So we are still catching the blog up to where we actaully are right now; the previous Chimborazo post happened BEFORE we went to the beach for those that were confused. And now we are back biking in the mountains, but here are some Puerto Lopez pictures and scoop on our time there.
Sippin´fruity rum drinks!
The first and last time I looked like I knew what I was doing with the surf board but damn I look good!
We spent the 5 weeks taking Spanish lessons, studying, working at the hostal and also working in our fields; I did some therapy and Steven worked a little carpentry. They are not big fans of power tools, try ripping a board with a hand saw, fun stuff. Sure didn´t hurt that all my patients were restaurant owners, free food, yum. We got to know some folks and it was really cool to feel like we were a part of a community for a while. We learned more about what the day to day life is like for the locals in the fishing village. Like everywhere else in Ecuador there is plenty of poverty, but the fishing trade and the 3 month ¨temporada¨(high season when tourists come to see the whales) keep the local economy going. It seems that when people or buisnesses bring money in, it immediately goes out again, either to buy a needed item, pay a debt, or in the case of some of the fishermen to spend it on booze. So, it is hard for folks to get ahead of the game in terms of bettering their situtation.
It also means it is very difficult to get change anywhere.... resturants and stores often don´t have change for a 5 or a 10$ bill, much less a 20! They sometimes turn business away because they don´t have change for the customers. We would run into this working at the hostal as well; we would have money in the house bank from the weekly tourists and the family would come on the weekend and spend all of it on things for the hostal. Come monday when they left there wouldn´t be money in the hostal bank to pay for the water or laundry. This is typical buisness down here, and it was interesting to be on the other side of the counter!
We went snorkeling twice, the first time we got hooked up with some ex-pat locals and went out on a boat with just 5 people to this great little coral area in a cove with beaches and cliffs around, it was sweet! Sadly, Stevens waterproof camera turned out to be oh, not so waterproof.
The next time we went out on a tour with a Canadian family with two kids aged 4 and 6 that we met at our hostal. They provided some excitment, the 4 year old is shy about his bathroom habits and refused to pee off the edge of the boat; this eventually resulted in an emergency beach landing so the little guy could go. We also did some fishing with hand lines and the captain made ceviche from our catches, tasty stuff! We saw some blue footed boobies and other ocean birds.
We went snorkeling twice, the first time we got hooked up with some ex-pat locals and went out on a boat with just 5 people to this great little coral area in a cove with beaches and cliffs around, it was sweet! Sadly, Stevens waterproof camera turned out to be oh, not so waterproof.
The next time we went out on a tour with a Canadian family with two kids aged 4 and 6 that we met at our hostal. They provided some excitment, the 4 year old is shy about his bathroom habits and refused to pee off the edge of the boat; this eventually resulted in an emergency beach landing so the little guy could go. We also did some fishing with hand lines and the captain made ceviche from our catches, tasty stuff! We saw some blue footed boobies and other ocean birds.
We spent our weekends exploring other small beaches out of town, drinking tasty drinks, swimming, and in Steven´s case trying to surf. The waves here were too huge for me to try; Steven has a little experience and he still got pounded! He managed to break the fin off his board the first time he went out. I guess your not supposed to ride the waves all the way in, duhh!
So we learned a lot and had some fun in Puerto Lopez, but after 5 weeks we were ready to get on the move again! Our last week at the hostal things were starting to pick up. Tourist season on the horizon, the perfect time to escape. About a week ago we returned to the Andes and to our bikes and resumed our ride south towards Peru. We were surprised that sitting on the beach for 5 weeks didn´t help our biking shape. Tough first couple days back in the Andes. Time to get back in shape, Uhhhhhh!
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