Carnaval at Puerto Lopez!

Ok, sorry for the delay, I've been taking tests, entertaining children while trying to do my homework all weekend, and realizing that all the big sorts of projects that I have to do are coming up sooner than I thought. Thankfully, now I have time to blog because tomorrow there's no school! That's right, Wednesday = "Professional Development Day" (hm, are we back in high school?). I will gladly accept it and hopefully do something fun tomorrow :)

So for Carnaval vacation (February 20th-24th) 3 friends and I went to Puerto Lopez.

Thursday night/Friday
We left Quito at around 9:30 on a bus with the company Panamericana. Thankfully, we did not have to catch the bus from 'Terminal Terrestre' in southern Quito, which is apparently in a dangerous area. The bus was overnight to Guayaquil and it was supposed to take about 9 hours, but it took more like 12. At night we were treated to a wonderful film featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, where he fought an evil army of brain-altered big guys while saving his daughter and having to choose between two women (one of them turns evil so it's not such a hard choice). He's a single dad too just in case you were worried about why he's having these "adventures" with other women. In the beginning of the movie the sound on the bus was terrible, so when the sound of the movie wasn't playing there was a horrible noise that I think I have since blocked from my memory. Also, this whole thing started at about 11 pm, when many people on the bus (not including myself and amigos though) were already asleep or trying to fall asleep. What better to fall asleep to than the sound of explosions, gunshots, and large men grunting?

Eventually I went to sleep, which took a while to happen, but once I was out it went pretty well. In the morning we were woken up with another masterpiece (since when do italics denote sarcasm? I think I just made that up), The History of Michael Jackson - through music videos! They were in chronological order, oh joy... mommy? why is the man getting whiter and whiter? and creepier and creepier? We got some Billie Jean, Beat it, some strange video with a bunch of celebrities where nobody actually does anything, and then half way through Smooth Criminal the DVD player must have committed suicide (*copyright - 'Z' Feb. 26th, 2009*). We then arrived in Guayaquil and began to look for a bus to get us to Puerto Lopez. A man came up to us and asked if we needed some help. We thought he must just be a nice guy trying to show us poor gringos the way around. NOPE. After showing us a booth with 'Puerto Lopez' clearly labeled, and talking to the company to buy our tickets for us, then showing us where to get the bus and where we could sit and wait, he was of course expecting a tip. This was all something we definitely could have done on our own, and we were not happy about his crazy stalker habits. I gave him a dollar and we just told him to go away. Then we headed to the food court and I got some Pan de Yuca (delicious!) and some others got Pizza and such. We caught our bus to Puerto Lopez at 11am-ish, which was not nearly as nice as the bus we came to Guayaquil on. But I met some nice girls from Seattle on the bus (who we would continue to see around town all vacation long) and took a little nap. Towards the end of the bus ride we had some cool views of the coast, and when we were dropped off in Puerto Lopez we were just a block and a half away from our hostel. We got there around 3:30pm, 18 hours total! In all, the bus rides cost us $13.20.

We had booked a room in Hostal Villa Colombia, so we got there and settled in. There were 2 bunk beds and one single bed, one more than we needed. Luckily, Pierce sat on one of the top bunks and broke one of the little wooden planks under it, so we obviously decided not to use that one. It turned into storage space, mostly taken over by Zack and I. We also had mosquito nets (in pretty pastel colors) and a bathroom. I probably should have taken more pictures of the Hostel because it was AWESOME. The owner is a woman probably in her 50s or early 60s named Mariana, and her son Galo (30ish) works at the hostel and is also a tour guide for Machalilla National Park. We got free use of the kitchen, which we took full advantage of throughout the "weekend". The stay was only $8 a night, and $10 if we wanted breakfast in the morning, which we only did for the first morning.

Friday afternoon we wandered around town and went to the beach to play with the frisbee I got (yay!). Some little boys decided to join us, which was fun, and we also walked down to the end of the beach with carnival rides and games :) We went to a little restaurant on the road that goes along the beach for dinner, and probably got the fastest service I've ever had at a restaurant (besides McDonald's). The food was really good too, I had some chicken and beef because none of us really felt like eating seafood yet (the coast = ceviche everywhere). I went to bed after talking to Galo and 3 women from Quito for a while (they're nice and work for the government doing cool stuff), and Zack and Kristina stayed up a bit longer and learned a new card game with them called Cuarenta (40).

Saturday
We started off the day with our lovely $2 breakfast served to us by Mariana, consisting of lots of fruit (pineapple, watermelon, and melon), bread and jam, eggs, and tea. We then asked her about how we could go about getting to Agua Blanca she was very helpful, and told us to take the bus there for 25 cents (instead of a motorcycle/rickshaw taxi, which would cost much more). We set off to this place, which is an indigenous town/archaeological site with a sweet sulfur lagoon t swim in and lots of cultural interestingness.

We got there and paid the $3 fee to get in, which includes a guide. In order to get to the actual town though, we had a good long hike that took about 45 minutes or so. It was super hot, but we saw some sweet animals along the way, like a wild boar, donkeys, and goats (LOTS of goats). When we got to the town there was a small museum, a restaurant, a little craft store, a church, and a soccer field (every town's gotta have one). We went into the museum and were introduced to our guide, as well as a couple from Argentina that totally cheated and took a taxi along the hike that we just did to get into the town. They were very nice though :) We went through the museo and then on a hike through the grounds and saw some sweet funeral urns, a dry river, and cool flowers. Towards the end of the hike we came upon the sulfur lagoon and went swimming for a good long while, very refreshing. It smelled pretty nasty, but looked pretty and was still lots of fun. On the bottom of the lagoon you're supposed to take the mud and put it all over to "exfoliate" and such. We just did it so that we would look like sea monsters.

After washing all the mud off we went to a teeny tiny restaurant next to the lagoon that just served ceviche, but it was $1 and very delicious. There were about 5 different things that you could mix into it, including mustard, ketchup, peanut sauce, green peppers, and onions. I scraped my onions off and got to mixin', and it all (surprisingly) tasted great together! As we learned later, the 3 ladies from Quito also came through Agua Blanca (we saw them at the lagoon) and they paid $2 for the ceviche! First instance of Ecuadorians getting "gringoed" on prices, hah. We think it's because their guide didn't stay with them or tell them how much it should cost.

We went up to a lookout point after lunching, which was gorgeous. Then we walked back to the town. The walk looked short from the lookout, but it took about 20 minutes in the hot hot sun, and i hadn't re-applied sunscreen after getting out of the lagoon (thinking that the walk would be quick too). So I got a sweet sunburn. Don't worry mom, I'm fine :P We got back to the museum and got a taxi from there to go to Los Frailes beach.

To get into Los Frailes, it costs $5, but the ticket we get for the $5 also includes entry to the rest of Machalilla National Park. This is also the price we pay with a Censo, the magical card that says we're semi-ecuadorian (we have a visa). When we got in to the beach I was amazed by how beautiful it was. The waves were huge and the sand was almost white, and there were NOT tons of people there! We all went swimming for a while until we found out that the beach closes at 4 pm. So we resolved to come back another day.

We were going to walk back to the entrance to the beach and wait for the bus on the main road, but our Argentinean friends passed by in a taxi and suggested that we share it with them (cheapness!) to get back to Puerto Lopez. We gladly accepted.

When we got back we wanted to make full use of this kitchen provided for us, so the amigos went out to find pancake making supplies. They ended up getting french toast making supplies instead (just as delicious, if not more so) and had a great search for maple syrup, which ended up being successful. We also had some yummy piña with our meal that Pierce bought for $1 (and every day after that, proceeded to go to the same place and ask for "the $1 piña").

At night we went out with Galo and the women from Quito (Violeta, Carina, and Paula) and also met some of Galo's friends who live and work in what they call the "Big Brother House". It's a bunch of marine biologists and volunteers that move in and out and do sweet experiments and research on the animals around Puerto Lopez, like sea turtles, dolphins, sharks (didn't see any of those), blue-footed boobies, and whales. It all sounded very exciting, and one of the girls living in the house was from Oregon and one was from Italy, they were both great to talk to, as well as Galo's other friends. Kristina and I were dancing around for a while while the 2 guys went and got $8 half-hour full body massages at a big tent that was set up on the beach. When they didn't come back for much longer than half an hour we went to go check, and they were fast asleep!

Sunday
On this fine day, some of our friends who were spending Carnaval in Montañita (about an hour south of Puerto Lopez) were coming to go on a tour of Isla de la Plata (we go there on Monday). Apparently Zack woke up and bought supplies to make breakfast for all of us and our friends, but when Pierce and I woke up all we knew was that Zack and Kristina were gone, so we assumed they had gone to eat breakfast somewhere. We went exploring around town and couldn't find them, and for some reason we didn't bring our phones with. Luckily I tried a great empanada for breakfast, and also got a cool twisty sweet bread thing, but I was still sad that upon our return our friends had already left for their island tour after eating a big breakfast of sausage and eggs made by Zack. Oh well :(

That day we decided on going back to Los Frailes, and we prepared by bringing lots of PB & J sammiches and putting on sunscreen por todos lados. We took the bus and met Galo there (who had rode bikes all the way there with Carina) and he showed us where to go on a hike to 3 different beaches, ending at Los Frailes. We hiked uphill to some cool lookout points over the coast, and first arrived at Playita Negra, a black sand beach. There were lots of rocks on either side, so our adventurous group of course decided to climb all over them. Zack unfortunately went a little far ahead, and ended up sliding down a big boulder and getting little cuts all over :/ it looked like it hurt. This was the one day that nobody brought their med kit... ayayay. Pierce was being much more cautious after that incident, but he still decided to climb over to a big cave somewhat far away.

We then proceeded to hike a little bit more to La Tortuguita, a long beach with an island only a couple hundred feet off shore. Pierce really wanted to go explore there too, but we convinced him (rightfully) not to because of the HUGE waves all over the place. The beach was really steep, and the waves were even bigger than at Los Frailes, so we were warned not to go swimming there. I just took some sweet pics instead.

Then the hike took us up to a biiig lookout point, on a cliff between La Tortuguita and Los Frailes. It was so amazing how blue the water was. We hiked down to Los Frailes and went swimming some more, after setting up Zack's tent that he brought for shade (originally intended for camping, but we didn't go because we would either still have to pay for a night at the hostel or lose the room). I also got a popsicle that melted in about 3 seconds, but it was still delicious.

In order to get back, we were just going to be somewhat cheap and walk to the entrance to take the bus again, when a pickup truck offered us a ride to the entrance in the back :) Then we were waiting for the bus to come, and it didn't for about 15 minutes so Pierce decided to stick out a thumb and ended up getting us a ride in a truck that probably transported fish. Mom, no worrying allowed about my awesome hitch-hiking experience, it's so common and plus I was with a group of people. Safe and fun! hah.

When we got home the girls that had gone to Isla de la Plata were going to be back soon, so I began to make Kelsey (from Penn State) some s'mores for her BIRTHDAY! We sang happy birthday and talked to them about Isla de la Plata for a while, and then they headed back to Montañita. We went out to see if we could go to a nice place for dinner, but one place was closed for construction or something, and a restaurant called Bellitalia was full for the night :( So we made a reservation there for the next day and went on a walk by the carnival and out to a different place for dinner. That night we hung out in the kitchen in the hostel listening to music (handy-dandy iHome!) and playing cards. Kristina taught us a great game called Mao... which was... entertaining to say the least :)

Monday
Isla de la Plata day! We woke up and got ready to go on the tour, and waited a bit for our friend Steph who was coming (also from Montañita) with us. Galo led us to the beach and we got on the boat to head off to the island (about an hour boat ride away, you can see it from the coast though). On the way there, the guides spotted a pod of dolphins (!!!) which we went to check out. This was one of the most exciting things I saw for sure. There were maybe 30 or 40 of them and they were just swimming and jumping, and then suddenly the whole pod would be on the other side of the boat. It was amazing to swim with dolphins in Mexico, but seeing them all swim in the wild was just an entirely different experience altogether.

We arrived at the island and were given some Coca Cola and little muffins to eat before going on our 3 or so hour hike. The hike wasn't as hard as I thought it would be in terms of walking uphill (just some in the beginning and most of the rest was small hills after that), but it was HOT. There's absolutely no shade on the island, so there's little shelter's/lookouts where we would stop and take pictures as well as re-apply sunscreen. We saw lots of blue-footed boobies! And we found it somewhat sad that we couldn't make boobie jokes in Spanish, because there they're called 'Piqueros patas azules'. We also met these guys from California that worked for a company called Island Conservation, and they were camping on the island for 5 weeks. Their job? CAT HUNTERS. Apparently cats had been introduced to the island and were eating the birds and their eggs, so they were hunting the gatos with big ol' rifles. I'm not positive if they were offended or not when I asked something like "So you guys are cat hunting?" and one guy said "More like saving sea birds" :) Eh, same thing.

We got to a place on te island where sometimes you can see a sea lion. That's right, one sea lion lives there. So lonely :( We got back to "base camp" and were given some more "refreshing" Coke (why is it that Ecuadorians think pop and beer are best during or after strenuous exercise?), then we got on to the boat to go to a snorkeling location on another part of the island. We got lunch on the boat, which was some good fruit (pineappple and watermelon) and some tuna and cheese sandwiches.

For snorkeling, the water was a little cloudy at first, but closer to the shore we could see the bottom and some cool fishies. Oh! and before we got in the water we actually saw a sea turtle! Some of us were feeding him watermelon but apparently you're not supposed to do that. Oh well, it kept him coming back :) Anyways, snorkeling in the cool water was so refreshing after the long hike, and while we headed back to the mainland I took a nice nap on the boat.

We made it back just in time to take super fast showers and get dressed to go out to our fancy Italian dinner. The place was beautiful, and the food was AMAZING. All the girls got the same thing (pasta with cream sauce, salmon and shrimp) and the guys both got lasagna. I also had some delicious chocolate cake for dessert, and Pierce got some Tiramisu that he had been craving all weekend.

We went back to the carnival after an extremely satisfying dinner, and Steph (who was staying the night with us in Puerto Lopez and going home with us the next day) and Pierce got some carnival food (cotton candy, donuts). We also watched this sweet game that people were betting on (including children... ah well) where they drop different colored bouncy balls down a chute with random obstacles, and you're supposed to bet on which color is going to win. We watched a few rounds and bet among ourselves without actually putting any money down, which I think was much more fun.

That night we played some more cards, this time "teaching" Steph how to play Mao (you learn as you go, that's pretty much the point of the game). I also had a crazy spilling spree, and we eventually moved all liquids away from my reach for the rest of the night.

Tuesday/Wednesday Morning
On Tuesday we were thinking about going to Los Frailes again (much less crowded than Puerto Lopez beach, especially on a vacation day) but it started to rain, and we were being lazy. We ended up making a big brunch with some eggs, sausage, and pineapple, and then tried mixing them all together, which was very very good tasting. We headed out to the beach at Puerto Lopez with the frisbee just to hang out and relax. Some guys started to play frisbee with us, which was fun, but one of them never really got the hang of it. There were also tons of kids on the beach (Puerto Lopez is more a family beach whereas Montañita is the college spring break beach), so of course I made friends with some little girls. Steph was reading her book and they were debating spraying her with 'espuma' (Ecuadorian version of silly string, used extensively during Carnaval in addition to water) and I convinced them to go for it. They were planning on just spraying her legs, but they got her whole back, which was somewhat hilarious. We all went in the water to wash the espuma off, and then a group of little boys kept getting Steph every time she got out of the water, such that she had to go back in to wash it off maybe 4 times. I think gringa girls are a huge target during Carnaval :P

Anyways, we headed back to the hostel to pack up and make some Mac n Cheese that Zack and I had bought intending to use it while camping, but we ended up using the kitchen to make it for dinner before our bus left. We had to rush a little through dinner, so that we could make it to the bus stop (just around the corner) at 7. Well, the bus ended up being about 40 minutes late anyways, and then we also had to get checked by the police as we boarded, which took another 20 minutes. Luckily, this company went directly to Quito, so we took a different route home and made it in only about 12 hours. They did play part of XXX (featuring the one and only Vin Diesel), but it stopped part-way through. We were stopped somewhere in the middle of the night for a while waiting in the longest line of cars ever to get through an area where there was only room to pass on one side of the road because of a semi-landslide. We finally got home in the morning and I made it to my anthropology class after dropping my stuff off at home :)

CARNAVAL = SUCCESS!