Ecuador Exploration
Trip Start
Nov 24, 2005
1
24
25
Trip End
Nov 24, 2006
Guayaquil,
Ecuador
Monday, July 17, 2006
Originally Katie and I had planned to end our adventures by heading up into Central America. After doing some research we realised that this wasn´t going to be financially feasible as we fly home from Buenos Aires, so we decided that we would head back to Brazil (where we started our South American travels) and basically end up doing a huge circle path of the continent by heading through the Amazon and down the north coast of Brazil. This meant that I needed to organise a visa for Brazil and we needed to get some flights sorted out. Also we were obligated to watch the World Cup Soccer final
01. Watching the World Cup Final
. We couldn´t find the bar where we´d intended to watch the final so we ended up at a tiny ´hole in the wall´ bar which had enough space for us three, the bartender and his family. Even though this bar was tiny it still had a massive flat screen TV. Perfic!Once organised we set of for a small (Ecuadorian) coastal town called Montanita about three hours from Guayaquil. This place was a real backpackers haven and apparently was supposed to have Ecuador´s best surf. Hmmmm...well, Montanita´s surf was disappointing and to make things worse the town was held under a constant fog. Having left sunny Mancora hoping for more sun and sand, all we got was sand. No....it wasn´t that bad. We stayed in a sweet bungalow right on the beach and the town had lots of excellent restaurants with a great night scene. One night, while we were sitting down for a meal, two small kids came to our table wanting to sell us sweets. Instead of buying sweets we didn´t want, we offered to buy them some dinner (an empanada). They told us they were brother and sister, as they eagerly gobbled down their empanadas. The following night they returned with their other brother. The night after that they returned with the other brother and their other sister. So for our entire stay we avoided being talked into buying sweets by bribing four small children with empanadas. We were also fortunate enough to meet lots of other really lovely people who were staying at our bungalows, who made our time there much richer
02. Half time...still happy.
. One night we all headed out to see what Montanita´s nightlife had to offer. A good night was had by all and Katie even received an invitation from Montanita´s shortest local, to dance. She excepted and was given a thorough lesson in how to move, South American style. See photo.After a week at the foggy beach it was time to head back to Guayaquil, where we all were flying out from. Katie and I had organised a flight to Manaus, Brazil in the heart of the Amazon jungle. Ryan sorted out some flights to Granada and then we had to prepare ourselves to go our separate ways. Our little threesome would soon be no more, How sad!
Anyway we all headed out to the airport together (even though Ryan´s flight left three hours after ours!! We appreciated the company!) and said our sad goodbyes. We´d been travelling with Ryan for quite a while and we knew it would be a shock to the system not having him around. Ryan, thanks for all the amazing memories. You´re sorely missed and we hope you´re having an absolute blast.
Stay tuned for tales from the Amazon!
