Leo did all the talking of Manta in his blog so I will just dwell on my interpretations and yes I did have an anxiety attack at the bus terminal. But all turned out OK. I also did a big “typical Marianne fall” cutting across one of the gardens on the way to the bus, all is good a couple of bruises, hurt ego and grass stains on my white top, OOPS.
Sitting on the bus in the sweltering heat with a hard warm wind blowing in, hanging on for dear life to the seat in front of me, I kept thinking OMG are we going to make it to Manta and then I saw a huge picture of the Virgin Mary in the front of the bus. We will be OK.
As the houses and huts (all of course with TV dishes on their roofs) were flying past the windows all I could think about how could these people like this…. but as the bus stopped to let people off I observed they are happy, clean and carrying bags of groceries.
I guess it is all in perception and I must not forget that we all just dwell on the material things of life. Always a real eye opener. I must say the bus was fun and cheap $7.00 for both back and forth, where a taxi would have been $35.00. Only downside was that on one of the crazy curves one of our bags toppled over, we thought we had retrieved everything but back at the house realized that Leo’s Algonquin College baseball caps was missing, no idea why it was not on his head but we won’t go there SHEESH, men. Will I go back to Manta, no choice have to go back to get any grocery items that the corner does not sell. And wine is cheaper found some across from the Super Maxi for $3.50, Chilean wine, not bad.
Friday is always exciting around here, the veggie truck drives through the project honking his horn to inform perspective customers. We met him up with him near the pub. The older gentleman was sitting in the back of the truck, peeling the onions and breaking off long stems from the broccoli etc. We purchased potatoes, tomatoes, fava beans, pineapple, strawberries, green onions and cucumbers. The young persuaded us to try some of the homemade peanut butter in this huge vat. I turned up my nose and one of the customers said that is very good. OK we asked for a small bag full (check out the picture the guy is really cute too).
Brought these home, packed water, oranges and lathered ourselves with sunscreen and headed to the beach to see how close we could get to the fishing village. The tide was out and a lot of rocks on our way were showing to reveal awesome shells, crawfish and again lots of garbage including gggggrrrr string of all lengths. Looking further into the distance we saw on the rocks white table cloths on 2 tables and umbrellas sheltering the people. Over on the left of the two tables was a barbeque, prep table and 3 chefs in their white jackets cooking for these people. Just really weird and awesome, but the smell of the food cooking was over whelming but that was OK we had a bottle of warmish water and 2 oranges LOL.
Didn’t make it to the fishing village, I really don’t think we ever will walking the beach, just too far. YIKES will have to do that dreadful bus and on the return have to hope we see one and flag it down. I know why don’t you rent a car but at $50 US a day and manual we need to think twice about that venture.
At home cooled down with a shower, cold water and a hour rest, walked to the pub had a beer and ordered 2 pizzas to eat on the roof top patio to watch the sunset. Two pizzas and 2 beers $17.95, that is really good. One pizza all dressed and the other shrimp, will I ever do shrimp pizza again probably not just too strange. Another cool nice evening in beautiful Mirador San Jose, Ecuador!!!!!
New Friends
NEW FRIENDS
Yesterday was a very quiet day, rained all day so we caught up on washings, love the washing machine and dryer pretty awesome, far fancier than mine at home. Swept the floors and cleaned the bathrooms WOOHOO sounds like being at home…..
Continued reading my Kobo the new Nicholas Sparks book See Me and my Kobo decided to delete the book ggggrrrr, no idea why it does that except Leo says Kobo is a real piece of ……… He saved the day by downloading another copy on the laptop, YEAH for my techy husband.
Took a walk in the rain in late afternoon down to the beach, because of all the construction going a lot of muddy areas to hop and skip through. Being the third day of Carnival there were still colourful tents and lots of people celebrating down on the beaches. Today pretty well back to normal with our gardener coming around on his moped and machete dealing with what he believes is unruly plants. The sounds of cement being mixed by hand the old fashioned way and also rebar for house footings being sawed with a hack saw and bent to shape by hand. All strange to us but this is the way the Ecuadorians do it.
Met Yves just down the street, he is part of the project very nice gentleman, down to earth and loves life here. Noticed a very cute beige dog on his patio and inquired is it safe to pet a stray. He told us they are strays but domestic strays, Ecuadorians have dumped them off because they have gotten too big or have had too many puppies. They have been adopted by the people that live here and also have a Vet that comes here and examines all the dogs and gives their necessary shots. I only have a night shot of 2 of the dogs that came to visit us and have been having a hard time finding them during the day.
Today we did the trek to the corner store to pick up a few necessary things, ie beer, icicles, chips and meat for supper. For $9.00 got a filet migon (I know spelling might be off) about 2 inches thick and enough for 2 meals not bad for a corner store. After lunch spent the afternoon in the pool, beautiful area with all the gardens, tables, umbrellas and lounging chairs. This where we met 3 English couples which was a nice change to all the French people the live here. Chatted and laughed for about 3 hours really nice people. One couple reside there all year round, another couple just had a three story house built and are in the process of decorating, they will stay there about 5 months a year and rent the rest to recoup their money and another couple that purchase a lot and will start building next year hoping that the dollar will be better.
After an almost perfect sunset and supper on the patio we skyped Jen and family and had a great chat with them, also saw Monte my kitty. Tomorrow it is off to Manta, another adventure, stayed tuned…..
First trip to Manta
Anyone who complains about public transportation in Ottawa or Toronto needs a reality check. We took the Manglaralto bus to Manta and back yesterday,really cheap $1.75 each for an hour trip. The bus had 3 levels of noisy, loud, even louder and very loud. Latin music played constantly and as fate would have it through a speaker directly overhead. I am sure the driver totally ignored the sign over his head saying the bus never exceeded 90 km/hr. The roads were windy and he wanted to pass every other car he came across. The trip is an hour either way and regardless of all of the above worth the experience. The unfortunate thing is we will have to do it again.
Arrived at the terminal in Manta and were instantly greeted by hawkers selling everything from computer cables to water in plastic bags with a chunk of mango in it. Don’t forget this is our first time in Manta and our mission was to get to the Supermaxi, get our groceries and get back home. We decided that first trip would not be too complicated and that we would venture further next time.
Speaking almost zero Spanish and understanding even less the next task was to convince a taxi as to where we were going. With some it didn’t seem to matter what you said the answer would be si. I spotted a younger taxi driver and with the help of my cue card he assured me he knew where to take us. So off we go. He took us directly to the grocery store, wished us well and the total was $1.50. Mission accomplished.
Had lunch at a place called the Green Room. Cappuccino and a sandwich. Simple but delicious. Walked about and dropped into a few stores and then got our shopping done. Interesting thing is that I was wearing a backpack and didn’t know that you are required to put it in a locker before going into the store. A guard reminded me very quickly. I guess there is a lot of shoplifting.
The taxi ride back to the terminal was a little worse because Marianne didn’t recognize the surroundings when we exited the taxi. With her doubt I started to second guess as well. The buses that were parked looked more like tour busses than commuter buses and I didn’t see the one I was looking for.
As soon as we starting asking people questions about the “other” terminal of Manglaralto it sparked a flurry of men surrounding us, all speaking very quickly in Spanish and calling over others to help. After what seemed like an eternity of trying to escape the help and of course the guy that thought ipad cables would solve everything a guy in a huge hat pointed to an empty bus slot and then to a ticket counter. Problem solved, our bus hadn’t arrived yet.
Home safe and sound. A long shower and a beer on the rooftop made the day a comical memory. Next stop Pacoche Jungle.
Human nature
I find human consistency amazing. There is not too much that is not predictable.
I have been involved in or observed a number of associations and with each one there has been an evolution that will inevitably change it to a power struggle. It seems there is no difference here. The project has a community association and (depending on who you talk to) it has grown a number if dissidents’. I can never understand why there are those who insist that their way is better but never want to step up and put in the work themselves.
I am not saying it is falling apart or anything but it is still entertaining to know there are clichés and differences of opinion.
We will be attending ( observing ) a community meeting on Thursday at the pool area. I will be anxious to see how it unfolds. The head of the organization won’t be there but the ‘second in command will be fielding questions and reporting them to the boss.
Should be fun
LAZY, HAZY DAYS OF WINTER
Saturday night went to the pub (The KokoMo) for supper, fish and chips and 3 large beer, delicious and only $17.95, pretty good price. It is quite small with a huge Montreal Canadians sign on the back wall and all kinds of masks on other walls; yes the owners are from Montreal. Felt a little out of place only English speaking people in the place but they did have an English side to the menu.
The gardens are absolutely beautiful, and the pool and area around are huge and gorgeous. So besides beach walking, swimming, collecting sea shells (although have decided not to bring any home, using them to decorate the gardens around our house Casa Isabela, just vegging and enjoying the weather and surroundings. Sure beats shoveling snow.
Whenever we take our beach walks we bring a plastic bag with us to pick up all the pieces of ropes, nets that have drifted into shore, it is really upsetting to see what people, have tossed into the ocean,I suppose from boats. It is nothing to see tires, bottles, chunks of wood huge piles that have drifted to shore.
A huge festival in Ecuador is Carnival it is held during the week before Lent. We thought it would be more fun to walk down to the beach where about 400 Ecuadorians were celebrating, drinking, eating, playing soccer, playing in the surf and just having a blast. An awesome experience.
We have booked 2 days to go to the Pacoche jungle where we will see different types of monkeys including the howler monkey and about 300 species of birds, Leo will definitely be in his element.
First Days
Since we arrived in Manta so late Jo drove us to the Super Maxi, huge grocery store, we had exactly 45 minutes to fill the cart with things on our list. Since Jo decided to stay in the car to watch our luggage we had the big challenge in figuring out names of things. Most things were self explanatory and prices were relatively the same as in Canada, high prices were shampoos, sun screen. Beer $3.77 for 6 bottles, wine cheapest $7.60, I guess I will become a beer drinker this trip. Cart full with everything we thought we would need for the first days, totaling $163. not too bad. Forty five minute drive dark but could see fishing villages lots of green areas to our rental house. Eleven o’clock exhausted, sweaty, hungry and of the people who know me, I had to unpack and get organized. One hour later I gave in to a long needed shower, glass of wine and toast with brown sugar YUMMY. Sleep till knock on the door at 8:30, our hosts to welcome us and to see if we needed anything. Breakfast, coffee dressed and to the ocean, our first of many beach walks. WOW what a place bustling with construction, beautiful homes, palm trees and flowers. So far this week we have done a lot of nothing, vegging, walking exploring Mirador San Jose, OOPs I think I called it something else. Beach walking has been our favourite past time, the surfs have been amazing. Yesterday was the hottest so far 30 feels like 35 and my poor legs are taking a toll, not fun having lymphodema. Nothing much I can do wear compression knee socks in the evenings and don’t fret as Leo says….On our way to the corner yesterday met the veggie truck, that was an experience in it self. Open truck things a kind of covered with burlap tarps, he seemed to understand what I was asking for and went to another part of the truck and gave me the best of best. We got 8 potatoes, 8 tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, 2 white onions, parsley, bag of strawberries, another fruit??green onions and beans all for $6 not bad EH!!!! Today was really hot this morning and now very windy and a very bearable temperature, time to make a beach walk, swim and find out what the pub is like on site for supper. Till Tomorrow……
Attention Span
I sometimes have the attention span of a dog ……”Oh look a squirrel” .
I become fascinated with something and then suddenly something else steals my attention. Our first walk on the beach found me fascinated with the rolling surf and how it never seemed to be consistent. I always thought that surf broke because of underlying structure but as I watched it seemed that it was totally random.
Then the pelicans put on a show skimming along the top of the curls and then they would fly incredibly slowly the length of the beach. Marianne joked that either there were hundreds of them and that they just kept coming in groups. My response that there are only 12 of them and they did circuits.
Then we walked considerably further down the beach (watching the pelicans overhead) we came to a rock outcrop that was layered and slanted towards the west. Dozens of tiny crabs scurried across the rocks and in and out of the little tide pools. We were used to the crabs at this point because along the beach they were all along the higher edge. They are shy creatures it seems, if you look their way the run like heck to slide down a little hole in the sand. The ones on the rocks were much braver although some tried to hide while just peeking their eyes over a bump in the rock.
A highlite of the rock formation were the little star fish (I think). They clung to the sides of the rocks. One tried to maneuver the trek from rock to rock across the sand. My attention span wasn’t long enough to see if he got to the other side.
Getting here
Well February 1st has finally arrived, we are at the Ottawa airport checking in our luggage. We have been so careful not to go over the fifty pounds allowed, although we could each have had 2 suitcases we only had one each. We had not been as careful with our carryon luggage as we were told by others they usually don’t check the weight. Leo’s camera equipment was over 3 lbs and my carry on was over by 2. It took a lot of ‘what should we be doing’ and maybe not arguing with the lady and she quit saying I should not allow this to go one and she finally put on an “approved sticker”. WHEW we got that through. Boarding passes and passports in hand headed to the plane. Quick flight to TO . Which should have been a 1 ½ layover changed to 5 hour layover because of plane to Peru problems.Finally on the Air Canada Rouge, the rouge did not mean a high classed plane, like no leg room, it smelt and was huge. We had noticed in the loading all the young mothers with little ones on their own. The stewardess’ and stewards of looked like they were right of a Vogue cover page. The one steward really stood out not only did he look like a model but exactly like Elvis, .helping a young mother carrying here baby while she attended to her other toddler, quit the picture….This flight was a torturous 8 hours long, food was bearable, tea horrible and booze very expensive. The night was very long, neither of us slept and kept walking to the back of plane to beg for some water. The airport in Lima was massive lots of neat stores and restaurants. We ate at Millers Brewery Pub looked safe, had a Montreal smoked sandwich and an organic beer all very good for a total of $38.98 not including tip. Headed to the loading area to try and catch some sleep before our next flight to Quito. Layover in Lima about 4 hours, flight to Quito was only 2 1/2 hours on Avianca, beautiful plane, lots of room food and wine good and service excellent. Six hour layover in Quito ( airport is gorgeous with a look of mountains outside), shuttle bus to plane met a guy from Quebec who had been affiliated with El Mirador (the project where we are staying), small world. Very short flight to Manta, Leo ended up with excruiting pains in his ears with the sudden decent to the Manta airport. Manta airport what can I say very small quaint. Got our luggage, YEAH all was there and none had been lost considering all of the stops. Outside was a very friendly face holding a sign with our names on it, our driver Jo Lynn.
Arrived
Well, after a year of talking about it and months of prep (trying to make sense of air travel to this part of the world) and 30 hours of airports, flights and layovers we have arrived at Casa Isabella. We landed last night in Manta at 7:30 and were met at the airport by Jo-Lynne. A bubbly, beautiful woman who has been living in Mirador for 3 years. She de-stressed the moment from the minute we greeted.
Our very first experience in Ecuador was arriving at the grocery store half an hour before it was closing and let loose with a cart to get our startup supplies. We will be keeping a list of items and prices as we go and learn more about how to get the bargains. Our initial shopping excursion cost more than usual I guess because we were buying paper products, detergents, food, to beer and wine etc. First bill at SuperMaxi was $165.
Any time I mention a price I will simply use US dollars. It would not be fair to convert to Canadian because what cost $1.30 today could cost $1 next month.
There is a corner store here on the project. Did a price comparison to what was in the grocery store and markup isn’t terrible. Will do for the things that you don’t want to carry on the bus.
Met our hosts this morning, did a walkthrough of the house and asked a lot of questions. Pretty much set up except for the wifi in the house. Need the IT dude to show up and troubleshoot but until that happens I am happy I packed a LAN cable in my tech stash. Works well but I have to go to the laundry room to connect. Oh well, pretty unimportant in the global sense of things.
Took our first walk along the beach this afternoon. If I were younger I would shout “surfs up dude” but we were more than happy to listen to the crashing of the waves and watch the various sand crabs scurrying as you approached them. Pellicans flew in formation overhead.
