Hosteria Puerto Ballesta Esmeraldas

... a paid entry - Playa Escondida and decided to set up camp there for the night. It was a good choice - we decided to stay a couple of nights there to enjoy the wildlife reserve, the many bird species and orther wild life. We witnessed some very high tides there because of the moon cycle, these were the highest tides they had seen in about 7 years and it was interesting to see the changes to the beach...

... kids came from Quito-sick; this is the biggest one (referring to me).” Even in my stupor, I laughed. They ended up giving me a white pill, which apparently was magic because I slowly felt better. Later on, I looked on the back of the package: acetometaphine. Just the common Tylenol.

It was hard to get better on this trip due to the high level of activity involved. I did not get to enjoy the beach the first day, but was able to join the children on the second ...

... patient while I struggled to understand. It was fun. We definitely had what resembled a conversation because he was interested in learning some English and so it worked out well. Dinner was a broadening of my horizons. I had a whole small fish for dinner, head and all. I did have to ignore the face but it was very tasty, totally fresh and a great dinner. I also had the most interesting hot drink this evening. It was made with all sorts of things I ...

... day off with a meal at one of the ceviche stands that sets up every morning with the day's catch. My stomach appears to have handled it fine. The sky was gray and occasionally rainy, so I spent more time in the internet cafe than on the beach. Ecuador's coast is apparently like this for much of the year. The town itself has plenty of souvenir shops and bars on the beach, and looks pretty run down for such a popular spot. Most of ...

... with cabin in front of it to bring you to some of the hotels they probably have some special deals with and get a commission but not bad if you do not book in advance... Even though I have to say even the guide was friendly he brought me to 2 hotels where the rooms have no windows. How depressing is that but okey, Heike, as blond as she is toughed vale, it is before new years, it is holiday time, the coast is packed with Ecuadorians and probably everything is booked ...

Als enige gringo op een lokale bus met kippen op je rugzak onderin de bus en een meute schoolkinderen die je met open mond zitten aan te staren... dan weet je dat de plek waar je naartoe gaat wel eens speciaal zou kunnen zijn. Na mijn stormachtige busrit krijg ik nog een lift van een Mompicheno in zijn pick-up (op sterven na dood) en kom ik uiteindelijk aan in Mompiche. Het is dat oord waar 5-jarigen losgeslagen paarden achterna gaan. Waar vrouwen minstens 5 ...

Dear Everyone, It has been a while, but here I am and I would like to let you know that things are still going well here in Quito. Since we last spoke, I have had quite the opportunity to travel and I also continue to enjoy life here in Quito. Last week, I traveled to four cities north west of Quito. The majority of these cities are not ...

... a dark stew like dish with bananas on the side, I tried to imagine that I was eating rice and beens. From what I saw of the preparation of relleno, I was eating some sort of sausage, but I convinced myself that it was legumes and grains. I smiled as I finished my dish and then inquired about the food after my colleagues and I were in the car on our way to the hotel. They informed me that I had been eating morcilla ...

... and as a camp. In fact a camp with 60 kids was on in floors 2 and 3. The Rogers were all on the first floor and we occupied two rooms on the roof. Jim and the kids put on the swimsuits we had carted all over South America and enjoyed an hour or so of boogie boarding. Later Jim and I walked along the beach for a couple of miles, past four star hotel, sunbathers, and restaurants where people sipped tropical fruit ...

... have built their houses themselves of concrete blocks with corrugated plastic roofs. The local house I was in yesterday was brightly painted and beautiful in its simplicity, a happy house, but the parents slept in the one bedroom with all three kids, and heartbreakingly there were picture cut out of a magazine of a designer bathroom, that had been pinned to the shelf in the little bathroom of the house, which at that moment had no running water ...