The last saturday of September was the birthday of my Mexican friend Nancy. To celebrate we would go to Montañita on Saturday, Montañita is a party beach town which has quite a reputation. It's full of hippies and surfers, and some people like it so much they apparently end up staying for a few months. This is the place to be if you like to party all night, but if you were to seek a relaxing beach break then you would do better to avoid this place and go elsewhere. On the friday before our trip to Montañita, a group of us went to the cinema and then to the bar Fanatico.
Steve and I testing out the local Pilsener towers.
Zombies?
Most people went to Montañita early on Saturday, but I had already signed up to go on an UEES trip to a plantation with a couple of the others. We headed there earlier than one prefers at around 8am. The other guy accompanying me was Brenn, who was actually in hospital yesterday because of some apparently extreme food poisoning but seemed determined to go on the trip today. The other two internationals were Michelle and Frances, the older woman of the group (28) who I have not talked to as much as most others but am relieved to say she’s just as friendly and down to earth as the rest of us. There were a couple of native UEES students and a couple of others from another university, alongside my favourite staff members Angelike and Andrea.
First we went to a monkey forest to walk around, then
some more hiking in a forest area which was full of mosquitoes. Seriously, this
second place was barely enjoyable because of the constant stinging we kept
getting. We also took a canoe ride on a river to accompany the local to catch some crabs.
Having a nap?
Brenn.
Frances and Michelle.
We then went to the Churute plantation where we were given food, and saw some of the food they produce (mostly rice!).
We got back to Samborondón around 4:30pm, enough time
for me to get something to eat before meeting up with Brenn’s host brother
Michael to take a bus to Montañita.
With Ayano and Aiko, two Japanese students who arrived last term, and Michael.
The main road is full of these cocktail stands, and the cocktails are dangerously cheap.
Matt found great happiness in Montañita.
The next day! Forced to wear Solbi's flip-flops as my shoes were covered in sand :( anyway, definitely a fun place. The bus ride from and to Guayaquil is three hours, but both times I slept throughout the whole journey so no bathroom necessities.
GUARANDA
The first weekend of October me and Solbi spent a
night in Guaranda, a town in the mountains. This was a nice little night away
from Guayaquil, although definitely did not need more than one night there. The bus ride was four to five hours, the longest I've had yet which meant I was definitely a little worried about the toilet situation. I make sure to go twice before getting on the bus, and I've managed to not actually have the need to go while on board yet.
Shout out to Bristol!
Beautiful!
DOS MANGAS
I went with Solbi and some of the girls to a forest commune called Dos Mangas, where we hiked for a couple of hours and had a little swim/paddle in a rock pool.
Now this water was freezing! It would be nice if it was sunny and hot, but this day was cloudy and un-Ecuadorianly not hot.
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