Surfing dogs and headbutting jellyfish

Trip Start Oct 10, 2006

Trip End Oct 10, 2007

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Flag of Ecuador Canoa, Ecuador
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

As you can see I have got a bit behind on the diary entries, I am currently at a hostel with free and fast internet so its time to catch up. If you want an alternative view of these places and havent seen it yet, read jb's side of the story. http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/johnboyellis/
My aim with these entries is to fill in any other bits of interest, after all you don't want to read all the same stuff again. If you hadnt realised yet, you dont have to click on each email link to view the journals you can just use the site to navigate forward and back between entries. I will only be sending one email for the first journal from now on, you need to click on the next entry to see how far I have got, if there is no text and only a map pin, I aint got that far yet. Also the dates of the entries are not the date written but the date of the events described. Comments and questions are welcome and as I now have a new camera, check out the photo sections coming soon. Here we go..

My last entry was of our journey to and arrival in Canoa, me and jb were being entertained by Ariel, the local flamethrower, and thoroughly eaten alive by pesky mosquitos. Despite having to follow a strict evening routine to protect ourselves from these parasites of the night, Canoa was by far the best place we had visited so far.

One highpoint of Canoa was headbutting a jellyfish when I duck dived under a wave. Recently jb and I had discussed how cool it was to open your eyes when you duck under a wave in clear water and can see the shape of the wave as you slice under it. Luckily for me, in Canoa the water wasnt clear and on this occasion I had my eyes firmly shut. As I surfaced I felt a tingle around the left side of my face, as it grew in strength I realised what had happened. I continued to sit outback with the boys, scanning for suitable peaks in the messy surf and declining the offers to urinate on my face. After a couple of minutes the whole left side of my face was on fire and it was difficult to open my eye. I struggled on like a surfing cyclops for a few more minutes but realised it was useless and caught a wave in to shore. Leo at the Bambu bar couldnt stop laughing at the situation as I dont think he had seen it before, but he helped me out with a cloth with some vinegar on it. After holding to my face for twenty minutes and showing off my unique circumstances to anyone I knew, the pain begin to subside. After a further twenty minutes I could open my eye fully and had only a slight red mark around my nose and forehead for my troubles. I picked up my board and bravely headed back to the surf, facing down the ocean again like the Ironman I am! Ok, you can stop laughing now...
The beach at Canoa wasnt just frequented by surfers and travellers. One afternoon while me and a few others were sunning ourselves between surfs, a huge herd of cattle being hustled by a group of men and boys on horses came our way. We held our ground until the last minute, but once we could smell cows breath we grabbed our stuff and legged it to higher ground! The same afternoon featured the appearance of a surfing dog. This stupid mutt doggy paddles (as if he could summon any other stroke!) a long way out, almost beyond the white water. He hangs around out there checking the surfers whizzing past him for a good twenty minutes, until we actually start to worry he may drown. A couple of bigger sets crash over him and push him towards the safety of the beach and when he pops out he shakes the saltwater from his fur and trots off as if it is a daily occurrence for him.
One night not long before we left Bambu, Leo lets me be barman for a bit. It is quiet and after many daily discussions in my fast improving Spanish I am pretty friendly with him by then. He is sat out of the bar near the pool table and I ask for a beer, he just waves to the bar and tells me to help myself and write it on my tab. I am happy to do this and head off to serve myself. A couple of locals I know arrive with perfect timing to demand I serve them too, I look at Leo for approval and he waves that its ok. I quickly serve them two beers, not wanting to get stuck behind there and go back to my seat. Leo knows them well and collects there money from his seat. This is another example of how friendly and trusting the people were in Bambu.

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