Our own slice of paradise....
Trip Start
Oct 10, 2006
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10
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Trip End
Oct 10, 2007
Ayampe, Ecuador
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Not really many events to report from Ayampe as most of my time was spent surfing, eating, reading, learning Spanish, walking and jogging along the beach, watching the wildlife, chasing crabs, skimming stones on the lake left over from the last time the river flowed into the sea, watching the locals fish, starting beach fires, cooking our own food and lots of other simple pleasures which are great to do but not too exciting to read about.
There was one night which sticks out in the memory though.....
Me and jb have surfed hard all day and have run out of food to cook for tea, we are a bit later than usual but we trudge for ten minutes down the highway to a restaurant we found that does the our beloved Almuerzo, a cheap but filling dinner of soup starter and fish with rice as a main. We are damn hungry and as we turn the corner we spot the restaurant and realise the lights are out, its closed! There is no where else to eat apart from the very expensive restaurant at our camp which we hadn't been forced to use yet and didnt plan on doing so. As luck would have it, a bus heading towards the closest town of Porto Lopez arrives promptly. We know we can get good cheap food there so we jump on and try to silence our stomachs for the 25 minute bus ride.
It is only as we arrive at Porto Lopez that we remember that the National Elections took place earlier that day. It is forbidden to sell or serve alcohol to any Ecuadorians the day before the election, a Saturday, to ensure a sober voting public. Therefore, now the result had been announced the locals were making up for lost time on the Sunday! The town was going wild, groups of happy, merry people in the streets, packed into trucks touring round, horns beeping, loud music pumping out of big speakers in the middle of the road, singing and chanting of the newly elected President - Rafael Correa. A real party.
If we weren't so hungry, tired and ready for an early night it would have been a much more interesting story, however our mission was to secure good cheap food and get back to our comfortable and quiet beds a.s.a.p. We head to the market where we get our supplies and have eaten well before, we wolf down a plate of chicken and rice before they can put it down on the table and head back to the main street. Jb needs to restock on antiseptic cream for his foot, so we hunt down a pharmacy and then walk back to where we usually get the bus back. The main street is blocked by the aforementioned huge speakers and tonnes of trucks and jeeps filled with people celebrating. Everyone seems happy, I am not sure whether they all support Mr Correa or they are just happy to be allowed to drink again!
We hang around on the corner a bit away from the action hoping somehow a bus is going to push its way through the throng and rescue us. After 10 minutes, I am pretty sure that aint going to happen and three local men stagger towards us with big smiles and plenty of questions. Where you from? What are you doing here? Do you like football? Do you like Ecuador? In between answering these usual questions for two very obvious gringos I ask them some.... Are there any more buses? How much is a taxi? Where are you going? How are you getting there? Who won the election and why is everyone so happy?
So, no more buses, the taxis cost more than we have on us as we only came out with enough money for food and a beer (unfortunately we had to pass on the beer to catch the bus). jb is doing his best to answer many questions with a smile accompanied by his stock fallback response "no entiendo" and I am trying not to show how bad this boozed up fellas breath smells whilst he has his arm round my shoulder asking me a dozen questions which make as little sense to his friends as to me because he can hardly stand up.
We quickly make friends with these three very happy fellas and they begin to flag down any suitable looking vehicle coming past. I figure they have a better chance than me and hope there is room for all five of us. After about twenty minutes of this a typical small truck with
an open back stops for us and we run down the street to hop in. As the three drunkards jump in I realise there is little space already and me and jb are left sitting on the back ledge, above and behind the back wheels. We grab on as best we can and just hope the guy is going to take it slow, there are many hefty speed bumps to negotiate and we are in the best spot to be flipped right out the back of the truck! I make a mental note to keep my mouth shut and eyes shielded when possible, being on the back ledge our heads are going forward at speed into the legions of bugs flying around. As we chug off into the night, other passengers begin to ask questions and I realise there must be at least a dozen people rammed into the back of this truck, most huddled down underneath a sheet stretched across the open back. The driver knows where the speed bumps and worst potholes are so the ride isnt too bad but after 10 minutes I am getting serious cramp in my buttocks as I have the corner seat and my legs are forced together by fellas either side.
Someone asks me where we are headed and I answer Ayampe, a minute or so later I find out from one of our drunken buddies that the driver is not planning to go that far, only to a place called Salango which is a good hour or so's walk uphill from Ayampe. Jb does his usual, slightly concerned " whats happenin mate?" and I tell him the bad news. I have a chat with one of our less drunken buddies, which is difficult becuase the wind is loud when the truck is moving at speed. When we slow down for bumps at the next residential area I manage to find out that there is unlikely to be any taxis in Salango and we have three options - walk home, uphill in the pitch dark (not fun and a bit risky), wait on the road and try and hitch again to Ayampe (unlikely) or take up the offer of a nights stay at this fellas house who is drunk and we have only just met. I am quiet a trusting bloke and the coastal people in Ecuador have been nothing but friendly to us, but this is not a viable option from my point of view. Particularly as the surf should be good in the morning.
When we stop at Salango, I speak to the drivers mate and ask if it would be possible to continue to Ayampe. At first he refuses, but when he sees how desperate we are he smells money to be made and agrees for a price of 4 dollars. Me and jb confer and find we have 4 dollars and 5 cents between us and happily agree to the fee. We sit back more comfortably now people have got out of the truck, say adios to our drunken buddies and relax in the knowledge we will soon be back at our camp. We get another five minutes down the road and the truck stops, the drivers mate gets out again and I can tell by the way he is swaying when he takes a leak at the roadside that he is also pretty drunk, I cant help but worry that the driver is too, but dismiss it quickly as his driving has been spot on.
The driver and his mate have obviously had time to rethink the fee quoted to the two gringos up back because the mate staggers over to me and demands 6 dollars or we go no further. He mumbles something about fuel costs and stares at me blankly. We are now only about twenty five minutes walk from home but the principle of the thing annoys me, some people will do anything to rip off a tourist in need. I tell him calmly and slowly that what we agreed was fair and besides we only have 4 dollars between us, I show him the evidence and with a grunt he climbs back in the cab and we continue to Ayampe without another problem.
