Nearing the End of Our Stay

A little over a week ago, we walked a few steps over to see our neighbours Steve and Danielle for happy hour on their balcony. First they showed us their collection of ceramic clay artefacts that they have found on the beach over the last 6 years that they have lived here. Before the arrival of the Europeans, the indigenous people who lived here created many practical and ceremonial items from clay and then hardened them with fire, which of course is the definition of “ceramic”.
We saw many small figurines, including jaguar heads. Jaguars were revered. We also saw small etched stamps used with dyes to create temporary skin decorations. As well, they had a piece of a ceramic map. It was fascinating to be in touch with the pre Columbian past of the area.
We’ve found a few pieces of etched pottery on the beach (pictured) that the collectors like Steve and Danielle would only use along the paths out in the garden. It’s surprising how much there is but finding unique and well preserved items is much more difficult.
We’ve included a couple more pictures of the view from our lunch spots in the village: the Cevicheria Saboreame #2 and the Charly Bar. As well, there’s a picture of Anita in the pool and a couple of pictures from our balcony. Finally, just to prove that Anita does cook meals here, she’s shown preparing tomatoes for spaghetti sauce.
Over the next few days, we’ll either eat a seafood lunch or dinner in Canoa every day. On Thursday morning we’ll try to be on the bus to San Vicente by 8 am. There, we’ll catch the Reina del Camino bus for the 6 hour ride to Guayaquil. We have our usual hotel booked there. The hotel driver will take us to the airport by 5:30 am on Friday and, hopefully, our flights will all be on time to take us to Panama City, Fort Lauderdale and finally Ottawa by 11 pm. We’ll get a taxi to Zack and Annie’s in Gatineau and Zack will drive us home on Saturday or Sunday.
It’s been a great winter here but we’re looking forward to being home too.

Political Rally

A couple of weeks ago on a Tuesday afternoon, we took the bus (usually 25 cents each but sometimes 50 cents each if we don’t have the right change) into Canoa for our usual happy hour at the Bambu, dinner somewhere and trivia night at the Surf Shak.
As we came down the Main Street toward the malecon along the beach, we saw that the street was blocked and a big stage and many chairs were being put in place. At the Bambu, Jorge the bartender mixed up some mojitos and then we had langostina in pesto sauce on a bed of potato wedges for dinner there. Except for lobster, these huge shrimp are the most expensive item on the menu at $15. However, two of us could barely finish one serving so it’s not a bad deal.
Walking back to the Main Street, we saw all the prizes for the rally in front of the stage. This is only a municipal election but, in order to win, the candidates pay anyone with a truck to bring people to the rally at $1 per person. To attract people, they also have draws with expensive prizes like major kitchen appliances, air conditioners, fans and outboard motors. We have heard rumours that candidates will spend $100,000 on their campaigns. This rally was for the incumbent mayor, Rossana, and her team. One has to wonder why anyone would spend so much money for local political power. It must be worth it.
By 7:30 pm the crowd was starting to gather and more chairs were being set out. We stopped for an ice cream and watched the action. It was all peaceful but it soon became apparent that there would be hundreds of people. We decided to skip trivia night because we thought we might not get a taxi home later. As we travelled south along the highway in our taxi, there was a steady stream of cars and trucks going north into Canoa to the rally. This was more people than we’d ever seen in Canoa before.
The election was the following Sunday so there were no alcohol sales anywhere on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, at least not openly. We heard later that the election is in dispute because some ballot boxes  were burned and in some polling areas, more votes were cast than there were registered voters. Democracy is fragile.

Canoa Beach Crawl

On Sunday, March 17th, we participated in the Canoa Beach Crawl, a fundraiser in support of a local private school. After years of observation, many of the expats have concluded that they can’t do much for the poorly funded public schools here so about 10 years ago, one older expat, Jimmy Dean, was the driving force to start a private school for local children. Because many local families don’t have a lot of extra money, the school is heavily supported by the expats in the area.
At 3 pm, about 40 of us started with rum punch and empanadas at the Coconut Hotel on the beach about 1 km south of Canoa. Then we moved along the beach to the Canoa Suites for more rum punch and pasta salad. From there we walked to Canoa’s Wonderland for rum punch and appetizers provided by the Charly Bar. We also had mass participation in a few short games with water balloons etc. Next it was on to the Coco Loco for more rum punch and more appetizers. Finally we ended at the Surf Shak for rum punch and cake. Outside the ladies deemed it appropriate to do their gorilla dance or something. Finally, inside the tables were cleared away and we danced the night away until about 8:30 when most of us went home to bed. There were a few sore heads the next morning.

Around Carnaval time

School summer holidays here in Manabi province start around the beginning of February and go until the end of March or so. In the middle of that somewhere is the beginning of Lent, preceded by the final long weekend holiday of Carnaval. Ecuadorians love to go to the beach at Carnaval so that is when Canoa is busiest. Unfortunately, it’s also the time when there’s more likely to be robberies.
People often ask us if Ecuador is safe. That’s a hard question to answer. There is definitely more crime than in our little village at home but perhaps no more than in other developing countries. Travelers learn to be cautious and use common sense everywhere. Be aware of your surroundings, don’t wander the streets drunk late at night and don’t flash a lot of cash.
There are a lot of Ecuadorian families here for a beach vacation around Carnaval. A very small minority of the vacationers are here to steal. Recently we have heard of one attempted robbery of 2 ladies walking on the beach who were confronted by a young man brandishing a broken bottle. We’ve also heard of 2 break-ins.
Generally, the robberies are crimes of opportunity. So, we don’t feel unsafe but we always try to be vigilant.We are relatively wealthy people where the average wage is about $450 per month. Don’t flaunt it. Lock your doors. Don’t be an easy target.
Another possible concern for some people is the potential for earthquakes. The quake here 3 years ago devastated the local area and killed over 50 people in the village of Canoa. A few weeks ago, about 5 am, we were woken by the building shaking for about 30 seconds. About 20 minutes later there was another short shake. Later we discovered that it was caused by a 6.4 earthquake centred further south and east of here and deep in the ground. The closer, shallower quakes are much more devastating. We were fine but when it starts you’re never sure if it’s going to stop or get worse. It can be a little nerve wracking when it happens but, once again, we try to stay in structurally sound buildings and we have an earthquake bag with clothes, water, bug repellent and a few other items in case of disaster. It really doesn’t happen very often.
The only other problem here is that, because it’s the rainy season, it often rains a bit at night although hardly ever during the day. But the frequent rains encourage the mosquitos to breed. That can be an annoyance at sunset if we’re near any of the brush that surrounds our condo complex. This is particularly problematic for Anita as the bites she gets turn into large itchy welts. This happens in every country we’ve been to except Canada. A couple of weeks ago she got a lot of bites when we walked near the brush on the beach on a very still, hot, humid morning. That was a mistake that caused her several days of pain. At home the bugs in May and June are much worse but the bites don’t affect her any more than they do anyone else. Even when we go into the village for the evening, we always spray PiActive on our legs, which works quite well.
There are always some dangers and inconveniences with any travel but for us, the positives far outweigh the negatives in spending our winters here. We have already paid a deposit to stay here for 3 months next winter.
We have included 2 pictures from our balcony at sunset and a picture of Anita walking along the Malecon in the village in late afternoon on her way to happy hour at the Bambu. The final picture is of Anita, with our friends Connie and Andy, enjoying a homemade passion fruit flavoured ice cream in a freshly made waffle cone after an evening out on the town. For $2 it’s a great way to end the evening before our $2 taxi home to our condo.

Life on the Beach

By the end of January, my health was back to normal and so was our life here. Usually we get up every morning and each do a 1/2 hour of Pilates exercises, at least Monday to Friday. After coffee and breakfast we take care of any minor chores. About once a week we take the bus to the market in San Vicente or the supermarket in Bahia. Depending on how much we have bought, we’ll either take the bus back or get a taxi. Very often now, at the supermarket we’ll meet someone we know with a car who’ll give us a ride home. We really appreciate that.
Every day we go for a long walk on the beach at low tide. We often walk about 3 km north to Canoa or another kilometre further to the cliffs at the end of the beach. The beach here stretches from Canoa in the north to the Chone River between San Vicente and Bahia de Caracquez in the south, a distance a little under 20 km, I think.
Occasionally we’ll stop at one of the ceviche huts in Canoa for lunch, usually Cevicheria Saboreame #2 or once in a while at the Charly Bar. Both have excellent food. A big bowl of Ceviche de Camerones (shrimp ceviche) with plantain chips costs $5.50 US and a 600 ml beer costs $1.75. That’s an unbeatable lunch. We often order only one for both of us.
After our walk home we’ll usually spend 1/2 hour or more in the pool just relaxing and watching the ocean. A few times a week we’ll take a beer and glass of wine down to the palapa by the pool for happy hour with some of the other people who live here. There is a mixture of owners and long term renters here, with most, if not all, being retired Canadians or Americans.
On Tuesday nights we’ll usually go to happy hour at the Bambu in Canoa, where powerful mojitos or other drinks are 2 for $5 and the fresh popcorn is free. Then we’ll have dinner somewhere and go to Trivia Night at the Surf Shak. The first picture is us getting a ride home from Trivia Night with one of our neighbours.
The next 2 pictures are Valentines Day at the Bambu where we had the special Valentines Dinner of corvino (really good fish) with mushroom rice and tempura vegetables for $9.50 each. Excellent.
The final 3 pictures are at a small brew pub back in the bush past the little hamlet of Rio Canoa, about 8 or 10 miles off the highway along a narrow dirt road. We stopped twice on the way there to make sure we’d make it through a couple of washouts. Locally, only the highway and a couple of streets in Canoa are paved. Otherwise the roads are just dirt, not gravel. They get very muddy after a rain. However the beer and company were good so it was another pleasant afternoon.

Back in Canoa, Ecuador

On January 8th, 2019, our friends Tom and Pia picked us up at home. They were on their way to deliver Pia’s sister to the Ottawa airport so were kind enough to let us hop in the car. After a pleasant ride and dinner in Ottawa with them, we got to bed early at the Days Inn in preparation for an early morning and long day of travel.
We took the 4 am shuttle from the hotel to the airport and checked in with no problems. Our first flight left at 7 am for Logan Airport in Boston. Since we had flown on Aeroplan points, we didn’t have much choice in how to get to our ultimate destination of Guayaquil, Ecuador or how long it would take. There’s really not much advantage in flying to Boston from Ottawa when you want to go to Ecuador.
We had a 6 hour layover in Boston and had to change terminals, which meant leaving the secured area and having to go back in again in another terminal. Unfortunately, we couldn’t check in for our next flight right away and had to spend a couple of hours sitting at the check-in area. However, we’re used to these small inconveniences. After we got to the waiting area by our gate, we sat and watched the rain. One of the baggage wagons on the runway took a corner too sharply and half the bags spilled out onto the pavement. Luckily no suitcases broke open. None of the baggage handlers seemed to find this unusual. They just gradually picked it all up.
After 2 pm, our next flight left for Panama City where we arrived in the evening. The airport there always seems very busy but we had no problems finding our gate and waiting for our final flight to Guayaquil. We arrived in Guayaquil about 11:30 pm and passed through customs. Unlike last year, both of our packs arrived on the luggage carousel.
In Guayaquil, it is always wise, especially after dark, to arrange for a taxi at the booth inside the airport. It is not wise to hail a cab out on the street. For $5 we got a taxi to our little hotel, the DC Suites, about 5 minutes away.
After about 5 hours sleep, we had our pre-arranged breakfast in the lobby and got a ride from the hotel owner to the big bus station adjacent to the airport. We had bought tickets ($8 each US) to Bahia de Caracquez online from the Reina del Camino bus company. We took the printout to their office in the station just to make sure it was valid. It was and we just had to pay the 25 cents each to go through the exit turnstile to the platform on the upper level of the station.
Our bus left on time, more or less, at 9:40. Reina del Camino has reasonable buses with AC. All long distance buses in Ecuador have a screen on the wall behind the driver where they show violent movies, usually at full volume. We have learned to tune them out as much as possible. After 6 hours, with one bathroom break in Portoviejo, we were in Bahia.
For $2 we got a taxi to El Paseo shopping centre where we picked up groceries. While we were there, just by chance we ran into our friends Kevin and Pat from the Ottawa area, whom we had met here last winter. We made plans for dinner the next night.We had quite a load with our groceries and packs. A taxi to our rented condo in the Playa Azul complex between the little village of Briceno and the village of Canoa usually costs $8 or less. The driver saw all our stuff and wanted $10 and we were too tired to argue. In 20 minutes we were at our condo.
The property manager, Samia, let us in and we settled into our winter residence. Playa Azul is a gated complex with a total of 15 condos spread out over 3 buildings. It’s almost identical to Playa del Sol, a couple of kilometres further south along the beach, where we stayed last winter. It was time to settle in and enjoy happy hour on the balcony.
The next night we went to one of our favourite bar/restaurants, the Bambu, on the Malecon in Canoa with our old friends.
Unfortunately, the day after that, my scratchy throat turned into a really bad cold. I hardly got out of bed for the next 4 days and didn’t really feel well for the next 2 weeks. However, I recovered in time for the annual Beach Bash school fundraiser, where Kevin and I won the unfortunately named Cornhole (bean bag toss) Tournament.
We were picking up where we left off last year. Life is good.