Sunday, February 5, 2017

La costa ecuatoriana

¡Hola!
Oh man. The past 2 weeks have scorched by literally and figuratively, and I think by the time I get home my face will have morphed into one huge freckle. Since my last post, I have made many stops: Puerto López, Montañita, and Guayaquil in Ecuador, and am currently in Lima, Peru. I will keep this post Ecuadorian, but I will say that, yes, standing in line for hours to cross the Peruvian  boarder at 2am on an overnight bus is an absolute dream come true and is the ultimate tourist attraction for anyone looking to further some misery.

I'll start with Puerto López. This is by far one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been, and I very much look forward to returning. The bus trip to get there was a bit of a drag, and I burned the hell out of my leg on a motorcycle tailpipe, but it was well worth it. The small beach town is nestled in the center of el Parque Nacional Machallila, which hosts an incredible variety of protected lands to explore. I began my exploration at Isla de La Plata, which is commonly known as the "poor man's (or person's???) Galapagos." It did not disappoint. While I did not discover any new theories on natural selection or see 4 different colors of sand in the same place, I also didn't spend thousands of dollars, and for that, I am super happy. I did, however, get to live out my dream of seeing a blue-footed boobie and massive sea turtle up close. I also had the chance to snorkel in the shallow reefs near the island, where I saw tons of coral and many types of colorful fish. The following day, I took a bus with some hostel-mates to La Playa de los Frailes, which is a gorgeous protected beach that hosts some of the most fascinating tide pool systems I've ever seen. We scaled some rocks and scraped some knees but it was an absolutely incredible day overall. Later that day, I got to reunite with a former Camp Sealth coworker in all of her turtle conservation glory, and look ridiculously awkward in a salsa dancing class. My salsa has since improved, but I still uphold the stereotype of the white tourist with two left feet. I met many incredible people at this point in my trip, which made it all the better. I ended up joining a sweet young couple from Córdoba, Argentina on the next stage of their backpacking adventure in Montañita, in a hostel recommended by a fellow U.S. backpacker, and ran into the women at my hostel from New Zealand and Germany who came to Montañita several days after we did.

Montañita was not originally on my itinerary, but I'm very glad I went. It lives up to it's raging reputation, which was not kind to my shoestring budget, but was an absolute blast. Here, I met people from all corners of the world coming together to live a nocturnally for a weekend. In a way, it united everyone under a blanket of booze and created a welcoming and celebratory energy. It was a super touristy pit stop, I'm not going to lie, but sometimes it's fun to own your tourist side and have some fun. Here, I met even more incredible people, some of whom I hope to have in my life for a long time.

After Montañita, I went to Guayaquil, Ecuador. I planned on staying here for a simple pit stop to Peru, but the atmosphere of the hostel I randomly picked kept me there another night. I arrived to a grey-looking city dumping buckets of rain, and fell flat on my ass right outside of the main bus terminal. American Idiot may or may not have been playing in the background. I was miserable, had been on a bus for hours, and all of my stuff was wet, but I felt immediately welcomed and happy among the wonderful family gathered there. During my first day, I left the hostel in the morning with a team of 5 Dutch people, (all traveling separately?? Crazy coincidence,) and the group slowly broke apart until it was just me and a 65 year old pot farmer from Amsterdam named Dirk. I thought this guy was super strange when I first met him, but we ended up going on a massive adventure through the rain-soaked city and having a wonderful time. He began backpacking when he was my age, and has traveled and lived all over the world. He went to school for philosophy, and has a fascinating take on life, which was incredible to soak in. During this trip, I also spent a ton of time with the woman who owns the hostel, and she wants me to come back and work for her at some point in the near future.

In a nutshell, Ecuador was absolutely brilliant, and I can't wait to go back. The wildlife was incredible, the food was incredible, and the fact that I didn't have to lose money during a foreign currency exchange was incredible. Despite all of this, the best part was the people. Each Ecuadorian I met was unbelievably helpful, kind, patient, and thorough. They made this experience what it was, and I hope to take some of their energy with me on the next stage of my travel, and my life.

Sending all of my love to friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers back home. Looking forward to seeing everyone soon, and hearing about your adventures!

Ps. This blog site doesn't allow me to post photos from my phone, so I put a link for my Facebook album of photos below if you'd like to check them out. ❤Click here for Photos

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