Here´s Something, Anyway.
Hey Everyone. I´m really sorry that i haven´t written much lately. I´m leaving this morning for my volunteer job in Cotapaxi, Ecuador, and there will be no internet there. I really wanted to prepare a story about my trip to the Galapagos, but i really just haven´t had the time. It was, however, fantastic! I saw all kinds of beautiful things and interacted with lots of animals. I have photos that i got from the guy i traveled there with, so i´ll share them once i have time.
Anyway... i´m off. I will write as soon as i can. I hope everyone is well; my love goes out to you all!
The First Post in Forever
Dear Friends, Family, Etc.,
Fair warning: this is going to be a long one, but it´ll be worth it.
To preface, i am ever so sorry for the vast gap between posts. I have a couple of excuses for my protracted truancy, the quality of which is up for debate:
1. I´ve been really busy for the last three weeks. I´ll detail that later on in the post.
2. Someone stole my camera, and so i lost many, many photos, and haven´t been able to take more. Heartbreaking, really. It was rough... i pretty much just lost it, hoofed it to a computer, and called and whined to my mommy for like two hours. But life has gone on, and i´m no longer mourning daily over the loss of many hours of photography and the only physical souvenier of my trip beside my AMAZING hat. I´m no longer bitter. Really, i´m not... and i wasn´t at all tempted to, if i ever found the thief, have them put through the traditional punishment for theft in the town that i was living, which is to be driven through the streets, whipped with Stinging Nettle, and drenched with ice-water. I´m not bitter.
Moving on. For the last three weeks, i´ve been living and doing volunteer work in a little community called Salasaca. Salasaca is near the town of Baños, nestled in the shadow of one of Ecuador´s largest active volcanoes, Tungurahua. Baños is, possibly, Ecuadors most touristy towns. The whole area is stunning.
The volunteer work i was doing was with an organization called SKY, which is an acronym for Sumak Kawsay Yachay, a Kichua phrase that means, "a better/more beautiful life through education." SKY is a small organization, funded and run by an amazing man named Robert Jeffords. Robert has lived in Latin America for over 30 years, both Mexico and Ecuador. He funds SKY with his Marines pention, and he is a wonderful, compassionate, interesting, baddass.
While there, i was teaching English and Music to kids aged 5-11, and doing some construction projects to improve the little school. It was really wonderful and challenging work. I learned a lot about the indiginous culture there, about education, and i had some really wonderful times with the other volunteers.
Teaching English, i mostly just backed up Ed and Tanya, a couple Brits who´d been working at the school for some time. I learned a lot about planning lessons from them, and had some great classroom experiences. There are four groups of kids at the school, and their academic ability-level is quite varried, as are their attention spans.
Teaching music, i was on my own. The previous music teacher left just as i arrived, and i pretty much just figured it out as i went along. It was very challenging. Discipline and respect for teachers is not realy a part of the culture, and it´s even harder in the case of the volunteer teachers, because we turn over so frequently. Some days, the kids were really into learning about music, and class was great. Some days, however, it was a battle just to keep them from spending class hitting each other and hollering, and it was even more difficult, as i couldn´t count on any one group to be consistantly good in class or tough in class--they all misbehaved with equal inconsistancy. Even so, there were some really wonderful and rewarding days, and even though i ruled with an iron fist, the kids realy liked me in the long run, and it was difficult to leave, with hugs all around and a challenging final walk down the dusty driveway away from the school.
I really wish i couldn´ve gotten some photos of the kids; they are really beautiful. However, there are blogs for both SKY and the school, and i´ll link to those later on.
Hmmm... some stories about my time in Salasaca. Honestly, as far as school, goes, it was rather like being with young schoolkids in the U.S. Except that there are no safety regulations, the kids are way less babied by their parents, and there is generally much more climbing, jumping, and beating on each other amongst the student body. The construction projects i worked on included an awesome tree-house platform, a duck pond, and a walkway up to the nursery room.
The tree-house platform was really fun. In the U.S., building a 3x3 metre platform would be a very easy and rather quick project. In Salasaca, however, it was quite the production. First, there was the challenge of procuring similar pieces of lumber. The came the actual construction. All cutting had to be done by hand, with a crappy saw that dulled rather more quickly than seemed reasonable. That is ALL cutting: length of the 2x4s used in the frame, the joinery for the frame, and the lenth of the decking boards. Fortunately, we did have a power drill, so we could drill the holes for the framing bolts and the pilot holes for the decking much easier. However, driving said bolts and screws was done completely by hand. For the bolts, we had only one little spanner (no ratchet), and a crescent wrench. For the decing screws, we had a simple, short, phillips-head screwdriver. To make a long, long, long stoy short, i now have A LOT more respect for olden-day carpenters.
On a weekend trip to Baños, i got a wild hair and decided to do the bridge-jump that they have there. I put on a harness, climbed over the railing onto a little rebar platform, and jumped. It was amazing. I look forward to taking advantage of any and all oppotunities in my future to persue freefalls.
One of my best memories is from my second weekend at SKY. A bunch of volunteers were finishing their stays, and we all decided to take a trip to a little town called Tena in the Oriente, on the outskirts of the Amazon. The trip from Salasaca to Tena is about 145 KM. Now, to understand the awesomeness of this story, you must be familiar with a new term. One of the most common modes of transportation in Ecuador is camionetta, or, the back of a pickup truck. Here´s an equation that i devised, and that i believe explains our trip to Tena quite well:
10 people + 145 KM in by camionetta + 33 600 ml cervesas = FUN
Yes. As we were waiting for the bus, we decided that the quality of our trip (as well as our chances for pee-breaks), would be greatly improved if we piled us and our bags into the back of a beaten-up Toyota pickup and had a 145-Km party. Good decision. It was truly awesome. Furthermore, as we entered the outskirts of the Amazon, we learned the true meaning of RAINforest; it poured. Buckets and buckets. We were soaked. We loved it.
Okay, here it is. I´m going to ask you for money. SKY is a small organization, funded by only the money that Robert gives and private donations. The school recieves only one teacher´s salary, which goes to the principal. The other staff teacher is payed by Robert. The nursurey teacher is payed by Robert. The cook is payed by Robert. The list goes on. Through donations, SKY has managed to save a small patch of forest next to the school, and we are building a playground there (that´s were the treehouse will be), but it´s only saved for five years. We are constantly counting pennies for everything from food to school supplies to building materials. So, please help. It doesn´t have to be much; every little bit helps. And i really do mean little. Just $10.00 could help buy notebooks for the kids, or some gravel to make a walkway safer and prettier. Not that you should keep your donation small if you have money to spair, but the point is that i think that everyone who reads this can make a meaningful donation to SKY. Also, it´s REALLY easy. Just go to the SKY blog, click the convenient "DONATE" button in the upper-right corner, and make a totally secure donation through Pay-Pal. The blog address is http://www.sumakkausayyachay.blogspot.com. While you´re there, read up on SKY a little bit, and also don´t forget to visit the dedicated blog for the school, at http://katitawa.blogspot.com. I can personally assure you that every penny goes straight to the community, either through support of the school or the small community library. Help out! It´ll feel great!
So, that´s the brief (ha ha) summary of my last three weeks. To wrap this up, here´s my itinerary for the last 45 days of my travels:
--May 12-17: Galapagos!!!
--May 17-24: Peru for four or five days, traveling
--May 25-June 22/23: Volunteering at The Secret Garden resort hostel in Cotapaxi, taking people on horse-back tours of the Andes. Free room, three free gourmet meals per day, all the wine and beer i can drink. I know, i know... it´s going to be hard. Thanks for the consolation.
--Jun 24: FLY BACK TO THE U.S.A.!
I´m going to Peru because i discovered, a few days ago, that my VISA stamp in my passport expires four days before my flight home. Lame. So, i have to spend a four of my 90 days out of the country, so that i can spend them between the 20th and 24th of June and avoid paying a $200.00 overstay fee. I´m a little bummed out, as i wanted to travel on the South Coast of Ecuador for those days, but i´m sure it´ll be radical in Peru. I´ll probably find a little coastal town and surf.
Alright... i´ll write again sooner than later. Ciao! Give America a hug for me.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!
Hey Mom! So, since i can´t be home for your birthday and since sending things via post to the US is both expensive and extremely unreliable, i decided to make an alternative birthday present for you.
The idea came to me a few days ago, when i was talking to a friend about the nearby extinct volcano, La Volcána Imbabura. She was telling me about a stunning geographical feature on the mountain, known locally as El Corazón de la Imbabura, which means "Imbabura´s Heart." I was intreagued, and she told me that The Heart is a huge cleft in the side of the mountain in the shape of a heart, and that there are local legends surrounding why it came to be, though she didn´t know them.
This sparked in my mind the perfect gift for you, Mom. For my whole life, you´ve collected heart-shaped rocks, and i´ve often found them and given them to you as gifts. Since i can´t actually bring you the entirety of Imbabura, i decided on a different method of delivery. On a hike the other day, i hunted around up in the hills between the communities of Peguche and San Pablo, outside Otavalo, and found a good angle from which to capture for you THE BIGGEST HEART-ROCK OF ALL TIME! So here it is, Mom, part one of your birthday present:
Here is view number one.
I´m not sure whether this one or view number one is better...
Finally, here is a slightly wider view. Pretty stunning, eh? I love the textures of people´s fields in the lower hills.
So, there´s part one of your gift. For part two, i wanted to be able to tell you the legend of The Heart, but finding it has proven challenging. I´m going to keep asking around, and if i find more, i´ll post it, but here´s what i´ve found so far.
From this guy in a little café where i ate breakfast this morning, i got the very vague story that Imbabura was a man, and El Lechero (that magical healing tree) was a woman, and that something happened and Imbabura died for Lechero, and The Heart is the mark of his heart as he died for love. However, this story presents a couple problems: 1. It is so vague as to be almost uninteresting 2. It seems strange that Imbabura would have been male and Lechero would have been female, because their respective gender articles--La Imbabura and El Lechero--would sugget the opposite; La is the feminine, and El is the masculine. But anyway, it´s one version.
In search of a better--or at least more complete--legend, today i walked out to the University of Otavalo--i´m actually writing this from one of the library computers there--so that i could visit the Instituto Otavaleño de Antropología, The Otavalo Institute of Anthropology, a small but rich and interesting museum at the college. My hope, of course, was to find someone, or at least a book, that could give me a good report on the legend. As i mentioned, the museum is quite small--five or six rooms--but i spent some time walking around the museum and checked out there great exhibits. After a short time, a ran into a nice woman, María, who works at the museum, and asked her about any legends she might be familiar with surrounding The Heart. She didn´t know anything, but informed me that the director of the museum would be arriving at his office in about ten minutes, at which point he´d be available to answer my questions. So, i went back to reading about ancient Incan burial practices--and looking at the corresponding thousands-years-old skeletons on display--and after a few minutes the director showed up. After complimenting him on his lovely and informative museum, i presented to him my querry. He said that he´d never heard about a legend regarding The Heart. I was surprised, as it seems that there would be at least one, if not many; however, he thought about it further and assured me that he was stumped. Not to give up so easily, he led me out of the museum and along a corridor the the university´s library, and requested from the receptionist therein a book on the legends and superstitions of the Otavaleños, which he perused with familiarity. After a moment, he assured me that there was nothing there about The Heart.
I told him the scant tale that i´d heared this morning in the café, and he assured me that this was by no means a widespread legend; in fact, he requested another volume from the receptionist--this time a periodical--and flipped through it to a splendidly-written version of the general legend concerning El Lechero. In fact, El Lechero´s story is about El Lechero and Lago San Pablo (see previous post on El Lechero for a picture of San Pablo). He had to get back to work, but the receptionist graciously offered me a seat at one of the library´s desks, where i sat and started to attempt to read the legend. It took a while, but i´ve come up with a--very--rough translation. Even though it´s not about The Heart, it´s a good story and i think it serves as a good "part two" to your birthday present. So, here it is, my skeletal translation of "Nina Paccha--Princesa del Lago," by Alavaro San Felix, published in some edition of Badas De Plata Del Yamor, a publication printed by Editorial Epoca in Quito, Ecuador:
NINA PACCHA -- PRINCESA DEL LAGO
Long, long ago, when this story took place, the people of the land were very connected with the earth. "Life was a direct communion of brothers/men with the sky, and the growth of the corn was the only scale of time."
One year, there was a terrible change in the climate; there was no rain, and the land became parched and arid. No crops grew. Huaracha, the brujo (male witch, or shaman) of the land, used magic to find out what needed to be done to restore agricultural success and save the people. "Huaracha, el brujo, involked the teachings of spirits and searched the magic/spells in the guinea pigs´ entrails; then he raised his head, his glance was furious, ´A virgin must die in the volcano to apease the gods! The maiden who in the next moon will turn 15 will be sacrificed--this is most certainly her condemnation!´"
The elders were amazed, and everyone in the town watched as the young girls filed passed, and when Nina Paccha passed by, Huaracha knew that she was to be sacrificed. She was beautiful, "...of smooth lips and round breasts... Her name meant ´Fountain of Light´"
However, there was a young man in the town who loved Nina, and his name was Guatalquí. The next night, when the ceremony was to be held, he cried, "´Nina, if you die, I won´t be able to live!´" An elder of the villiage, Isama, who was Guatalquí´s grandfather, tried to revolk the sentence that was laid on Nina, but the town was set on it, and hungry for the sacrifice. The people maintained ceremonial fires and brought jewelry for the "macabre ceremony."
Later in the night, the people filed up Imbabura to where the sacrifice was to be held. Somehow, Guatalquí manages to free Nina, and called to her to run as fast as she could, as he himself fled in kind. As Huaracha and his brethren persued the young fugitives, Huaracha cried, in fear and anger, "Catch them; the Gods are not jokesters!" Suddenly, someone called out, pointing to where Nina had been running accross the plain at the foot of the mountain. As the sky began to fill with the light of dawn, Nina dissapeared, and in her place a clear spring flowed from the earth. The water of the spring flowed freely, "expanding to fill the plain." The Gods had punished her for escaping the sacrifice, and turned her into a lake.
Overwhelmed by sorrow, Guatalquí prayed aloud to be punished as well. He cried that he wished to stay with his love, Nina Paccha, forever. There was a flash of light, and he was transformed into a leafy tree: El Lechero. With the punishment of the errant youths, the Gods were appeased, and a new rain began to drench the land.
"The [people] love El Lechero, because it was a man who challenged the Gods and sayed forever in the country close to the liquid maiden who fertilized the region... The Spaniards named her San Pablo, but her name is Nina Paccha: Fountain of Light."
FIN
So, that´s your birthday present! Like i said, if i find anything else on a legend for The Heart, i´ll let you know.
UPDATE: A friend pointed out to me today that the shape of The Heart was not really a native symbol, and was probably introduced by the Spaniards. Because of this, the early people probably didn´t create any legends about it, at least not as a "heart" as we consider it.
Happy Birthday! I Love You!
11 April: Cascada Peguche and El Lechero
Yesterday morning, i set out from Otavalo with a friend to hike to La Cascada Peguche, or Peguche Falls, and then from there to El Lechero, an old, magical, healing tree that grows on an ancient Incan lookout point. No, it´s not just you, that reminded me of something from Indiana Jones, as well. At any rate, it was a lovely walk to the small community of Peguche, and from there, over some fields and up some hills, we arrived at the area of the falls. Leading up to the falls, the forest was richly green, and at the bottom of a small gorge was the stream that the falls feed. A couple of really wonderful sights on the way to the falls:
A cow drinking at the stream fed by the falls.
These guys were having a blast bathing in the stream.
After some walking along thin paths by the stream, and after some small bridge-crossings, we the falls come into veiw, crashing down into a pool. There are a couple of bridges, and there were quite a number of people there, enjoying the view and taking pictures. On the bridges, the air was damp with the spray from where the falls meet the pool.
A photo from the far bridge of the near bridge and the falls. That woman´s sweater was really quite pink.
After a short climb up a trail to the left of the falls, we came to a little pagoda-like thing, and my friend took a picture of me by the falls.There was also a really nice view down the falls.
This one´s for you, Mom.
From the pagoda-thing, down the falls.
My friend knew of a really cool adventure we could take, through a little tunnel above the falls. We decided to do it, removed shoes, rolled up pants, and waded in. The little tunnel was dark, but light enough that you could just see around you, and when we got out, our surroundings were gorgeous. Cliffs on either side of us had lots of plants growing out of them, and trees made something of a ceiling above. It was really fun to wade through the strong current of the stream. When we turned around, there was a stunning view ahead from the darker area where we were to where the ceiling of trees opened to make the stream area glow green.
Into the tunnel!
Exiting the tunnel...
Just out of the tunnel, there was a smaller falls, and a stream below rushing off into the distance.
Walking up the stream.
The final veiw before we turned back, looking ahead to where the trees open and let in the sun.
Back at the bottom of the falls, we began to ascend the steep hill to the right of the falls, toward higher ground from which we could approach El Lechero. It was steep hike up, and quite a good distance to the tree. We walked up hills, through fields, along roads, and finally saw El Lechero.
Some impressive mountains and clouds, over a corn field, on the way to El Lechero.
The tree stands on the top of a small hill surrounded by peoples crop fields. It is the only tree of its kind in the area, and is very old. It is said that the tree has healing powers, and it is also a popular spot for people to spend time and eat lunch, because it offers stunning views of the surrounding geography, including the Imbabura Volcanoe and Laguna de San Pablo.
The tree, and a man sitting near it. After a while, a woman joined him, and they had lunch.
I really like this cleft in the trunk.
The gnarled, pitted texture of the bark is romantic... it really shows the tree´s age.
A lovely view of Laguna de San Pablo, and the guy under the tree´s friend.
Volcana Imbabura.
A lovely flower that, apparently, only grows at high altitudes. It had no stem to speak of, seeming to just sit on the ground.
On the walk back to Otavalo, it started pouring; fortunately, we got a ride in the back of a pickup for a bit of the distance. I had planned to make these posts yesterday, but when we got back to Otavalo, the power was out, and it didn´t come back on until later in the evening. I am, at the moment, trying to figure out where i´m going next; i´ll post more soon. Ciao.
10 April: Parque Condor
About four kilometres out of Otavalo is Parque Condor, a small park where they rehabilitate raptors. It was amazing to see the Andean Condors, even if they were in an enclosure; there are other places in the mountains where you can really see them fly around, but in a way, this was more impressive, as they were so close. Andean Condors can live for up to 80 years, and they are REALLY big. There wasn´t really a good way to give a sense of scale in my photos, but i´d say they were... hmm. Three feet high? I´m not sure. I am bad at these estimates. But they were really big. Biggest birds i´ve ever seen. They also had a number of other raptors at the park, and i included a couple other pictures. Unfortunately, due to rain, we didn´t get to see any of their shows; they have trained birds fly a couple times per day. Enjoy the pictures!
This guy was just standing on a rock, surveying his enclosure.
Regal little guy, and how classic is this? He´s just standing there, all the time, representing the US. He should get a medal.
Another of the birds they had on display.
When they walk around, it´s really easy to see how they´re supposed to be the decendants of dinosaurs. If that´s still the theory.
I can´t remember if this guy had just landed, or whether he was just stretching out his wings and feelin´his oats. Either way, impressive wingspan.
I thought this was a pretty groovy shot. It´s like he´s swooping in for the kill!
I´m pretty sure that he wanted to eat me.
10 April: The Otavalo Animal Market
It´s strange to go to the Animal Market. A short walk out of town, and just accross the Panamericana freeway, you end up in a muddy, smelly lot full of people and the animals that they´re selling. It is a strange blend of comical, beautful, impressive, and really sad. It´s interesting to watch people bargain and argue over the prices of the animals, and pretty cute to see little kids dragging around big ol´pigs, but it can be pretty depressing to see between two and five chickens stuffed live in sacks, or just tied by their feet and carried in bunches. There are crates of Cuy and cages of kittens. At any rate, here are some pictures.
Just a small section of the market.
I don´t think these guys want to move...
Very likely tonights dinner.
This kid´s clothes matched the little bantam he was walking around with.
Chillin´with his new goat, i guess.
Pretty depressing.
They all look pretty tired... but the piggy takes the cake.
Doubtless the largest pig i´ve ever seen. He was a monster.
Otavalo
For nigh on a week now, i´ve been hanging out in a town in the Sierra called Otavalo. Otavalo is famous for it´s indiginous market, reputed to be the largest in the World. Though i´m not sure how one would prove that, i don´t actively disbelieve it; every Saturday, the town is transformed as all the streets fill with booths, stalls, tables, and blankets, each covered in the textiles, jewelry, intstruments, art, and oddities of hundreds of salespeople. I have been staying in a lovely little hostel, Residenial El Rocío, and have done a lot of walking around, talking to people, and reading. I ended up meeting a couple of girls who are here working as teachers and Bahá´i missionaries, and it was nice to have the change to hang out with some english-speakers who know the area.
Otavalo, largely because of the market, is one of the cleaner and more affluent areas in the Sierra, and Otavaleños are a proud people. The indiginous dress--as with many areas in the Sierra--is beautiful and impressive. The town is surrounded with natural beauty, including the extinct volcanoe Imbaburra, a number of lovely lakes, and other attractions. I´ve taken a few trips out of town to see some of these sights, and i´ll put up photos and stories today.
I have taken some time to go around town and take photos of some of the things i like. One thing that really strikes me about Otavalo are the beautiful doors that one finds scattered through town. They are really quite lovely. Here are some cool doors.
See the cool little mini-door in the bigger door? It´s like an old-time city gate!
Another door.
A detail shot of above door. I wish all doors were this nice.
Here´s where they make doors in Otavalo! (There might be more places).
I was particularly taken with this church. Check out how beautifully it´s transformed at night!
I wish this was a better photo... there are so many phone/electricity lines, and there wasn´t a great angle. But it´s still beautiful.
I got a better angle at night because i was able to climb on top of a news-stand which was open and inhabited in the day-time. Look at those lights!
The handsomely-carved door of the church.
Inside the church. I was happy to get a picture with someone actually praying.
Here are a few monuments and other buildings that are around the little town.
A cool statue with a big´ol brick building behind it. For some reason i didn´t bother to find out what the statue was for... i guess i was just focused on taking the picture.
Detail of some of the stained glass in the brick building above.
I really like this statue... not a very good picture, though, i´m afraid.
Terrible picture, but... well, i guess i just can´t believe that this store is actually called "Dudes and Bettys." It just really tickles me.
Finally, some pictures of the market. Mostly textiles, but some food, too! I´m going to do a separate little post on the Animal Market, so look for that.
A line of textiles stalls at La Plaza de los Ponchos.
Taken in the middle of the textiles stalls in La Plaza de los Ponchos.
Here you can see a big pile of Pan Pipes, a common tourist good at the market.
I love these carved gourds. Many of them have a story in panel form (like a mini comic book) carved around them.
Some people shopping for food on Saturday.
Here´s a woman worrying over he veggies and fruits. Check out some of the weird fruits!
Well, that´s a big long list of photos. I really hope you enjoy them... I´ll be putting a few more posts up about my little trips around Otavalo. Sorry to post so many at a time... it can be hard to find time to sit down and do it all, and is also challenging to get good computers sometimes. More coming up!
Photos from the Bus Ride between Mompiche and Atacames
Lovely, i thought. Sorry they´re a bit blurry... i was on a moving bus, after all.
A valley close to Mompiche.
On a bus!
A stunning sunset over a little villiage between Mompiche and Atacames.
Again, the sunset. Don´t like the powerlines, but the colours were too lovely to not post.
4-6 April: Mompiche
You know that you´re in a tropical paradise when you forget your shirt. On the night of Saturday, 3 April, i boarded a 23.00 bus from Quito to Atacames, a small city on the north coast. The bus ride took about 8 hours. The ride wasn´t so bad; they showed an action movie way too loud, and the seats were rather uncomfortable, but other than that it was fine. I did some sleeping. Anyway, we arrived in Atacames a little before 6.00, and went to the little house of Chris Gallup, a Peace Corps volunteer. I had arrived with my friend Shelley, her friend Kate (also a Peace Corps volunteer), and Cyrus, who is also--along with Shelley and I--from Fort Bragg. He is here in Ecuador traveling with Shelley for a month. The five of us went out and got some yummy breakfast: Batidos, milk-shake-like drinks made with fruit, ice, and a milk-mixture; and these little "fritadas," which were really just hamburger buns with a little bit of cheeze and ham, all fried. It was very good. I am now a batido addict.
After a couple hours, we hopped on a bus to Mompiche, our actual destination. A small, lovely beach town, all three Peace Corps volunteers said that it was, hands down, their favorite spot in Ecuador. It was stunning. We were planning to stay in these little cabañas on the beach, but upon arriving we were met with some surprising news: a big wave had come and knocked many of the beach-dwellings over, and pulled them into the sea. Shelley, Chris, and Kate were all quite shocked; it was sad news, as Mompiche´s community had worked hard to construct them. We ended up staying in a nice hostel, and very quickly after we dropped things in our room, we were all out to the beach. We spent a couple hours enjoying the water and body-surfing. After lunch, we took a wonderful little trip to a nearby black sand beach. The sand was unlike anything i´ve ever seen. Surprisingly fine and dense, it was not unlike iron filings, and in the sun the beach sparkled like a field of tiny diamonds on a bed of black satin. It was really incredible. I didn´t take pictures. Feel free to punch me later. That nigh, while we were sitting and eating dinner, there began a torrential rain storm. It poured and poured, resulting in numerous new swimming pools all through the town (the nice kind that are filthy and muddy and in the middle of the road). When we finished our food--since we were all still in our bathing suits and we saw no sign of the downpour calming down--we just ran through the rain to the little place we were staying. The rain was chilly, but not icy like rain back in Fort Bragg, and it was warm enough outside that it was far more exhillerating than it was unpleasant.
On Monday, we decided to travel to Portete, a small island, and Chris´ favorite spot in Mompiche (and therefore his super-duper-favorite place in Ecuador). We went to the little store and asked if anyone with a truck would be willing to run us out there, and ended up getting a lift--saving us about an hour of walking in the blazing sun--to the river that we had to cross to get to the little island. The ride was fantastic, the five of us sitting in the bed of a beat-up, red Nissan pickup, blasting down the rutted, dirt roads outside of Mompiche. When we got to the riverbank, we paid $0.25 each to be motored accross in a little boat, and when we jumped to the shore on the other side, we were on Portete. A lovely little island that is mostly a coconut farm, it truly was a tropical paradise. We walked through a small forest of coconut trees, through puddles from the night´s rain that were hotter than a comfortable bath by that point in the day, and when we broke the treeline we found ourselves on a breathtaking beach. Long and sandy, the beach was bordered on one side by lovely, cresting waves and on the other by the coconut trees. The sand was littered with beautiful shells, sand dollars, and the ocean-worn husks of coconuts. We spent a couple hours there, loving the sun and the water and the shade, then headed back to our hostel to lunch and then catch our bus. Again, no pictures of on Portete, either. However, I plan to return there before i leave, possibly hang out for a few days; if i do this, i will take pictures gallore. It was a truly beautiful place.
All in all, my first trip to the coast was lovely, and my first swim in a warm ocean was all i had ever dreamed it would be. I did come away with a nasty sun-burn on my shoulders and chest, even though i slathered on sunscreen multiple times per day; i guess i´m just that pale, and the sun is more intense here, on the equator. Here are some pictures of Mompiche.
Mompiche´s beach and left point.
Another, further-off view of the beach.
The main drag in Mompiche´s downtown.
Structures on Mompiche´s main street.
A view from my room´s window over part of the hostel´s yard... the part with the lovely swimming pool.
The restaraunt (left) and office (right) of our hostel.
A lovely view of the hostel´s tower. Not clear on its function, but it´s pretty.
The gate from our hostel´s yard to the beach. Picturesque, no?