Saturday 4 May 2013

Arrived in Banos on May 3rd evening after a long drive.  Banos is a beautiful city surrounded by mountains - and an active volcano!  It reminds me a bit of Banff in it's beauty and vibe.  We explored the town, went back to our room to clean up and then wandered into a lovely restaurant where we feasted on filet mignon and all the fixings for $8.00!  After eating, we ventured out a bit to explore the town at night.  As with most of the places we have visited in Ecuador



















, Banos has a vibrant night life where we connected with people from all over the world who, like us, have followed their dreams to Ecuador.   After a bit of socializing we turned in a bit earlier than in the past few nights.

Beautiful Banos came alive early this morning - May 4th - around 3:15am as the volcano erupted, spewing black ash throughout the town.  It actually became active about a month ago, but this was the first time it spewed ash.  I have attached some pics of people sweeping up the ash as well as of us wearing the masks that were handed out to the locals to avoid inhaling the toxic ash.  Kind of cool to be here to witness this, but I'd say we timed our exit just about right!!

We drove three hours after grabbing a great fruit smoothie, to the city of Quito - from where we first began our journey.  We will explore the town a bit more this afternoon/evening and then call it a night a bit early as tomorrow we must say good-bye to beautiful Ecuador and head back home to Canada.   This truly has been one of the most incredible trips of my lifetime!

Friday 3 May 2013

Just arrived in Cuenca had a very long drive from Montanita to Cuenca ran into heavy thick fog through the Andes with winding switch backs.  Drove the entire way at only 20 to 60kms/hr due to the treacherous fog!  Mentally exhausting!  Some spectacular views though.  We managed to get lost in Guayaquil for two hours. Heading to Banos tomorrow.  We will explore Cuenca a bit today and report back.  There is a river that flows through Cuenca and on one side is Old Cuenca and the other is the newer city.   Here are some lovely pictures from our journey to Cuenca.   These are from Puerto Lopez, Manabi ~ between Manta and Montanita!  








Thursday 2 May 2013


Well after two days spent here in Montanita we are on the road again heading to Guayaquil and then Cuenca -  about a 6 hour drive.

Our visit in Montanita was an unbelievable experience to say the least.

This quaint little town has a vibe like no other. We have literally met people from around the globe both young and old all of whom seem to be here with the same agenda of nothing more than to escape from reality.
The evening comes alive with the non stop pumping of music as people enter the streets. Vendors selling everything from hot dogs to enchiladas to t-shirts to necklaces.

As you walk down the main street it is lined with tiki huts selling beer and any drink you so desire. With the music pumping everyone is happy and friendly, as we walk further we become totally immersed in the flavor of the evening. The vendors are advertising their specials to draw you in - $2 for mixed drinks and $1 for local beer! As I look behind me a fellow is holding a tray of brownies - they look delicious and apparently they are.

As we move from one club to the next we stumble upon the people we met from the night before ---our group has just doubled in size. The air is clean the streets are alive and it almost feels like you are inside a huge building but you are not as you can see the waves crashing against the beach.

As we exchange stories with the people around you of your experiences in Ecuador you do not realize the time, as for us it was now  8:30am.  Wow where did the time go!

As I reflect on the evening experience I think of all the people I met from all over the world and how sweet the vibe was, there were no arguments - no fights - no one was stabbed or shot.
Everyone from around the globe from different cultures different languages just shared in the simplicity of the evening: drinks, food  laughter, and whatever else you might have indulged in.

We live in a very complicated world but here in Montanita its pretty simple!
I love Montanita.  We will be back!

Now we are packing for our 6 hour journey to Cuenca and












Guayaguil.  As usual, we will touch base just as soon as we can find wi-fi!