Friday Jan 13, 2017

The end result of yesterday's woes was that we arrived in Quito at 7:30 am Friday morning. I used my beginner Spanish to find out that a taxi rider to the Quitumbe Bus Terminal was $33. So we quickly decided to take a commuter bus instead for $2 each! Saw a good portion of the northern part of Quito while on the bus. What a beautiful city! Ringed by the Andes mountains on all sides, with breathtaking valleys and peaks. When we arrived at the bus station, we went to tourist information and were directed to ticket counters for various buses. In Ecuador, many companies are allowed to compete for your business and there are NO monopolies. This results in much better prices and service for the consumer (cough cough Air Canada). Our tickets were $9 each for a six hour bus ride to Esmeraldas.
This bus ride started with a series of switchbacks down the mountain, which left you feeling a bit woozy. Also very difficult to use the bathroom on the bus when you are being thrown from side to side (personal experience). After passing through Santo Domingo, the ride smoothed out. We saw waterfalls, lush green vegetation, small villages, large plantations for palm, cacao and bananas. Unfortunately the plantations for palm involve a lot of clear cutting and damage to the natural flora. These palms are used to produce palm oil, an additive that is in thousands of food products.
Once we arrived in Esmeraldas, we needed to find a connecting bus that would take us to Same. We had no difficulty getting our tickets ($2 each). However, there was a brief panic when I realized we had left some items on the bus. Despite running around and trying to find the previous bus, I quickly became resigned to the loss. Left behind a notebook, some snacks and...my e-reader (insert wailing here). The bus to Same was packed with locals who were all very helpful in determining where we needed to get off the bus. We went through the towns of Tonsupa, Atacames and Sua before approaching our destination. When we got off the bus, we hired a small motorized taxi, similar to a rickshaw to drive us the short distance to the hostel. By this time we were so exhausted, all we wanted to do was get there!
Luckily our host was there to greet us in English! Kind of a relief after struggling with Spanish for a full day. We are staying on the upper level of a home, where the owner lives on the main level. We have a beautiful big open area with king size bed and small kitchenette. There is also a large bathroom with a big shower stall.  Mike and I changed out of our travel clothes, finally, and went for an early supper at a restaurant recommended by our host.  The owner opened the restaurant just for us and personally cooked us an amazing meal! Started with ceviche, which is a signature dish in Ecuador. It can consist of shrimp or fish or both, cured in lime juice with cilantro and onions.  Then we had a combination of fried shrimp and fish, served with rice and fried plantain.  Fried plantain is my new favourite food!!! As soon as we finished eating we returned to the hostel and fell into bed exhausted. Checked on the kids by messenger, then crashed! I will include a few pictures below, by request.

Just outside our balcony at Villa Ana

The Beach

Me drinking Agua de Coco

Ceviche! Mike's new favourite, with fried plantains, YUM