After all the fun of Quito we decided to head to the coast to chill out for a few days. After a bit of inter-netting we found the absolute perfect spot - Viajemar! A little surf lodge with bamboo cabanas set on a deserted, wild and windy beach next to a little village called Las Tunas. We spent five days relaxing, taking walks on the beach, and having lovely camp fires. We were watching out for migrating whales as it was whale season but unfortunately we didn't get lucky. We'll have to try again down in Peru! The beach rocky and absolutely full of gorgeous different colour quartz - rose, turquoise, reds, browns - so we collected the prettiest ones.
The lodge is owned by a lovely Chilean guy called Roderigo, an ex-correspondent who has chosen the good life on the beach. A special kind of guy, he had built a magic labyrinth garden with the quartz where you could say your wishes and leave your 'rocks' (problems) to build something special. We made some wishes, made 'with intent' as instructed!
The food was home-cooked and we loved taking time out all by ourselves. Spoilt!
We also took a trip south down to Montinita (15km or so), a surfers and party peoples paradise. It was good for a few hours but it was a bit like a building site. We bumped into some familiar faces from Colombia which was cool and got the low down on Ecuador's hallucinogenic jungle herbs! We also made a visit to the tranquillo village of Puerto Lopez, a little fishing village north of Las Tunas taking a little road trip with Roderigo. We're looking forward to meeting up with him again in Santiago in September, he's offered to show us some sites in his home town as our dates co-inside. It will be great to see some of the city with a local and it's the bicentenary party then too!
The lodge is owned by a lovely Chilean guy called Roderigo, an ex-correspondent who has chosen the good life on the beach. A special kind of guy, he had built a magic labyrinth garden with the quartz where you could say your wishes and leave your 'rocks' (problems) to build something special. We made some wishes, made 'with intent' as instructed!
The food was home-cooked and we loved taking time out all by ourselves. Spoilt!
We also took a trip south down to Montinita (15km or so), a surfers and party peoples paradise. It was good for a few hours but it was a bit like a building site. We bumped into some familiar faces from Colombia which was cool and got the low down on Ecuador's hallucinogenic jungle herbs! We also made a visit to the tranquillo village of Puerto Lopez, a little fishing village north of Las Tunas taking a little road trip with Roderigo. We're looking forward to meeting up with him again in Santiago in September, he's offered to show us some sites in his home town as our dates co-inside. It will be great to see some of the city with a local and it's the bicentenary party then too!
Man, never a dull moment with you two.
ReplyDeletePromise to get down there at some point to join in with Pete's Spanglish-Manglish. "Donde esta la fiesta?" is always a good convo-opener!Mattx