We didn't want to add an extra two hours to the trip, so we just went on ahead. We had chosen to stay in Same because we'd heard from various sources that Atacames was no longer "the place to be" ... and because we were looking for some friends we thought we would find there.
Atacames wasn't the first in line of towns on the beach, however. A new town has sprouted up before it, called Tonsupe. We drove on past Tonsupe to Atacames, which has grown huge compared to the 2-3 blocks it used to be. The beach view was still familiar with Punta Súa to the left ... but we didn't go to the beach there.
We drove on to Súa, hoping to find our friends, but to no avail. We didn't know what hotel they were staying at, so it was a long shot anyway. On to Same, but they weren't there either.
I sort of wanted to go back to Atacames to stay, but we were all pretty crabby by that time, and we decided to go ahead and find a place in the southern end of Same.
We got a beach-front cabin at the Islas del Sol -- with a swimming pool (and meals by request). After unloading the car, we told Wilson to return the next day at noon to pick us up. We were the only guests in the whole Islas del Sol cabins, so we had the place to ourselves... and the staff was at our beck and call. They told us how badly the newspapers had affected tourism in the area even though the northern coast has not been affected by El Niño hardly at all ... nobody was going to the beach this year because of the big news hoopla about El Niño.
After settling in (it was nearly 2 p.m. by then) I slathered Melissa with lotion, Jeff and I changed and put lotion on and then we walked down to La Terraza -- with the german shepherd from Islas del Sol following us all the way there. She was a very friendly dog. If there were a way, I know we would have adopted her ourselves.
At La Terraza (next to a huge modern hotel that was being built right on the beach), I ordered shrimp fried rice, Melissa had spaghetti and Jeff had a huge panful of beer-fried mariscos (seafood of all kinds). Melissa and I had Güitig, Jeff had coke, and we all shared a basket of wonderful sliced white bread.
We meandered back to the cabin, the dog amiably keeping us company. The beach was quite rocky in some places, but the sand was fine otherwise – however, after playing on the beach, it was nice to swim in the pool without stubbing our toes on rocks.
We went to the pool and rinsed the sand off our feet before going in. It was wonderfully warm, the sun was not down, but was behind a hill, so we were shaded. The sky was almost cloudless. The surf was pounding as the tide rose and we swam in the pool for a while, surrounded by palm trees and blooming vines.
About 6:00, we went back tot he cabin to change and I asked the owner about supper. She gave me a menu - we ordered and she said it would be ready by about 6:45. Jeff went for a short walk to a store nearby in the meantime.
Supper was ready shortly after he got back. It was *GOOD*! Better than lunch, by far. I had ceviche de camarones, and Jeff and Melissa had arroz y camarones. I had banana chips with mine. Jeff and I had some great coconut ice cream for dessert.
We all went to bed after supper, pretty tired.
We got up around 7. Jeff and Melissa went for a walk down the beach before breakfast and I sat in a chair on the porch enjoying the view of the beach and the sounds of the gulls and the waves crashing into the sand. They got back just as the table was set for breakfast (outdoors, on a porch on the waterfront). Breakfast was fresh croissants, butter, jam, café con leche (for me), black coffee (for Jeff), and tea for Melissa. 2 eggs for Jeff, and tree-tomato juice for all of us.
We played on the beach, swam in the pool, cleaned up, packed our stuff, played a bit with the dog (her name was Cindy ... and she looked a lot like the dog we used to have when I lived in Ecuador, too)
Wilson showed up at eleven and we left around noon after Jeff showed the management how to use his Visa card.
We stopped at a panadería in Atacames and got a bunch of bread and a few cokes for lunch. Our plan was to go to Santo Domingo and stay the night there.
Once again, we drove through Quinindé, on down and through Santo Domingo to the other side of town. I thought we were going to see a group of Colorado Indians, as Wilson said he knew where to take us to see them, but there are so few left who still hold to the traditions and dress traditionally, that we ended up on someone's private farm.
The man was very accommodating, he said his wife and kids were at the school (getting Christmas gifts) and we could go down there and get pictures if we'd like. I explained that we had not realized we'd be in someone's home and we didn't want to be disrespectful or invasive, and I apologized profusely for the intrusion. He said he understood and it was still okay to take pictures if we wanted to. He was open and kind ... strange (although I don't know why it was strange) I kind of felt like he'd be cool to be friends with and have long conversations with about deep subjects.
Anyway... Jeff needed to get the travelers' checks cashed still, so we went to Producambio back in Santo Domingo.
How sad the place is now! What used to be a quaint town is now a trashed out, filthy hovel. Buildings are half-finished with rusty rebar askew on top and pain is blackened on the facades of the buildings. Trash is strewn everywhere, people look disgruntled -- TONS of people seemingly aimlessly wandering about and the possibility of violence seemed almost palpable in the air.
Jeff was searched and questioned by a security officer before they let him into the bank. We were sent from there to another bank, Banco del Pacífico, where he was ushered by an armed security guard from one line to the next while I attempted to find a bathroom for Melissa.
Now, one of the things I have not described herein thus far was the search for bathrooms we have faced... I have referred to it a bit, but ...
En route to Atacames, the first place we stopped they said the bathroom was out of order, but then they agreed to let us use it (it was fine). The second stop, we had to walk through a wet cement room into a dark room under the stairs (everything was covered with water... ) The bare bulb hanging from above didn't work, so we were in the dark, and the toilet was inside the bathtub! We survived it. The rest of the bathroom episodes I'll relate as they occurred (I can't leave 'em out -- they're just as much a part of the cultural experience as the rest of the trip!)
Anyway, Melissa finally got to go to the bathroom in Santo Domingo at a hair salon. When we got to the bank and found Jeff, I had to explain what the bank wanted him to do. Finally, we were able to get the cheques cashed.
Santo Domingo did not sit well with either of us, though, so we told Wilson to go ahead and take us on to Latacunga instead, which he did.
En route, we saw some familiar (to me) waterfalls, and breathed a lot of diesel fumes crossing the cordillera.
Once through the mountains, we got a *spectacular* close-up view of Corazón and Ilinizas in the sunset.
Another potty stop required us to go behind a restaurant in the open air in a U-shaped room ... no door ... where a seatless, backless toilet stood next to a barrel of water and a bucket ... you get the picture. One more stop before the sun was down and Melissa had learned by then that in many toilets you don't flush the T.P. - you put it in the trash.
It was dark by the time we arrived in Latacunga's tiny stone city. The hotel we had thought to stay in was near the main square which was under major construction, so we chose to try the "Tilípulo Hotel" per the "Let's Go" book.
A bit crabby and tired, we were walked up three flights of stairs to an "ok" room and told S/.60,000 for the night (S/.20,000 more than the book said). We brought in our bags and a lady huffed up and said, "It'll be S/.10,000 more for the little girl." "Stupid," I thought. I told her we had ALL come in to look, she knew it was for use for three people... The lady says, "Tell your man to quit making sour faces and we can talk. The price is S/.70,000. The girl is my daughter and she doesn't know what she is talking about and the cost is up since the sucre has devalued." I wanted to smack her one. So did Jeff .... but we were tired and didn't want to go looking anymore, so we didn't argue. Then she got all gaggy-sweet and mooned over Melissa and "bent over backwards" to "prove" how "good" a hostess she was. .... Like sweet and sour. She bugged me. It was disgusting.
She recommended a restaurant for supper. We walked to it - it was closed. (this was not a day that was going our way!). So we went to a "Japanese" restaurant with a Spanish menu and Korean/Chinese stuff on the walls (except for the boat picture).
Jeff and Melissa had noodles and stuff and I had breaded fried beef. Probably Melissa's vegetable noodle soup was the best deal. It was not oriental by a long shot, but whatever ... we were hungry, it filled us up.
We returned to the hotel and went to bed. Melissa crashed right awway. Jeff listened to me verbally destroy Ecuador and giggle helplessly until I was coughing too hard to giggle. I was up half the night coughing and laughing with Jeff about different Ecuadorian cultural "absurdities" - going through a very "I can't STAND Ecuador" moment ... reading the guidebooks aloud in English with a Spanish accent, dripping in sarcasm ... (I was stressed! I got over it! I love my heart-home!)
We got up the next morning about 7, went down to breakfast around 8:30 or so. The usual coffee/bread/jam/eggs breakfast.. and then we paid up and left. The woman gave Melissa a little cuadrito before we left (in exchange for a kiss that Melissa didn't want to give) I kinda wanted to barf, but I figured we wouldn't die from it, and I let it slide.
Don't get me wrong -- Latacunga is a very quaint, cute place ... it was the lady at the hotel that just got me going that night -- especially after driving through Santo Domingo which was, simply put, a creepy place anymore.
We left Latacunga and drove through Ambato, which was pretty cool. We stopped at the Lake (Laguna de Yambo) but Cotopaxi was hidden under a blanket of clouds. Ambato was nice, but *CROWDED*, so we told Wilson to skip the shopping there (nowhere to park anyway) and we went on to a Salasaca market, but found nothing there either.
I bought some guavas (the big green coastal ones, not the short black mountain ones) from the back of a truck, and we broke into them and shared them in the car amongst ourselves.
We drove through Pelileo and into Baños...
En-route to Baños
