Ecuador, August 2017

Crossing to Ecuador gave us a very different feeling. For starters it was the “captain” at the customs who not only allowed us to go without registering our car (the officer who does that was sick) but took a photo with us and gave us his personal phone number to call him while in Quito!

All we could see was green and green and more green. Bananas, plenty of them! Our first stop is the petrified forest- one of only 4 in the world. A quick walk and immediately surrounded by people who came to talk to us; telling them all what is good about their country. As it turned out we didn’t travel more than 20 km on that first week; so swamped by the hospitality of those first encounters. Dinner here and there. Our home filled with people and children who want to see more of our place. The crab festival in Naranjales attended by more than 3,000 people, the fun at the 7 Waterfalls- more like a rope course, and the thermal baths in Jesus Maria....where we ended up also being invited when in Guayaquil!

Duran/Guayaquil:

We stayed in Duran, just on the outskirts of Guayaquil and from there we did an awesome bike ride to Isla Santay; a 7 km boardwalk/bike that cross also to the city. There is a nice “Malecon” (promenade) in the city but apart from that, not much else to see. Almost two separate worlds in this city- like all the cities in south America. The very rich part- all with closed suburbs, nice shopping, clean streets...and the other part.

Bolivar & San Martin encounter in Guyaquil

The coastal way: Ruta del Sol (Spondylus)


Finally back on the ocean! Yupppyyy...I missed the sea so so much! The beaches in Ecuador strike me as so laid-back, so much nature with basic infrastructure. The weather is not coming along with us, cloudy-almost rainy- days, everyday...enough for walks sometimes and some pelota-paleta...but mostly days of cinema and eating. Montañita so very young and hippie, Olon very relaxed, Isla Salango where we took a boat and saw the whales! 6 of them, jumping and swimming in group, Puerto Lopez with a nice promenade

Received a whatsapp with the invite. Come over for “merienda” (dinner)...the whole family waiting for us to go to a restaurant. Couldn’t believe that even the grown up kids wanted to spend the Saturday night with us! And in our way back home...stopped at their parents home for a drink with cookies!

So generous in her invite. Stay in a safe place, a closed suburban with swimming pool. Ideal for these hot days in Guayaquil. All the teenagers on board to drive to the pizza place. Hecti birthday and a cake...and a promise to come back