We caught a flight to Manta then took a bus south to Puerto Lopez because Effy, our guide at LaSelva, told us a friend of his owned a great restaurant there and it was an up and coming tourist area. We did have dinner at Geos Grill-Bar and the food was great.
Puerto Lopez main street
One of the tourist attractions nearby is the Agua Blanca Cultural and Natural Area. They were just starting a new tourist feature – horseback riding to the museum tour. We were the FIRST people to join this adventure and to make it special for us, they brought the horses into town so we could have a LONG ride. We rode these tiny horses 12 km on WOODEN, yes WOODEN saddles to the archeological site. It was hard to remember many details about the ancient city and museum! After our tour we had to ride another 5km back to the highway to catch a bus back to town (we could have ridden all the way back to town ...)
I’m sorry, but 17Km on wooden saddles and stirrups that were too short was absolutely horrible! I was black & blue from one knee to the next and Tobey’s buns were bruised and bloody! The next time Tobey every suggests horseback riding he can take his other wife!
From Puerto Lopez we took a bus to San Vincente. We sat in the back and watched as a drunk near the front of the bus thought he was in an outhouse and urinated on the seat in front of him. Not once, but twice! The bus driver stopped and they tossed him off the bus in the middle of nowhere! Now that’s entertainment!
The next day we headed to Canoa. We couldn’t get seats together, so I chatted with Eduardo and his son about their restaurant in Canoa. (referring to my dictionary when I couldn’t come up with the words I needed!) We found the Hotel Bambu (below) and stayed there. Dinner was at the Oasis Restaurant whose owners are in the Lions club there. We enjoyed dinner and trying to communicate only in Spanish! We did have lunch the following day at Eduardo’s café.
On our bus ride from Canoa to Pedernales Tobey FINALLY got his REAL chicken bus! Just north of Jama, a woman and her son got on with chickens. They were squawking and flapping their wings! Later, a woman with 4 children got on (and Tobey & I were not sitting together) and she plopped one of the littlest ones (about 2 years old) down next to me. The little girl fell asleep and I had to put my arm around her because she kept falling off the seat! When the mom & other kids got off the bus she ALMOST left this one with me! I had to call after her to not forget her baby!
We had lunch in Pedernales and discovered that not having a great command of the Spanish language isn’t all bad. I was trying to tell the waiter that we were not very hungry and didn’t want too much for lunch. He thought we didn’t have much money and felt sorry for us, I think. He brought us 2 HUGE bowls of vegetable bean soup, 2 bananas and 2 cokes for $3.00. Maybe that’s the going rate, but I think we got a great deal!
The Ecuadorian people are really gracious. We spent one night in Santo Domingo with the family of an exchange student that I met through CETUSA, an organization that 2 of our exchange students had come through. Joao said we HAD to come see him at his home. (He wasn’t even OUR student!) His family hosted us, took us to dinner and a tour of their ranch outside of Santo Domingo. It was absolutely incredible!
After leaving the ranch, we took the luxury express bus (no chickens or drunks) back to Quito. Tobey carried all of our things in the backpack for our 5 night bus adventure.
Reluctantly, we said goodbye to Ecuador and flew home after an incredible 3 week trip. It’s hard to believe that we ALMOST didn’t go!
1 comment:
Sis, aren't you glad you did go... Love the maps ! ! !
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