Our Itinerary (not fixed)
It has been many weeks since my last post. Hoping to make up for it with some good information in this update! We have a confirmed itinerary and I am going to try to include links to most of the places we are staying. Our first night, we arrive very late and will be taking a shuttle to a hotel in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador. The staff at the Las Mercedes Hotel arranged for a driver to meet us at the airport with a sign! See link below. The shuttle is $7 and the night at the hotel is $33 plus tax. This includes breakfast the next morning!http://www.lasmercedeshotel.com/
On the morning of the 13th, we will be taking a taxi to the bus station and boarding the bus listed below:
TRANS
ESMERALDAS – ATACAMES - 9:10
(Terminal Terrestre de Carcelen)
This bus will take us to Atacames, which is about 15 kilometres from Same. We will get another taxi to take us directly to our first coastal stop at the Villa Ana (no website) in Same. My husband found this hostel on Booking.com. The host has answered all of our inquiries. Cost for our stay there is only $117.00 for three nights. This is in the home of local ex-pat, who has two suites that he rents out to tourists. We will have cooking facilities in our room. The Villa is located one block from the beach! We are planning to explore the northern coast from this nexus.
To get to our next stop, we will be using the very popular local bus system to travel further down the coast to Canoa. We are planning to stay there for two nights at a cost of $130, including breakfast. Canoa is a more popular tourist destination, so cost is a bit higher. We might try some surfing, or paragliding. We are also looking at property in the area to get ideas for our next trip! See link to hotel below:
On the 18th of January, we will travel by bus from Canoa to San Jacinto (about 55 km). In San Jacinto, we will be staying in a more upscale hotel for two nights at $120 including breakfast. The hosts are willing to show visitors around the area, and have been very good to reply to our inquiries. See link below:
On the 20th, we will move on to Puerto Lopez. So far, this is my favourite area of the coast, but it doesn't mean much, since I have not seen any of it in person! This town has a thriving fishing industry, a local mercado, diving and scuba, nature reserves, and more. This is also a centre for humpback whale watching in the migration season (from early June to late September).
Our final stop along the coast will be in Salinas. Salinas is a resort town, with dry climate. We will be staying there for two nights, for $105. See link to hostel below:
On the 27th in the evening, we will fly from Salinas to Quito, and then board an overnight flight for our return to Ottawa.
It still seems like a dream, that we will be going to this beautiful place! I am working hard on learning as much Spanish as I can, and starting to plan for packing. I also need to plan for adults to do spot checks on my two girls, Erin and Sara, who will be staying at home on their own during the trip! Hope they remember to feed the dog!
I will post more soon!
