On Sunday, our last day in Montanita, we did the usual breakfast from the bakery. When we walked there at 8:30 am we met people walking along the street drinking beer. Not sure if they were still up from Saturday night or getting a head start on Sunday. Later we wandered the beach. For lunch we went back to a little shop for empanadas (deep fried Ecuadorian pierogis) stuffed with spinach and cheese, meat or chicken. Four empanadas and a large beer cost $6.
Before dinner, we checked out 4 different hotels right on the malecon in town. A lot of little hotels cater to Ecuadorian weekenders and have no international online presence. We found a great one for only $60 now in high season for the matrimonial suite including breakfast and overlooking the ocean. In April low season, on our way back through here, it will be only $50 which is $5 more than we're paying now. Looks good. After our search, it was back to El Valero for calamari, rice, patacones, salad and a drink for $3.50 each.
Sunday night is actually comparatively quiet in Montanita. We were in bed early and up at 5:30 to get ready to leave. The bakery opened at 6:30. For her morning coffee, Anita was given a styrofoam cup of yesterday's coffee heated in a microwave. Like a true addict, she didn't mind. I arranged for a taxi to pick us up at our hotel and he arrived at 7:05. For $25 plus a $2 tip, he drove like a maniac for 45 minutes to the Puerto Lopez bus terminal. A good bus was leaving at 8 am so, as planned, we had just enough time to buy tickets to Portoviejo ($3.50 each) and use the washroom (25 cents each) before we left. Next time we won't cut it quite so close.
We arrived in Portoviejo at 10:30 am. It's a fairly big terminal but all the security guards and touts were very helpful in getting us to the Coactur company ticket office where we got tickets to Canoa ($2 each). After waiting for 1/2 hour in the Coactur air-conditioned VIP lounge, we left at 11:30. The bus had AC and was reasonably comfortable but we were glad to finally get off in Canoa at 2:30 pm. We walked down to La Vista Hotel on the malecon, where we've stayed before, and the desk clerk escorted us back up through town to our apartment, which is owned by the same European (I think) expat. Although we're a 6 minute walk from the beach or downtown, we like our apartment. We'll describe it tomorrow.
Naturally, we had to have ceviche camarones (shrimp ceviche) and camarones enconcado (shrimp in coconut sauce) plus a large beer (total cost $13 + $1 tip) at our favourite beach hut diner, the Cevicheria Saboreame #2. Only on the beach in Canoa will you see a man leading a donkey past your table while the sun sets over the ocean.
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