Sun, sand and smiles

From him

3 Weeks, 3 different spots that are basically the same. Mancora in Peru, Montenita and Canoa in Ecuador. All of them 3rd world coastal paradises. One thing I have noticed on my extensive studies of doing bugger all on Latin American beaches, is the attitude of the people. There is a noticeable change in the ” costeños”, they are quicker with a smile, seem more sincere in their greetings and engagements with gringos, and generally have a calm demeanor about them. The coast is a really easy place to stay. All 3 places had great accommodation, good cheap tucker especially seafood and as we discovered a couple of times, good places to get pissed.

After a week in Mancora in the north of Peru our next stop was Montenita in Ecuador. I went from surfing a world class left point break to a world class right point break ( mish those K3 fins are the business). Montenita the town is fully decked out for travellers and at first glance looks a bit “touristy”. We arrived just in time to see the place flooded with cityfolk from Guayaquil, these fellas know how to throw a fiesta. Come monday everyone went home, the hand brake got pulled on and life slowed back down to about 5kms an hour. We had cabin style accomadation with the mandatory hammock and $1 beers.

Like Mancora the surf was quality but crowded. The locals are shit hot surfers and are adept to dropping in on you,but after a few sessions recognise your face and are more generous with their waves.
In amongst our busy beach schedule we managed to sneak in a boat trip to “La Isla La Plata”, in the Machalilla national park. The island is about 50kms 0f shore. Our guide was good but didn`t want to piss around in the beastly sun so we basically ran the length of the island. The brief stops we did have were good and we able to get within arms length of some bloody big seabirds. We also had about 30 minutes of snorkelling,which ended up being me snorkelling while everyone else sat on the boat. It was actually really good with plenty of coral and fish. Some 3rd world countries I have dived are pretty slim on marine life but Ecuador seems to be holding out well.

The town we stayed in where we took our tour was called Puerto Lopez and was full of charm and character. It was like the water had been laced with Prozac. The people were genuinely friendly and every morning the beach sprang to life when all the fishermen came to sell their catch to the markets and restauranteurs. It was like watching and olden day port in action, people trading and bargaining, kids and birds pinching fish out of bins. It was a reminder that basic methods, although left in technology’s wake, still work.

Canoa, our last stop on the coast heading inland to Quito and then on to Columbia is the epitome of Latin American beach life. We had a room overlooking the beach in a Swiss Family Robinson style house, again equipped with hammock and $1 beers. The swell was small but I had waves to myself for a couple of days and water so warm that I was sweating while paddling out. equatorial heat is quite stifling and the water albeit bath temperature is the best place to be. Specky was getting a bit bored and quite rightly so it was time to roll on.

Onwards and upwards to the land once infamous for cocaine and kidnappings. It’s sad to leave the coast, as I said from California to Peru I have spent a good 6 months cruising from spot to spot. Collectively its a region of the world I most like to visit. I don’t know what makes it quite so appealing, some of the places are far from postcard perfect and the heat and the mozzies don’t make for a great nights sleep. But thousands of miles from Waipuk and even more from Perth and I feel quite at home. Maybe its the spanish blood granddad swears he has or just that my family is part fish, but I have an affinity for this stretch of coast and its people and it will definitely be missed.

A hora vamos a Columbia

Adios Amigos

From her

Beach life has been treating Shaun and I extremely well.

After the glorious Huanchaco we set

off for Mancora another quiet beach town lined with palm trees with restaurants that served some of the best food I have eaten. I´m seriously not exaggerating when I say that.

Here was the last time our big group of friends that we have been hanging with since Bolivia were all in the same place. We have been so blessed to meet some awesome people who we get on so well with. Our last night we celebrated Irish Dave’s birthday, it started in drinking games and ended with me getting robbed on the beach. Pissed gringos are very easy prey for the locals as I found out. Someone ran past me and ripped my little camera off my arm, I quickly kicked of my thongs and gave chase but the little shit was a couple of seconds in front of me and I came to a t-section and didn’t know if he went left of right. Crap!

After Mancora we left for Ecuador, another little beach town called Montinita. After a torterous border crossing and arriving to streets of mud (it had pissed down pissed down the night before) and the first nights accommodation the worst ever, the place turned out to be a gem.

Shaun spent heaps of time surfing

and I spent heaps of time doing this!

The best thing about this place is that you didn’t need to move in a muscle if you wanted something, everybody came to you. You name it, they came in droves.

“Helados, Helados” (Ice cream”)

“Tatuje, Tatuje” (Tattoo)

Jewellery (don’t know the spanish word!!)

“Coco, Coco” (Coconut)

On the flip side, sometimes you feel sorry for these people. You see them constantly walking up and down a beach with sun so hot it would cook an egg for a meezly couple of dollars here or there. To top it off some of them are selling the worst products that you know no-one will buy. But they still do it, cause it earns them some cash and a couple of dollars goes along way in Ecuador.

Actually I have to say I`ve been loving Ecuador. I wasnt too fussed on coming here, it was more for Shaun to surf but I have fallen in love with the place. These people are just so friendly and welcoming and because of it, I`ve had a grin on my face most of the way.

I`m a little envious of them to be honest. Everything seems so plain and simple, nothing seems hard. No doubt they have their fair share of problems with 60-70% of Ecuadorians living below the poverty line, but the amazing thing is, you would never know it if and the best example of that was a little fishing village called Puerto Lopez.

We arrived here from Peru and the moment we stepped off the bus everyone wanted to help us. We couldn’t work out what the hell was going on. Not that Peruvians werent friendly, but these people were super nice. Here we visited another `Poor mans Galapogos`and again it wasnt much chop, but we were stoked we had stopped by just to experience the town. The best part was we discovered a fish market right on the beach front that happens every morning. No middle men here, just the fisherman and the locals bartering for their daily catch. Check out some of the snaps!

Sadly we said goodbye to Puerto Lopez and were on our way for our last beach stop for a while called Canoa. With a sunset such as the one below, need I say more.

We are now in Quito and have been here for a couple of days. We set off for Columbia tonight and are quite excited to visit another country. It`s always so exciting going into a new country, the anticipation is awesome.

Hope this post finds you well. We only have about 5 weeks to go and we will be home. Oh geez its going to be hard, very hard!!!

Some more odd snaps for you - sorry about the quality of the pics, I exported them a different way this time and it wasnt quite right!!

Oh me eating, that`s something new!

Local surfer about to hit the waves

1 Comment(s)

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI