Canoa Ecuador Again

Sunday, January 7th, 2018 Canoa Ecuador

After lunch on Wednesday, we left home and drove to Gatineau where we stayed overnight with our son Zack, his wife Annie and our grandchildren Maia and Noah. At 3:15 am on Thursday, we got up, got ready and drove to our son Dylan’s apartment in Ottawa to pick him up so he could take our car back to his place after we got out at the airport.

Check-in and security clearance went easily and our first flight with Air Canada left on time. Luckily we had 2 hours in Toronto to get through immigration and security before we flew on United Airlines to Chicago. Our next flight was with Copa Airlines to Panama City. Our final flight was again with Copa to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where we arrived at midnight, very tired but glad that all of the flights had gone smoothly. We even got moved to the emergency exit seats with more legroom on both Copa flights. We had flown on Aeroplan points so Aeroplan decided our route and which Star Alliance partners would take us.

Immigration was quick and uneventful. In Ecuador, there is no visa requirement for Canadian visitors. They just stamp and date your passport.

Unfortunately, although Anita’s backpack arrived in Guayaquil, mine did not. After filling out a “property report”, we went to the taxi booth inside the building and got a cab for $6 US to our little hotel, the DC Suites, which is near the airport on a little side street that the driver had trouble finding. He kept asking in Spanglish, “How much did you pay for this place?” It made us wonder a bit.

However, when we got there and woke up the night guy, he led us in another door and upstairs to a perfectly clean and adequate room. We paid $40 US for the night and $4 US each for breakfast the next morning. We slept from about 2 am until about 5:30 am.

The next morning I called Copa on Skype to inquire about my backpack. I was told that they did not know where it was and it would take 48 hours to locate it but when it appeared they would deliver it to my address in Canoa. 

After breakfast, our host at the hotel provided a shuttle to the bus station. We shared the car with 2 young Korean women who were going on to Peru after visiting the Galápagos Islands. We had been to the busy Guayaquil bus station before so it wasn’t as overwhelming this time. It didn’t take long to buy tickets to Bahia de Caraquez for $8 each plus 50 cents to exit the door to the bus platform on the upper floor.

Before anyone can get on the bus, a young woman frisks them and searches any bags they want to carry on. Apparently bus hijackings are still a problem here so they have to check everyone for handguns. However, we’ve never seen a problem or had anything stolen in Ecuador. 

As we got on the bus, the only other gringo couple, who were sitting right in front of us, asked, “Are you the Boles?” It turned out that they were the property managers for the condo we rented in Canoa. They were just back from visiting family in England. They had arranged to be picked up by their assistant in San Vicente, the next little town north of Bahia. We paid an extra 50 cents to stay on the bus to San Vicente so we could travel with them. Six hours later, we were in San Vicente.

Their assistant, Samia, dropped them off at their condo and then took us to ours and showed us everything. Then, since she lives in San Vicente, she drove us back south through there to the Bahia shopping centre and dropped us off. 

Somehow, on very little sleep, we managed to buy some groceries, rum and wine. We had already arranged to buy beer from the maintenance man at our condo ($15 US for 12 600 ml bottles - a good deal, especially since we didn’t have to haul it from a store). In the big grocery store, we also managed to buy a T-shirt, ball cap and cheesy flip-flops ($2.54) for me. I had board shorts in my carry-on daypack so now I was set for the next 3 months, even without my big pack. Stepping outside, we got a taxi to drive us back to our condo for $8 US.

After a couple of drinks on the balcony while watching the beautiful sunset, we fell into bed. We were too tired to sleep in and were up at 4:30 am. Old people’s insomnia.

Yesterday, we walked the beach, lounged by the pool and just enjoyed being here. Last night I slept for 10 hours and Anita slept for 8. Today, after Skyping with our 3 grandchildren, I called Copa again. This time, they said my pack was in Guayaquil where I could pick it up. Not happening. I protested and they agreed to deliver it to us within 24 hours. We’ll see.

The picture is the sunset from our balcony. More pictures later.