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Published: March 15th 2010
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After our Colombian city tour with the dancers and a couple of high-altitude mountain climbs, we decided it was time to return to the coast. The pangs of not surfing for so long were beginning to break us down...I started sleepwalking at night and painting weird pictures with my own blood and TBagz started eating earthworms and wetting the bed on a too-constant basis. We needed surf...
We went straight to a beach town called Canoa, despite warnings from someone that had their bus stopped and robbed by some street gang. We planned to spend a couple of days there, taking us through Christmas, and make it to a town called Montanita for New Years. Our time in Canoa went extremely well. We met some interesting foreign folk and the locals were all very friendly and great to hang out with. There were alot of young surfers hanging around and we got to know a few of them. One night they took me to a bar that was just an old boat on the beach...the guy there created his own signature drink that he had in a huge jar which was a mix of the local firewater, some weird spices,
old marijuana leaves, and some dead spiders. Tasted like shit.
The waves were only ok and for Christmas dinner I cant remember if we ate some ramen noodles or had an actual meal, but Canoa was a nice town to relax in for a couple of days. Most of the town was connected somehow in one big family, and by the end of it they knew our gringo faces.
After a quick stop in Puerto Lopez, I made it to Montanita. People had been talking about this beachtown for awhile because of its surf and party scene. Figured it made good stomping grounds for New Years. Not being able to find a reasonably priced place to stay, I eventually wandered into a campground inhabited primarily by artisanos and settled down for the next couple of days. A typical artisano is one who hasn´t bathed in quite awhile, has either dreads or woven seaweed in their hair, and likes to sell bracelets and other random artistic pieces on the street all day long. They are also all especially adapt at twirling flaming objects and juggling machetes. An interesting group to share a campsite with nontheless.
We met up
with our good friend Sena, who just finished teaching english in Chile, and her two companions. We stayed out all night long for New Years, which was a good time. There were these huge bonfires on the beach and lots of people playing music and dancing. The waves the next day were unreal. Probably the biggest I have ever laid eyes on and just being out in the water was exhilarating.
Finally, it was time to leave. We left the coast once again and went with Sena to the south-eastern side of Ecuador. Here it is rainforest country, so we planned to do a 3 day camping-hiking trip through a National Park. All went well...we saw some really cool plants and animals, and got to go to a waterfall. We also met this dude that was really stoked on birds. I have never understood these people who get so excited about looking at birds. They come out with all this fancy camera equipment and telescopes and dress as if they are going on a safari. In an attempt to understand this bird business, I struck up a conversation. Apparently it is very serious business, and they even use the
word ´bird´ as a verb to make themselves sound somewhat hardcore. We ran into him later on the trail...he was ´going to go bird the north ridge and see if he could spot some mixed flocks´. He called this practice ´target birding´. I guess I just dont understand these ´birders´, as they call themselves. Oh well, he probably wonders what the big deal is with climbing up a rock. Either way...birding sucks.
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Heather
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Hey Stephan, I enjoyed reading your Amazon Ecuador post. It reminded me of my time there. My blog is looking for some good travel photos. If you have the time, email us some at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com, or come check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Heather