home

After a busy week of last minutes and good byes -- I am home. This week may end up being nearly as busy as the last for all of the things I am squishing into the time before my new job starts! But it certainly won't include any of these things:

- A trip to Papallacta Hot Springs in the "land of the potato" (translation of papallecta in Quechua), the area between Quito and the Amazon basin, up a big mountain pass from the city. Cold (but not in the water) and beautiful with views of volcano Antisana. Myriam and Donald braved the cold, cold creek water to hot pool, but I only made it into my knees (wuss).

- Cleo having her kittens (again). SO cute. She had three but one didn't make it. She decided to give birth on the pile of dress shirts in Steve's closet while we were out at La Merced. haha.

- Crying at the migration office when they told me that I didn't have all of my papers in order, again (note: three visits to get the so-called exit permit and censo).

- Strange bonding experiences with my University of Toronto masters supervisor. EG. hiking and hanging out, cooking dinner together, doing laundry (oh yeah -- that red underwear -- that's mine)

Picture at the top of the mountain pass on the way to Papallacta with view of the glacier on Antisana
(Was taken in at dusk, so excuse the bad touch-up)

Not allowed to leave

Those of you who remember my Ecuadorian visa fun (read 'fun' = a long list of strange requirements and 11 visits to the Consulate office in Toronto before being rewarded with the return of my passport just before having to step on the airplane) may not be surprised to hear that the jumping through hoops continues.

After I arrived in Ecuador in January I had to register my passport with the Ministerio del Extranjero (translation = Ministry of the Foreigner), which took 4 visits to the office in Quito (never once getting the full list of requirements for how to do so). So, once I had officially registered I decided to avoid any more Latin American bureaucracy at all costs. Now, unfortunately, I must return for another round.

A friend who carries the same visa as I do (for 3-6 months, good for students, scientists and other professionals) told me that he just got his 'permiso de salida'...

"Your what?!"
"You know your exit permit! The one that says you are allowed to leave Ecuador"
"I need a WHAT?"
"Yeah, because you have a visa"
"You CANNOT be serious"

So, what I also never knew was that I should also have a censo, an Ecuadorian identification card that identifies me as a Canadian with a visa. This was supposed to happen by mid-February, oops?! Was that written down somewhere? No? How was I to know? OH. AND that without the censo, I am unable to get this so called 'permiso'.

Tomorrow I am on my way to Migración to sort out the paperwork (for the second time I should add...was also there on Saturday AM). It is incredible how accustomed I am to how things work here now, and how less frustrated I am now compared to if this had happened to me 5 months ago (wait! it sort of did).

It is going to take a major adjustment to get used to 'Canadian' schedules and work ethic. Expect me a little late to any meetings or dates when/if I manage to get home! :)

News to some

Well thanks to Loud Mouth Lochhead (you know who you are) this isn't news to everyone -- but nonetheless -- now that it's official I wanted to share it with all.

I've accepted an offer for an epidemiologist position with York Region Public Health Services in Newmarket. An epi-what? Ask Sarah, she'll explain it to you. Just don't ask her why she wants to study the epididymous for a living!

So I'm pretty excited! It is a sweet job, and is so nice to have it all arranged from here before heading back to Canada. Though phone interviews are not my favourite, it was definitely worth the trouble! My start date is May 15th. Don't worry Heidi, they know I'm coming to see you in Vancouver and all of that is still a 'go'! Yay!

Newmarket is really close to Barrie, so I'll be crashing with my parents while I test the waters. And I will still be close enough to the city to play with all of you urbanites! Or when you need a breath of fresh air . . .

So, that's all for today. It's hot and sunny in Quito and I'll go enjoy the rest of the night while still on the equator.

Peace out.

(Some of the things) I will miss about Ecuador

As I'm wrapping things up with work and play, I am already becoming nostaligic for Ecuador. I am excited to be coming 'home' of course, but at the same time I know that I will leave a part of me behind...Here are some of the silly things I know that I will miss:

• greetings by kisses on the cheek
• the mountains
• new friends
• always having a reason for a holiday or a fiesta
• Spanish
• hats, ponchos, and other traditional dress
• saying buenos dias, buenas tardes and buenas noches to everyone I meet
• a climate of spring/fall all year-round
• traveling for work that is always an adventure
• real conversations about poverty, development, the world and our place in it
• having two dogs and a cat to play with (less the cat, more the dogs)
• Ecuadorian food (at least some of it): aji, fresh squeezed juices & batidos, queso fresco, andean potatoes, té con manzana y canela, flan

How I spent Easter in Ecuador

While the devout Christians and Catholics have large processions down the streets of all of the cities in Ecuador on Good Friday, I only watched a procession from the window of the Land Cruiser with Myriam as we were stopped in traffic on our way to La Merced.

It was a perfect long weekend to head to the relaxed countryside. Steve and Myriam had to work on their theses, but I only had to read by the fireplace, relax, and play. sigh

I went for a long hike up the mountain ridge with the dogs, Frodo and Capitu, we harvested vegetables to make a vegetarian version of Fanesca (traditional soup loaded with pumpkin, squash, legumes and more...very tasty) and humitas, and of course I also did some mandatory napping. It was so fun to cook everything from scratch...all the vegetables organic from the garden (shucking and shelling maiz by hand, taking beans out of the pod, etc), fresh eggs from the neighbor's chickens, homemade cheese...YUM. Myriam's mom visited from Riobamba and Rosita came out with two of her sons as well.

Hiking up the mountain ridge...phew! So exhausting. The dogs kept me going, as did the campesinos walking up in rubber boots at twice my speed. I will always blame the altitude and not my out of shapeness, but seriously, this girl needs a work out routine.

I hope you all had a good long weekend!
Cheers, S

The path up to the ridge

The view from the front lawn

Myriam and her mom working in the garden

Semana Santa and More Bus Adventures

Those of you familiar with anywhere Latin America will know that Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a big deal (and that may be an understatement). Friday is of course a holiday, but Thursday is too, and sometimes the whole week is a holiday, filled with fiestas and fanesca (the traditional soup) and processions.

For me, unfortunately, the week was one of work. But at least it was the traveling kind and not the behind the desk kind. I was north in Carchi, the province of Ecuador bordering Colombia, on my second to last visit with the ministry of public health, the hospitals and health areas.

Before sharing my stories from my weekend, some of the other excitement...

It was in Carchi this week that I witnessed my first bus accident, and experienced my first broken-down bus episode. You may recall my earlier post regarding bus travel in Ecuador. Thankfully neither of these bus-related dramas were 'bus plunges', and this is one other thing that we can positively say about bus travel in Ecuador: you may not plunge, you may crash or break-down, and survive to tell the tale.

The winding roads north to Carchi are not the place you would (if you ever would) want to be involved in an accident. Luckily for those involved in the accident I witnessed, the bus went off the side of the road that was not a huge cliff with no guard rails. Also luckily, there was another bus not far behind more than happy to pick up the stranded, unharmed passengers. I should add that this bus was of a company that I had been warned about and never take. Nevertheless, for the last 4 hours on my trip north, I was a little on edge.

It was two days later when I was on a bus from El Angel to Ibarra that I had a bus adventure of my own. I was leaving El Angel at 6PM since I had missed the 5PM bus by minutes (as in saw it driving down the street away from me when I walked out of the hospital), which is later than I like since traveling at night is not always as safe. About 30 minutes outside of El Angel on the road to nowhere the driver pulled over and got out of the bus, followed by his helper. "What is happening?" everyone was asking. About 10 minutes later we heard that the bus was 'damaged' and immediately almost all of the men, thinking they were mechanics, got out to help 'fix' it. Those who were not traveling far decided to hitch-hike or walk, and took off into the hills. But those of us traveling a distance were stuck waiting for (1) the bus to be fixed, (2) another bus to pass by (since only one company drives this lonely road, we would hopefully be able to catch a bus leaving El Angel at seven). As it got dark, we chatted about TLC (the hottest topic of the day) and Canada as we waited, making new friends with our fellow stranded passengers. The bus that finally arrived for us was rocking with latin dance music, had shiny red curtains with white tasels and red mood lighting, making for an interesting rest of the journey!

new music

today i bought a new cd from one of the road side street stands. un metro cuadrado by jarabe de palo. i first heard him while at the beach, but it took me until now to remember who it was and find his album. GOOD.

Cuenca's Revenge

After a great time in Riobamba this past week, I decided to head south to Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador and everyone's favourite. Favourite why? It is pretty, a world heritage site, and the climate is nicer than in the more northern highlands. I arrived late Friday night and checked into my hotel, and went for a nice dinner in a restaurant by the park. Saturday was beautiful. I did my own walking tour of the historic areas, visited the Panama Hat Factory and other sites, and ate at some nice restaurants around town. Or so I thought...

At midnight it was like being hit by a truck. My insides turned to outsides and I was sick in a true Latin-America-Damn-You-Montezuma way (I know this is not Mexico but you catch my drift). I had great plans for Sunday, but didn't leave bed except when I finally caved and called my boss in Quito (a physician) and asked her what I should do. She saw to it that I went to the clinic immediately. I was so dehydrated and weak I had no strength to argue, and so went the understanding that I would avoid the Ecuadorian health care system at all costs. It was a good choice, and after a shot and a list of prescriptions I returned to my hotel room to stick it out until I was feeling good enough to fly home (Monday). What a crap way (literally) to end a fun weekend of tourist sight-seeing! But it did kill my desire somewhat for adventurous food ordering at restaurants. No more salads for me please! Ever again.

Some pictures from before the illness:

Looking across the park at the 'new cathedral'
















Flower market in the square (fyi, flowers are one of Ecuadors biggest exports. always thought those dutch tulips were from holland? wrong!)
















City street (notice Disneyland like church at the end)




















At the Panama Hat Factory by the river (fyi, always thought Panama hats were from Panama? wrong!)

field work = fun

Here are some pictures from my most recent "field work". Well not really of the work so-to-speak, but of the travels around them. Chimborazo is my favorite province to work in. Here the scenery is vivid, the people are genuine and friendly, and the culture is rich. And I must add that the hotel is the best and the food is fantastic.

Alausi, about 2 hours from Riobamba the province's capital, is one of my training sites.

view from the hospital entrance
















the hospital

















looking north up the valley (and down at Alausi)
















bright ponchos and colours on the streets

on the road again...

Since my last post, things have returned to almost normal in Quito. The open roads have brought fresh food into Quito (yum) and I have plans to set out tomorrow to Riobamba, so I can finally get some work done in the field. It is amazing how fast things can get pushed back when traveling is restricted, but it did have some benefit. With the extra time I was able to fully improve the pesticide poisoning surveillance system that we are putting into place in the provinces, and get a start on other written activities I hadn't had time for.

I have 6 weeks left in Ecuador...

How does time go by so quickly? In these 6 weeks I will be traveling for 4, and scrambling to get things ready for my Canadian supervisor when he arrives on April 23rd. Hopefully I will also be able to squish in those extra tourist visits to places I have not yet seen. The Galapagos will have to wait (sigh) since it is not a "student" holiday. But if I win the lottery before May, I will make time. Of course, everyone here loves of holidays and I have two full long weekends left to play. I love it! Canada really needs to consider more statuatory holidays... At least students get spring break, but no holidays between New Years and Easter? What?!

In other news. Today I went for a RUN. I have been walking a lot, but have not really been exercising since I got here. The altitude (9200ft) is a KILLER so I procrastinated as long as possible. Finally I realize I must get in shape for the race I will be in when I get back home. Brian and I have signed up for an adventure race, one with trail running, mountain biking and paddling. It is going to be wicked. If there is an adventurer in you, you should join us on May 14th. Although, I have been training at altitude so you may get blown away by the competition(yeah right).

Well, it may be a while until my next post as I am on the road again. Until then...lots of love from the other side.

Shanna xxx

A state of emergency

A state of emergency has been declared in five provinces of Ecuador. The protests over TLC are serious, and the road blocks have led to food and gasoline shortages in Quito. The government may be overthrown for the second time in two years if the free trade agreement is signed. Before you panic and read the DFAIT country warnings -- I am OK. My work has been affected since I can not travel to the provinces, but other than that life in Quito is almost normal. There are protests here, I think in the historic centre, but I won't be making a trip to see them. As for the food shortages, I think I'll head to the grocery store in the morning and stock up on some items just in case things get really short...else I will be on a forced diet or will have to move to La Merced with Steve and Myriam where we can eat potatoes forever.

While I am trapped in the city, at least for me it is home and I have not been stuck someplace else for the past two weeks. Yesterday Myriam's friend Marcelo decided to walk home to Riobamba from Quito, taking buses wherever he could. The 4 hour 'bus' ride through the mountains...across road blocks...is not a walk I would want to make! After 16 hours he still had not arrived home.

One positive way to look at it is that the people of Ecuador have the right to protest, where in other countries you wouldn't dare.

Pictures from El Comercio online:













Protest in Latacunga ---------- Road block in Cayambe

For background on the Andean FTA: An article by The Development Gap

For up-to-date articles see Ecuador's online newspapers: El Comercio & Hoy Online

For those of you who do not speak Spanish, here are some articles from international media sources:
BBC
New York Times
Reuters
ABC News
USA Today

Happy Naw Ruz!

Happy Naw Ruz all!

March 21 is the Baha'i new year and first day of spring. It is also my favorite holiday.

The day actually started at sunset last night on the eve of the vernal equinox. There was a big party in Quito to celebrate. It was very fun -- lots of food, an artistic presentation that included traditional Ecuadorian musicians and dancers, and of course, a dance. Latin dancing is fun but I am SO BAD! It is a good thing that I am not easily embarrassed :)

Indigenous uprisings

Travel in Ecuador has been paralyzed by paros (or strikes) in the provinces both north and south of Quito. While strikes are a relatively common occurence in Ecuador, seldom are they of this magnitude. The bilateral free trade agreement (Tratado de Libre Comercio or TLC) between Ecuador and the US is about to be signed. This agreement will have a serious impact Ecuador, where a huge percentage of impoverished individuals make their only living as small-scale farmers. Since the US has agricultural subsidies for its farmers, it can therefore produce produce much more cheaply... Steve predicts the downfall of even the most productive farmers in Ecuador. But they won't go quietly.

Pictures from today's article in El Comercio


I have some interesting documents if anyone wants to read more about TLC.

An article from the BBC

More holiday pictures

Ecuador has four distinct regions: the Andes (highlands), the Oriente (jungle), the coast and the Galapagos islands 1000kms offshore. Since I don't have a money tree (yet) and we only had two weeks of holidays...we skipped the islands and visited each of the other areas of Ecuador.

After leaving the jungle, we went to a relaxed beach town called Canoa. It was less relaxed than usual since it was just following the Carnaval beach rush, but still great. It was hot hot hot. I got a strange burn on the back of my leg where I missed sunscreen. Complete with white finger streaks (sexy I know). We surfed (or tried to) on the huge waves, lounged in hammocks, and tried to find these caves at low tide in the bluffs (unsuccessfully).

Feliz Carnaval!

What says party like water balloon and shaving cream fights? How about a face full of flour? That is how Carnaval is celebrated in Ecuador. In fact, I started being threatened with water balloons walking down the streets of Quito in early February.

Carnaval stage in Ahuano, dots on camera = likely shaving cream

Nothing like a face full of flour after a game of equivolley is what I say!

A holiday in Amazonia

We nearly didn't make it to the province of Napo for Carnaval weekend. A big strike in the province made traveling impossible (and dangerous). Thankfully, one day before we were to leave for the jungle the strike ended (who wants to strike on the holidays?) Of course, the unrest in the area has now resulted in a state of emergency. I guess we picked the right time to visit!

The bus ride to Tena was long on (mostly) dirt roads. The 180 km trip took 6 hours! When we arrived just after lunch time, we found out their were no buses to Punta Ahuano where we were to catch our motorized "canoe" (see below) down the Napo River to our jungle lodge. We hired a pickup truck taxi to get there instead...

The jungle lodge we stayed at was called Casa del Suizo, and though not the remotes of Amazon jungle lodges, it was the one of highest recommendations that we could actually afford. It was actually pretty posh, with a swimming pool and great food, not exactly a rustic jungle experience. All the better for me who did not want any encounters with anacondas or the like. Our first day we went on a hike for the full day, with a packed lunch and a guide named Telmo. It was amazing, though gruelling. It was rainy as you would expect the rainforest to be, and the terrain was rugged. The rubber boots were provided by the lodge, and who would have expected them to be the most ideal footwear. But crossing streams I was so glad to have them. For most of the time we were following Telmo who was cutting a path with his machete. At one point while climbing down a muddy slope, Telmo's directly translated words were "please don't fall or die"! While we didn't see any big jungle animals (most of them have been hunted out of the area by the locals), we did see monkeys, birds, strange insects, and plants.

On the river

Brian and I in front of the trunk of an enormous tree

Walking down a jungle path

More tourists arrived the next day, so our subsequent jungle trips were done in groups. In addition to hiking, we built a raft from balsa wood and floated down the river, swung like Tarzan, visited an animal reserve called Amazoonico and a butterfly sanctuary, visited the local Indigenous community to learn about their traditional activities...

A holiday in the highlands

After sightseeing in Quito for a day or so, we headed north to Otavalo on the windy Panamericana. We spent our day shopping in the market for the most part, and had dinner at a pretty restaurant on a nearby lake.

View from the hotel rooftop

View from our dinner table

Cotapaxi is the highest active volcano in the world - and a beautiful National Park if you're lucky to see it on a clear day (which we were). We joined Arie's Bike Company and mountain biked down from 4500 m and through the park. It was wicked fun and I only wiped out...twice. But hurt myself none. The first part is for white knuckles!!

Brian and I in front of the truck

Cotapaxi conqueror

Winding through the park

On holidays, with a boyfriend lost in transit

The beginning of my holidays was slightly anti-climatic. I spent the day at the Merced (the farm) knowing that Brian would arrive from Canada that night after dinner and wanting to get away from the thumb twiddling I would do in anticipation for his arrival.

It was a beautiful day to relax and read in the hammock, and a good way to start a vacation. I even got some farm work in, helping Steve bring some trees down to a neighbour's house. It was in the late afternoon when the rain started, a booming thunderstorm that had the dogs moaning to be let into the house (esp Frodo who looks tough but really is a wimp). The fog set in after the rain and I realized that this might be one of the nights when the planes are unable to land in Quito and instead must land on the coast at Ecuador's other airport in Guayaquil. (Thick fog in the Andes mountains makes for less than ideal landing conditions). As we drove back to Quito I had all fingers and toes crossed, but I watched the last plane land that night from the cab window on my way to the airport, 15 minutes before Brian's plane arrived. It would have been enough for him to be sent to Guayaquil that night, his first time in Latin America, not knowing any Spanish -- but instead of right out deciding not to land (at 8:30PM), they circled the airport for over an hour, flew to Guayaquil, sat on the tarmac while they decided whether or not to try again, returned to Quito, circled the airport again, returned to Guayaquil where he landed at 1:30AM to face a 2hr line in customs (all the flights in Quito were deferred to Guayaquil that night). All the friends and families waiting for the flights in Quito were of course sitting and standing in the airport waiting until at 1AM they informed us that we should come back tomorrow. ARG.

On a plus side, Brian was put up at a five star hotel with all-he-could-eat five star meals until he flew for the third time to Quito the following day.

Pictures of a motorcycle adventure

Getting ready to ride on the health area's motorcycle

Dr. Castillo on the bike

The homes along the side of the Rio BlancoOut on the porch where we stopped to visit and eat lunch

Rebecca, Diana and I in front of the waterfall (read shower and water source)

A motorcycle adventure

My camera battery is dead and I forgot the charger in Riobamba last time I was there, so unfortunately this post is mostly without photos (some are from my parent's camera). The rest you will just have to just imagine it as I describe it here...

On Wednesday my parents flew in from the beach and we left together for Otavalo, a small town north of Quito where there is a large indigenous market. It's a great place to buy Ecuadorian handicrafts. Although the big market day there is Saturday, on other days there is a smaller version, and the local shops are always open.































I had to work north in Carchi the following day, so I ditched my parents at a posh hacienda-style hotel by Lago San Pablo and headed north to Ibarra to sleep for the night.

The next morning I was picked up at my hotel by someone who worked at the health centre in Carchi Area 4, and together we drove for about an hour, first north of Ibarra and then east down through the mountains in a valley that leads to the coast. It is considered a 'sub-tropical' area since even though it is still in the Andes, it is lower and hotter and the crops are mostly fruit trees. It was really beautiful. A river ran through the bottom of the valley and the hills were high and green with cascading waterfalls. The road ran along the side, some way up from the river. In some places, tall sugar canes line the side of the road taller than trees.

The training lasted about two hours, in a pueblito (little town) along the river side. Afterwards I had some time to kill before I could get a drive back to Ibarra, and the Doctor asked if I would like to go out and explore the area a bit (though I didn't pick up all he said because his Spanish was a little hard to understand). I said sure of course and he told me he would be right back. When he came back he handed me a motorcycle helmet. Then he left again. I looked out the window at the bike sitting there and thought "oh God, do they think I am going to go out there on my own on a bike?" My panic lasted only a few minutes because he came back and said that WE were almost ready to go and they were just fueling up the bike (phew!) Then we headed out together with me on the back, down gravel roads along the riverside. It was a hot sunny day, but was very wet because of all the waterfalls in the area, so there were lots of puddles.

It was so much fun! With the fresh warm wind on my face and the absolutely stunning scenery. And it was only a little uncomfortable sitting on the back of the bike holding on to this older, Ecuadorian physician. We stopped a few times to take pictures and for him to explain where we were. There was no electricity, phone, radio or television for the homes we passed. Finally we came to a little house along the road with big cut stalks of plantain lying by the roadside. He called to the lady who lived there to come out and see us, and her two girls as well. The family had a lot of fruit trees, juavas (sp?), papayas, plantain, etc that they sell to intermediaries who bring their crop to market. They cut us down some juavas for me to try...they look like huge foot long green peas and you eat the fruit in the pods minus the seeds. Then we went for a walk with the two girls down to the water fall that the family uses as their bath and water source. They were so cute, Rebecca about 11-12 and her little sister Diana about 4 yrs old who was very shy. The sun was hot and I knew I was getting a sunburn, plus my nice black shoes were really muddy, but I didn't mind at all. Though I wished I had worn my hiking boots because the Doctor really wanted to take me on a hike up the mountain. How was I to have known? Next time though I will go prepared. We had lunch with the family: fried plantains and eggs and water that was surely unfiltered (but I haven't felt any repercussions). Then they gave us a bag of fruit and we headed back.

It was one of my favorite days so far in Ecuador.

La ruta del sol

La ruta de sol lies along the coast of Ecuador from Manta to southern Salinas. My parents were dreaming of a beach holiday, so last Friday me and mis papas took a short flight to Manta from Quito so we could spend the weekend on the coast. Well, for me it was only the weekend since on Monday I had to be back to work, but they stayed on there for a few extra days...

When you take a beach holiday, every Ecuadorian has a favorite beach to recommend. In the end we decided to head to the area around Puerto Lopez, a relaxed fishing village near Machalilla National Park, home to the Isla de Plata (poor man's Galapagos) and Las Frailes beach, the most beautiful beach in Ecuador. Though it doesn't look far on the map, the drive from Quito to Puerto Lopez is 11-12 hours, compare with a 30 minute flight to Manta and "2" hour bus ride to Puerto Lopez. (I use quotations because the timing in my guide book seems to be slightly exaggerated and our 2 hour bus ride was more like 3 and a half).

The coast is truely different from my Andean mountain home. It really brought me back to my time in Guyana. There, small houses are built with bamboo, above ground on stilts. The main industry is fishing, and the smells driving along the coast range from fish, to unidentifiable but familiar smells that I associate with the hot tropics and with poverty. Even the culture is different. One taxi driver in Quito told me that monos (monkeys) live on the coast, referring to the people who live there. They are "happy all the time, always laughing!" and "less serious" than their highland neighbors.

The bus ride from Manta to Puerto Lopez was a culture immersion itself. It was a perfect example of bus travel in Ecuador, icons of Jesus and Che Guevara decorated the front of the bus, there was rocking Latin music, and a windsheild sin wiper, which we didn't notice until it started to rain. We were curious as to what the vendors were selling (corviche), but not enough to be tempted to try in on the bumpy road through the lowlands.

The coastal road, once we got to it, was beautiful (there was an unexpected detour through Monticristi and Jipijapa).

That reminds me to add a story here, of the changing sanitation standards of my mom. At Jipijapa we had a short stop at the bus terminal and time to get off the bus and buy some snacks etc. My mom ran to the bathroom, but I thought I would rather hold it given the normally disgusting condtions that I have come to expect at public, bus terminal bathrooms. After though, I was informed that the bathroom was fine and only cost 15 centavos, well worth it. Trusting her advice I ventured in. There was no running water, so the toilets did not flush and there was nothing to wash your hands with. I came out in shock..."mom! how have your standards changed so much in one week here, that you consider that bathroom to be fine?!"

Anyways...after that we tranfered buses once in Puerto Lopez to head a bit more south to our hotel La Barquita. It was a cute hotel with loft style rooms, big comfy beds, mosquito nets and hot water. And cheap. What more can you ask for? Good food I guess, which we didn't get there (I even had food poisioning Sat morning, yuck, but it only lasted as long as it stayed in my stomach = not long).

The long sandy beach had roaring waves, and the water was warm. Most of the time there was hardly anyone on the beach which was great. The last time I was in the pacific ocean was at surf camp last winter in Costa Rica, so the salty warm water with the huge waves made me crave a surf board to play on. The only surfers there were riding these tiny little boards though, and I knew I would never have a chance of standing up on them. I will have to rent one the next time I am on the coast that is more at my level...

We lounged on the beach and played in the ocean all weekend.