their couch. Anyways, I started this tangent because we couch surfed in Guayaquil and had a great time; we stayed with one of the nicest families I’ve ever met in my life.

We didn’t see much in Guayaquil, as it’s just a big city, but we were able to get important stuff done like apply for Brazil visas, get Allen’s yellow fever vaccination (which only cost $10 compared to $130 it would have at home!), withdraw money from the bank (speaking of which, traveler’s checks are a pain in the ass to exchange down here, so if you ever plan to visit South America, avoid brining (m)any), and watch The Dark Knight. Pretty soon after the movie ended we caught a bus to Cuenca, which is a colonial/European style town in the Ecuadorian Andes. There are 30+ of churches, 4 rivers, and a Panama hat factory (which you may remember from an earlier post) among other things. About 30 minutes away from Cuenca is Cajas, a really pretty national park that has hundreds of lakes and streams, along with various plant and wildlife. As always, Allen and I took many pictures, so you will see them up at some point.

And that was the weekend. We returned back to Montañita late Sunday night, in time to get a bite to eat and wake up for more Spanish classes. Our trip is really picking up speed now, and everything seems like it’s going by much faster. The first two weeks seemed like a month, but since then it seems like just a few days. I think it’s because we’ve gotten so used to the relaxed lifestyle that time just passes by without us realizing it.

Yesterday was our last day in Montañita 😞. I didn’t think I would get attached to the place and the people we met, but leaving after staying there a whole month was actually pretty sad. We met a lot of really awesome people during our stay, and it was tough to say goodbye to the people who we spent so much time with the last four weeks, but will probably not see again. Hopefully we can keep in touch. That’s what Facebook is for right?

So that’s what happened the last two weeks. Currently we are in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, waiting to catch a bus to another town named Baños, where we will stay a few days. Then we’ll head up to Cotopaxi (active volcano and Ecuador’s second highest peak) for two days before returning to Quito and catching a flight to Peru!

I’ll post up a detailed itinerary soon, but I think this post has enough info to rack your brain for now. I know haven’t really been able to talk to many of you guys for a while, so if you’re reading this, let me know how your summer is going!

---