The Coast

ICE group on the beach outside our hostal.

All fifteen of the ICE students from Canada involved in the program reunited for 8 days for an incredible adventure on the coast of Ecuador.  We travelled to the largest, but not the capital city of Ecuador, Guayaquil, in the province of Guayas.  From there, we travelled two provinces over by bus to the very quaint community of Las Tunas in the province of Manabi.

While residing in the beautiful beachside hostal, Azuluna, meaning blue moon, we had a few tasks ahead of us.  Firstly, we had a couple days of classes where we discussed our learning to date, travel and tourism, and power and relationships. While at the coast, we had a community development project.  The community decides the project, and we spend two days completing it.  We were asked to paint a few of the classrooms in the local public school.

Since eight days is a lot to sum up, I think it is best to share my experience at the coast mainly with pictures.  Once of my favourite activities at the coast was horseback riding.  We had a two-hour trail ride along the hilly back-country of the coast, experiencing the beauty beyond the water.  The ride was concluded along the beach, where we were given the opportunity to increase our speed a little bit.

My horse Mila and I

ICE teacher David on the beach

Meg and her horse Miguel

Cassie is allergic to horses, so she got a donkey :)

Another interesting activity was visiting the two surrounding towns.  To the north, we visited the town of Puerto Lopez, a community that is very much influenced by tourism but still holds onto its own culture.  The tourism in the town is all run by the locals, creating a symbiotic type of tourism.  Contrastingly, to the south, the town of Montañita is almost completely influenced by tourism.  There appeared to be more ¨gringos¨than Ecuadorians.  It very much reminded me of Kensington Market in Toronto.

The bustling fish market in Puerto Lopez

I made a new friend, but I don´t think he was pleased about it

This many men will pile onto this miniscule boats, and remain out in the wild ocean for over 36 hours at a time

These birds are called ¨Friggit¨ birds, and cannot touch the water, so they obtain their food through scavenging

My apologies if you´re squeamish.  I left out the gut piles!

A very close encounter to a couple of wild horses on a nature walk.

A beautiful, healing, sacred sulfur pool.

A view of the beautiful mountains from a lookout.

Another important aspect of our trip to the coast was our community involvement.  First, we spontaneously participated in the community´s ´minga´or working bee as we might call it.  We walked across the main highway in the blistering heat, picking up garbage.  Despite a lot of sweat, and occasionally a little blood (I got poked in the forehead by a mega-cactus), it was a good feeling to know we were helping both the community and the environment.

A primary method of transportation in Ecuador is riding in the back of a truck.

Ksenias face perfectly portrays how we all felt on the inside after picking up loads of garbage in the hot sun!

Our second, planned project was painting the classrooms of the local public schools. First we primed and then painted the rooms with yellow and blue.  We spent two days on this project, the second day with the assistance of over thirty students from the school.  It was a great opportunity to interact with locals, experience local culture, and contribute to a community in need.

Sarah, Cassie, Meg and myself.

Caroline and our hostal´s manager, Galito.

Working alonside the locals.

This kid was sitting high up in a windowsill to get the tricky places.

Enjoying a delicious cake, courtesy of some local mothers.

I didn´t even realize this picture was being taken, I was looking smug after dumping the massive portion of my cake onto my supervisor´s plate as he took pictures.

The coast was a fantastic experience.  We had a great variety of activities, and it was great to just relax with my Canadian friends who I rarely see here.  Our hostal was simply incredible.  It is called Azuluna, and it focuses on eco-tourism, community development, fair treatment of employees and staying local. To get an idea of how amazing this hostal is, you can check it out here http://www.azuluna-ecuador.com/.

This is about two minutes from the doorstep of our room.

We were surprised to find the coast quite mountainous as well.

Bolon de Verde, a snack I made before coming to Ecuador, and a specialty of the Coast.