Going Coastal

Kent and I just got back from a week-long adventure on the coast. From Guayaquil to Manta, we thoroughly enjoyed the warm beaches, thatched bungalows and delicious seafood. It was just the break I needed.

We spent a night in Riobamba to break up the long bus ride south. It's a lovely colonial city with lots of beautiful architecture and the best lasagna! Maybe we were just hungry after travelling...

The Hotel Tren Dorado "Golden Train" was right across the plaza from the train station from which departs the famous Nariz del Diablo "Devil's Nose" ride.

The next morning we walked around the city and spotted many fresh chanchos like this one.
The six hour bus ride down from the sierra to Guayaquil was long and hot but afforded gorgeous views like this one.
Guayaquil was much safer and more attractive than I expected. We found a reasonable hotel close to the Malecon, the fancy boardwalk/urban development project the city carried out in 2000, and enjoyed shrimp dinners and...McDonald's sundaes for dessert. So decadent.

The Malecon streched for several kilometers along the river, and had many statues, lookout towers and sailboats to go along with its restaurants and stores.

Back at the uber-modern bus station, we boarded an air conditioned bus for Salinas, Ecuador's most famous and fancy beach resort area. The water was indeed crystal clear, the mansions tasteful, and the seafood excellent. We stayed in the Hostal Los Cocos in a nice second-story room. The only downfall of Salinas was the painful bee sting that I got on my finger while collecting shells on the beach, and the guy on coke that kept trying to get money from us (in a non-threatening way) after dinner.

A few hours farther north, we checked into one of Montañita's many hostels and Kent finished his master's thesis in a hammock. Yay! I ran into Zac Wass, a classmate of mine I hadn't seen from high school. It was fun to catch up with him and his Peruvian friend Adrian. The next morning I took Kent out for a private surf lesson, and he stood up! The waves were fun and the people were friendly.


In Las Tunas, we stayed in an Eco-Lodge called Azuluna, all bamboo with great kitchen where we made ourselves breakfast. It was also home to huge, incredibly soft dogs. We met a group of Canadian women finishing up a teaching practicum and some volunteers who were just finishing a wall as part of a water system for the town. The owner of Azuluna was also the president of the foundation that had connected all of the volunteers to the community.

Here I am with the milk we saved from breakfast and carried on the bus to Puerto Lopez, only 20 minutes north. Of course I spilled some on myself getting on the bus.

To be continued...