Web Log of Sailing Vessel NAKIA

Our trip home and preventing theft

2008-07-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

The bus ride from Quito to Bahia on Reina del Camino was exciting but thankfully uneventful. We caught an early morning bus from Otavalo to Quito where we bought our tickets back to Bahia on the 10:30 AM departure. We had a young driver who wore white plastic framed sunglasses and drove like he had a record to beat. He honked at just about everything; passed every vehicle on the road including other buses; played first a rave radio station and then salsa CDs at a good volume; let the cute single girls sit up in the driver's area; and all in all made it an amusing and fun ride. The conductor handed out sick bags to every row but I took a couple of antacids and was fine. After one very competitive passing incident with an Aray bus a woman walked up to the front of the bus to complain. We imagine she said something like, "I've got three kids on this bus and you can kill yourselves if you want, but you can't risk our lives along with yours!" Whatever she really said, it didn't make much of an impression and we continued to fly around the curves at top speed.

We happened to get front row seats on the right side of the bus which in this case gave us a great view and lots of legroom. We were in the sun the whole way but we could see the river gorges and hillsides covered in trees. It was amazing to go from a few fir trees at the higher elevations, down to palms, then banana fields, and finally to big stands of beautiful bamboo looking like feathery plume pens. It was a long day for us, but with the bus stopping for almost every arm held out at the side of the road, and vendors jumping on to sell everything from homemade music CDs, cold drinks, breads, Spanish/English dictionaries, popsicles, and coconut candies there was enough going on the whole time to keep us awake and interested.

So now that we are home safe and sound, I'd like to pass on a few tips for preventing theft. Just from talking to fellow cruisers and the travelers we met at hostals we figure that around 80% of people touring Central and South America had problems with theft. We carried all our cash on us at all times divided between our two money belts hidden under our clothing, with only pocket money for each day out. Neither of us carried a wallet. I kept my ready cash in a change purse in my fanny pack and John carried his in his front jeans pocket with a bandana stuffed on top of it. This way the thief has to get his hand past the bandana to get to the bills. I never carried a purse that I could unwittingly set down. I wore either my fanny pack or an across the chest style purse. We had jackets we could tie at our waists. We didn't keep anything valuable in my little day pack and we never let it out of our hands. Our two pieces of luggage were my regular school sized backpack and a large soft piece of luggage. We had small locks for each of these with which we could lock the zippers together. We stowed the big piece in the cargo areas of each bus and were lucky enough to usually get seats where we could keep an eye on what went in and out of the compartment. All of the bus conductors were very helpful and I felt that they kept a close eye on it for us. We had heard stories about people posing as bus employees who tried to take your backpack from you to "stow" it after you had boarded the bus, but that never happened to us (I always wore my backpack onto the bus until I was ready to sit down, just in case). We kept my daypack and locked backpack with us on our laps on all of our bus travel. NEVER put anything in any overhead storage or anywhere on the floor under your feet. Thieves sitting behind you will open zippers and take what they want from under your seat, leaving the backpack so that you don't know anything is missing until it's too late.

We had also heard various stories of thieves working in groups to create a diversion of some kind and distracting you from paying close attention to your valuables. There's the classic one about spilling something on you and then "helping" you clean it up, but a friend of ours almost lost his wallet when a well endowed and scantily clad woman got on the bus. He was enjoying the view until he caught on to the ploy and caught someone else's hand in his pocket.

You may think this all sounds like paranoia or overkill but it was a real problem for almost everyone we met. One of the reasons for us skipping Quito was our anxiety over the serious crime problem there, but it was also because we weren't prepared to visit a big city after the wonderful time we spent in the remote towns on the Quilotoa Loop. We had an excellent adventure and we highly recommend a visit to this area, but we were very happy to return to a warmer climate, our own bed, Ziggy, and the first class hot showers at PA.

Linda and John

Small world (Chugchilan)

2008-07-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 21, 2008

Last night I remembered that I had completely forgotten to write about one of those "small world" moments that happened to us on this trip. While we were at Llullu Llama in Isinlivi we mentioned to Donna, our new volunteer host, that we were on a sailboat. When she said she knew of two former sailors arriving in the next day or so, we asked their names. "Bud and Pat" faintly rang a bell which became louder as she described them in more detail. We left them a note that we would be in Chugchilan, and hoped they would catch up to us there.

There was no sign of them Tuesday, but late Wednesday afternoon John walked next door to Cloud Forest to see if they had arrived yet. He recognized them out walking and greeted them like old friends, asking if they'd gotten our note. Well, they had ended up coming to Chugchilan from the opposite direction and hadn't yet been to Isinlivi where our note was waiting, so they were really confused about who this stranger was. It's hard to remember people out of context, let alone in a remote region of another country entirely! John quickly reminded them of our connection to them (they had kayaked out to Nakia from their little RV in the "Aquarium" anchorage at Tenacatita in 2004, and we met up with them again later in the year for dinner in Zihuatanejo) and brought them into the lounge area at Mama Hilda's where we all had a drink together.

They had to leave soon because our dinner was half an hour earlier than theirs at CF so we made plans to meet the next morning for an "easy" day hike to a local cheese factory. We knew we weren't leaving early enough to see the locals bringing their milk to sell, but it sounded like a reasonable loop hike for me. We had a wonderful time catching up with Bud and Pat and though it took almost five hours the hike was just right for all of us. The countryside was beautiful and we had a clear sunny day to make it even nicer. After showers and a rest when we got back we went over to CF for drinks with them before it was time to say goodbye. We really wished they were still cruising because we've always enjoyed our brief visits with them.

Linda and John

Otavalo, Ecuador

2008-07-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

The electricity is on again after being off since 6 AM when we got up to go to the animal market here in Otavalo, so I´ll try to catch up with the last couple of days. We spent Friday on three buses getting from Chugchilan to Otavalo. We got up at 3:15 AM to catch the 4 AM bus to Latacunga with our friends from Bonaire. John and I got to the town square first to find a very nice bus with its engine running and passengers already boarding so we hopped on it and got comfortable. But then the bus put the engine in gear and started rolling down the hill past our hostel. We got the bus driver to wait while John ran in to get the other couple, but when Frank came out he noted that the bus was going in the opposite direction (to Sigchos and then to Latacunga) that we had planned. It was the 3:00 bus! John and I apologized to the driver and hopped off to go wait for the next bus which was waiting, cold and dark, in the square.

We began to fear that this bus was not going to leave until 6:00, but well after 4:00 we heard the driver and conductor stirring inside the bus where they apparently had spent the night. It took awhile but eventually the engine fired up and was warm enough for the four of us and one other passenger to head out on the dirt road towards Quilotoa, Zumbahua, and Latacunga. We stopped for everyone waiting alongside the road in the dark, and we could see lights on in several of the houses dotted on the hillsides. We had an almost full moon and when it began to get light we could see the ground was covered in frost and it was a beautiful clear morning.

In Latacunga the bus dropped us off on streets outside the terminal at 8:00, but as soon as we got to the loading area there were people calling out destinations and we had about five minutes to go to the bathroom before the next bus to Quito was leaving. We´ve never really had to buy tickets at a sales window like you do in Mexico. The bus line conductors all stand outside their buses hawking their destinations and you pay your fare after the bus is on its way. You still have to know a bit about what you´re doing though because they are very competitive and will sometimes lie about bus routing/schedules/availability if their bus line doesn´t go where you want to go.

We saw several snow capped volcano peaks on both buses until we got closer to Quito and it started to get cloudy. We don´t understand why buses don´t let you ride to the terminal, but instead insist on dropping you off on the street. Maybe the connections are better that way? When we got to Quito at 10:00 we were told when to get off and were pointed to another bus (completely different line) that was about two blocks up the road. Only this bus started moving before we had reached it and I had to run to let them know we wanted to board. All went well and two hours later we were in Otavalo.

Let me backtrack a little to say that as soon we we boarded the bus in Latacunga we started experiencing culture shock. The paved road started at Quilotoa, so were had already been off the dirt roads for a couple of hours. But this was a four lane busy highway with lots of slow traffic to pass. As we got closer to Quito it got worse with almost freeway style roads, and we were getting a sinking feeling in our stomachs over having left so much beauty and tranquility for the dirt and crime of the big city. Otavalo is as big a city as we can handle right now, so we´ve decided to skip Quito entirely this time.

We checked into the Rincon del Viajero based on the recommendation in the Footprint Guide, and were sorely disappointed. Maybe we were spoiled by our three nights at Mama Hilda´s but this place is not worth the $12pp they charged us for a doble (not a matrimonial which is one bed). The other reason we chose it was because of the comment in Footprint about the ¨good breakfast.¨ Well, yeah, if you pay extra. The breakfast included in the price consisted of coffee or tea, a roll with butter, and two fried eggs (or you could get a bowl of fruit instead of eggs) - that was it. I had even tried negotiating a $10pp price w/o breakfast but they wouldn´t budge. I would not recommend this place unless you are a hard core budget traveler. On the other hand we looked at a room at El Indio, where the rooms were bright and new. Breakfast is not included but for $25/night/doble we would have been happier there. Unfortunately they were fully booked with an American tour group or we would have moved.

Otavalo is the most heavily touristed place we´ve seen since Mexico. It´s crawling with foreigners here for the Saturday market. There are handicraft sales all week in one of the plazas but on Saturdays even more vendors set up on the side streets. We walked the plaza yesterday to get an idea of what´s available and waited to shop today. It was overwhelming. There is too much of mostly the same things, and even though the prices ranged from reasonable to dirt cheap (which makes you wonder how much of it is mass manufactured in China), it was too much for a non-shopper like me to handle and I had to take a break mid-day to gather my wits before venturing out for more bargaining in the afternoon.

The absolute most fun was the animal market early in the morning where guinea pigs, rabbits, ducks, chickens, quail, puppies, kittens, goats, sheep, pigs of all ages, cows, and even a couple of horses were for sale. It was fascinating to watch the bargaining One woman had a heated argument with a man over a pig. She eventually sent her son for a policeman who spoke a few words to the man, and he then handed over some more money to the woman. John got a great video clip of two bulls starting a fight. People scattered in a hurry when one of them broke away from its stake and ran loose. Having had a guinea pig for a pet when I was a child I was a little sad to see them being held up to see how plump they are, but cuy (¨kwee¨) is a delicacy here...

We sat in a plaza this afternoon and admired the local traditional dress. The men wear white pants and dark blue wool ponchos (which we learned cost over $100) and a small fedora hat. The women wear black skirts and white lacy blouses with a shawl across one shoulder and around their waist. Children were held up to the slow trickling fountain to have the hands and faces washed or to drink from it, teenagers washed their hands and slicked back their hair, and dogs drank from the overflow at the bottom.

It´s been a wonderful vacation although now I wish we´d started here and ended in the Quilotoa Loop so that we could have finished with the best part of the trip. We´re both anxious to get home again to the boat. We plan to catch the first bus out of here to Quito at 6 AM tomorrow morning, and hope to make the 8 AM bus from Quito back to Bahia. It will be a close connection but if we miss that one, there´s another at 1 PM.

We´ll try to post some pictures after we get back.

Linda and John

Quilotoa Crater

2008-07-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

Pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/svnakia/QuilotoaCrater

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The bus from Sigchos to Chugchilan finally departed at 1:30 PM loaded up with kids on their way home from school. After dropping most of them off along the way we arrived at the Cloud Forest hostal two hours later. There are three levels of accomodation in Chugchilan. The Black Sheep Inn is at the high end, Mama Hilda is in the middle, and Cloud Forest is the least expensive option. We dropped our bags in our reserved room at CF, but we weren´t really thrilled with it. It was clean and new, but the room was very small and the bed was as hard as a rock. Before unpacking we decided to go for a walk to explore the town and the first thing we passed was Mama Hilda´s (the two properties are literally neighbors). We walked up the drive to ask to see a room just to satisfy our curiousity, and there was the man we´d met in Sigchos who had asked if we were going to MH´s because that was his family´s property (he turned out to be Papa Hilda). He had been very charming, even after we said we were going to CF, and he was happy to show us a room. It was by far the most modern room (while still retaining a rustic charm) that we´ve seen on this trip so far. The bathroom fixtures are brand new, we have a double bed and a bunk bed with plenty of room left to move around, and there are even nice touches like illuminated light switches and a TV (no cable). Best of all there´s plenty of hot water and the beds are soft and loaded with blankets which is a good thing because there´s no heat in our room (although you can get even nicer rooms with wood stoves at MH´s). We liked this room better than the one at CF and when we asked how much it would cost we were happy to hear that he would let us have it for $2 more per person than the rate CF was charging us. It´s a better fit for us socially as well since CF is geared toward the younger, budget minded backpacking set, and MH´s trekkers are closer to our demographic. We offered profuse apologies (and a small tip) to CF and moved our bags to MH´s.

Dinner last night and breakfast this morning were both delicious (included in the room rate), and we´ve met several more interesting trekkers from around the globe (most are hard core trekkers which is what this area is all about, by the way). After breakfast we joined six other people for a one hour pickup truck ride to Quilotoa crater. We had agreed ahead of time that John would do the full hike (on average it´s half an hour down to the lake and one hour up) and I would hike down and hire a horse ($5) for the trip back up. The rim view of the lake was beautiful and it was an easy hike on a good, sometimes rocky or sandy trail down. My horse and guide, 13 year old Walter, caught up with us before we reached the lake (the guides literally run down the hill with the horses, donkeys, and mules) and waited for me while John tested the water temperature and took some photos. At 11:00 we all started up and I had instructions to send a horse down for John if he didn´t appear by 1:00 (his target was 12:30 at the latest). We had gotten there relatively early so that by this time many more people (and horses for some of them) were passing us going down the hill. My horse got me up to the top in 45 minutes or less with a few stops for him to catch his breath. It wasn´t long after I dismounted that I could see John coming up the trail. I was very impressed that it only took him an hour and he seemed none the worse for wear. He´s disappointed that we didn´t stick to our plan to hike here from Isinlivi but I know I couldn´t do it without a horse to carry me up the steep ascents.

Although there were plenty of vendors wanting to show us their woolen goods, the only puchase we made was a wool hat for John. He lost his somewhere on the trip here, and it was a cold ride to the crater standing up in the truck for him. (I sat down with my back to the cab and kept out of the worst of the wind.) We had a hot chocolate with another couple sharing the truck back with us (Frank and Jeanine, originally from the Netherlands, but now living and working at BelMar Diving on Bonaire), and returned to the hostal by early afternoon in time to greet a few of the trekkers coming in from their hikes. The clouds have cleared a bit so maybe we´ll have a sunny day tomorrow.

Linda and John

Isinlivi to Sigchos to Chugchilan

2008-07-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Last night was very interesting as we met people from the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and even a graduate from the University of Oregon in Eugene where my niece will be a freshman this fall. We got a couple of strong recommendations for the Orient (NE) part of Ecuador, and are thinking that a river trip might be a good option for us. All of the other guests were trekking portions of the Loop, some with guides (but no horses!) and some on their own. They had very serious gear and looked to be aged anywhere from their 20´s to 40´s. Sitting around the living room late in the evening we were talking about hotels and I described our Quevedo hotel as a ¨dump.¨ Jose Luis (one of the owners of Llullu Llama) asked us to explain the meaning, and was highly amused by the expression. I think now he´s just waiting for the next opportunity to use it in conversation!

John and I were the first ones up at 6:30 this morning. I got hot water going and put a tea tray together while John started a fire. By 8 AM everyone else was up for breakfast and John and I were packed and waiting for Don Lucho to pick us up in his truck at 9:00. Jose Luis had arranged this ride to Sigchos ($10) for us, where we could then catch a bus to Chugchilan. JL assured us we´d be riding inside the truck and not standing in the bed with our luggage. But when the truck pulled up I could see it was going to be a tight squeeze to fit all three of us in the small cab. I sat in the middle and had to put my legs over John´s left leg, but I could still feel the gear shift against my left leg. Fortunately the basically one lane, rutted, dirt road was mostly straight down and then straight up so there wasn´t too much gear shifting (except for when we stopped halfway there to pick up six kids who paid about .15 each for their ride into town).

It only took 30 minutes to get to Sigchos which made us very early for the 1 PM bus to Chugchilan. We did an hour of internet, ate an early lunch, and found out that the very nice looking bus terminal up the hill was not the place to meet our bus. Instead we were directed to Ave. Los Ilinizas between Tungurahua and Guayaquil where the green and white Iliniza bus was already waiting for passengers at Noon (and where I´m now sitting composing this blog on paper while John works a crossword puzzle). We´re not quite sure why the the bus would already be here since we thought it was coming from Latacunga, but we´re happy to have a warm place to sit and pass the time while we wait.

Sigchos is a lovely little town with clean paved streets and neat, well kept buildings. The strange thing is that, today at least, it´s like a ghost town, with most store fronts closed, and no traffic to warrant the 2-3 stoplights. Even the gates to the park were closed. School kids were out in a side street practicing their marching band moves, walking in place while the band played, and that was the most activity we saw. But it has clean, small shops with everything one could need, and seems like it would be a quiet, pretty place to live.

Yesterday the clouds rolled back in by mid-afternoon with a few sprinkles. I had hoped for the trekker´s sake that we´d have another sunny morning today but we woke to a light sprinkle and it´s been mostly cloudy since then. They say this is more rain than they usually have here in July, and I hope we get more sun soon so we can see the volcano peaks before we have to leave.

Linda and John

Isinlivi

2008-07-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

Monday, 14 July 2008

This is an absolutely lovely place with warm people and beautiful scenery so don´t get me wrong if I seem to focus on the small annoyances. As an over-50 I like some adventure but I miss my creature comforts too!

Our two lovely college aged `hosts´(volunteers in exchange for room and board) were supposed to get up for the 3 AM bus to Latacunga last night/this morning. Their alarm didn´t go off so we were awakened first by a bus horn tooting, then dogs barking, and finally the conductor was banging on the door. That woke the girls but they couldn´t figure out who would be at the door in the middle of the night and were afraid to go see, so John got up to answer the door for them. He happened to already be fully dressed because our bedding was too hot for him and he had moved to one of the empty single beds (we chose the semi-private double up in the loft since we had the place to ourselves). We also had the hostal´s friendly cat sleeping with us under the covers. The girls couldn´t get it together enough to make that bus, so they caught one later in the day.

Dinner last night was excellent but meals are extra and prices are naturally higher in such a remote area than we´re used to in the city. This morning we had some yogurt and granola we brought with us, before starting out for the Monday market at Guantualo. This is advertised as a three and a half hour loop hike, but ended up taking us three hours just to get to the market. It starts out with a short downhill to a river, and then a gradual ascent to a small village. But from there to the final ridge was too much for me and it was a real struggle to get there without throwing up. I can´t hike anything remotely steep even at low altitudes, so this was especially tough being up at around 3,000 meters. John took my little Chivas daypack and even my fanny pack to lighten my load, and then he paced me by taking slow steps one at a time. It was truly gorgeous, but we´ve cancelled the horse and guide tomorrow and will get to Chugchilan some other way tomorrow.

We enjoyed the market which is not set up for tourists but is truly a local event. We bought some fruit and one of the very few handcrafts for sale, and then had almuerzo - soup, rice, lentils, and hold the hunks of pork please - and got an ice cream cone to-go for a different downhill route to a road where we caught a ride in a passing truck. The return trip in the back of the very dusty pickup was free and it only took an hour for us to get back to Isinlivi! As awful as it was at the time, I´m so glad we did it. The experience itself was like nothing we´ve ever done before, and it saved us from making a big mistake by setting out to hike to Chugchilan. Needless to say we´ve cancelled the horse and guide and will get a ride in a truck ($10) to Sigchos in the morning and bus it from there.

We showered and relaxed in preparation for the 18 or so new hikers arriving this afternoon. It will be strange to go from having the place all to ourselves to having a full house, but we´re looking forward to the company.

Linda and John

Latacunga to Isinlivi

2008-07-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

13 July 2008
Sunday morning

It was a hard night´s sleep last night - hard beds that is. Harder than the Quevedo beds even. We couldn´t coax any hot water out of the tap painted red this morning so we walked down to Hostal/Cafe Tiana for breakfast. $2.25pp got us two huge flaky buns with butter and jam, strong coffee, juice (a passion fruit and tree tomato combination - very tasty), and two eggs. I got a kitten fix with their sleepy calico, and we got some very informative travel advice from Katrien. In fact, after walking around discussing our options, we returned to Tiana to firm up a new plan. Katrien called ahead to reserve a room for us at Hostal Llullu Llama in Isinlivi, and we´ll take the 1 PM direct bus on Vivero this afternoon. The idea is to stay two nights there so we can acclimate, take a short hike to the Guantualo market tomorrow, then take a guide with a horse ($20) to tote our luggage and hike five hours to Chugchilan on Tuesday. I´m a bit skeptical that we´ll be up to that, but on paper it sounds like a wonderful adventure! We can always bail and take a truck/bus if it turns out to be too much for us.

We managed to eke out enough hot water for showers when we got back to our room, and now we´re in the bus terminal waiting to buy our tickets. We hope to spend the week exploring the Quilotoa Loop before heading back to Latacunga on Thursday and then up to Otavalo on Friday for the Saturday market there.

Sunday evening before dinner

The ticket window for Vivero never opened up! We waited over an hour and a half and when the bus arrived we bought our tickets from the conductor ($1.80pp). We departed promptly at 1 PM for the two and a half hour trip up and over a mountain. This route took us through Saquisili, Toacazo, and then SW over a mountain pass to Isinlivi (not around the NW way via Sigchos). This was another amazing ride through steep sided cultivated fields and pastures. We climbed up into the cloud cover and broke out just before summiting. But almost as soon as we started the descent we were back in an almost total white out for the rest of the trip. This made it kind of tough to know when to get off the bus, but the conductor booted us out at the end of the line half a block from Llullu Llama.

The hostal is a charming rustic house with a few small private rooms downstairs and a dorm style loft upstairs. There´s a living room with wood stove, and indoor showers and a composting toilet outside around a corner of the house. The clouds lifted enough for us to walk... [and here´s where the electricity went out, so we had a candlelit dinner and retired early to bed].

Linda and John

Latacunga, Ecuador

2008-07-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

Pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/svnakia/BusRideToLatacunga

Saturday night, July 12, 2008

Wow! Today really helped make yesterday´s rough ride worth it. But first let me say that I can´t recommend the Ejecutivo Internacional in Quevedo unless you´re really cutting corners on your budget. After strolling the rough and tumble main street downtown (7 de Octubre - dirty, noisy, and jammed with traffic), sampling hard-boiled quail eggs and deep fried empanadas (like home made Hot Pockets), we had a delicious dinner at Chifa Hong Kong on the quieter side street right across from our hotel´s entrance. We retired to our room (which conveniently had a dorm fridge in which to store our Chinese doggie bag) to loaf with the TV remote control. But then it was time for a shower and we discovered too late that there is no hot water to be had - ever - in this hotel. In our post chicken bus, shell-shocked state not only had we neglected to notice that our room overlooked the noisiest street in the city, but we forgot to ask about hot water! It isn´t uncommon for hotels here to have limited hours or none at all. Hopefully someone else will find a better deal because today we´re definitely happy we traveled this route.

We played it smart this morning by scoping out the 8 AM Cotopaxi bus to Latacunga before buying our tickets. It was another second class bus so we gave it a pass. Thank you so much, Terry and Tammy on Secret o´Life for telling us about the Ambato bus line. It was first class, and even though it stopped for almost everyone on the side of the road, including the food court vendors, it was far more deluxe and comfortable (still no toilet though, so skip that morning coffee!).

I can´t begin to describe the scenery but let me give you some fleeting images. Women washing clothes in the river right in the outskirts of Quevedo. An old, fat woman bathing topless in the river a little farther out of town. Banana plantations that went on forever. Lush greenery under low clouds and a little drizzle. A rushing river on the left hand side of the bus which became a deep gorge as we climbed the mountains. We crossed back and forth over the river on single lane bridges until we climbed out of the tropical forest into completely cultivated hillsides on our right. These were dotted with grass huts; people in colorful woolens and pork-pie hats; shaggy donkeys and even shaggier pigs; and dogs, cows, horses, donkeys, sheep, and our first llamas. Some people may be disappointed by how the mountainsides have been tamed, but I´m fascinated by how people eke out a living in such beautiful but difficult terrain.

The ride was amazing, but anyone prone to car sickness should be prepared. The ascent was nice and slow, and people didn´t seem to get sick until the slightly faster descent. I had told myself I would stick to my apple and yogurt breakfast and skip the greasy food court, but I couldn´t resist contributing to the local economy. We started with empanadas while still in Quevedo, tried some truchas (fried mashed potatoes in a flattened ball), and finished off with some fried dough with sugar at Zumbahua. Well, we´re in a cold, high altitude climate now so we´ll be burning more calories, right?

For some reason our Ambato bus didn´t go into the terminal here in Latacunga, but asked us to get off on a street just outside of it (at around 2 PM). We caught a cab to the Residencial Santiago where we will just stay the one night. We have a doble (two twin beds) with a private bath just outside our door. Our ¨window¨ looks out on a small lounge area (so it´s a quiet interior room), and there´s hot water and TV (but not cable). It´s less run down and far cleaner than last night, but still depressing. We looked at rooms at the Hostal Tiana, but for $10pp (including breakfast) they have only a shared bath area which is a bit of a hike from the rooms, and there´s no TV at all. We then looked at the rooms at Hotel Cotapaxi which we liked far better. For $8pp the rooms are bigger, have a private bath, and cable TV. We´ll move there tomorrow!

We´re kind of kicking ourselves for not getting off at Zumbahua and starting a clockwise Quilotoa loop from there, but we´ll acclimate here for a few days and then go counter-clockwise instead. It´s too bad that you have to break the trip in Quevedo. If the 6:30 AM bus out of Portoviejo that we heard about is first class service, then it might be worth it to overnight there from Bahia. But that makes it at least a 10 hour trip which is a long ride without regular bathroom breaks.

We caught a bit of the Saturday market this afternoon and it was still going strong when we came out again later. We chose a rotisserie chicken place for dinner because it had the biggest "fireplace" in town!

Linda and John

Quevedo, Ecuador

2008-07-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

Pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/svnakia/BusRideFromPortoviejoToQuevedo

Today we took our first long trip by ¨chicken bus.¨ We didn´t set out to go second class but we chose a rural route from Bahia de Caraquez to Latacunga rather than going around via Quito. It was a more direct route and we wanted to see a part of the country outside the usual tourist path.

We said goodbye to Ziggy at 6:30 AM when Jack and Hermy of Iwa gave us a ride to PA in their dinghy. They go in early every day for their walk so the timing worked out perfectly. When no pedi-cabs appeared we walked the short distance to the bus station wearing fanny packs, my Chivas kids backpack, and carrying my regular backpack. John wore a nifty hand-me-down from Hooligan which is a regular sized piece of soft luggage in the style of a backpack. You wouldn´t want to fill it to capacity and then try to carry it on your back, but it´s perfect for John´s gear and our jackets and pillows, with room left over for souvenirs.

There are two bus lines running out of Bahia and we took the first one departing for Portoviejo which happened to be on Reina del Camino. For a whopping $2pp we had a comfortable two hour ride on a nice bus. We arrived at the Central Bus Terminal and found the Reales Tamarindos ticket window just to the left of Reina´s. They had a 9 AM bus departing for Quevedo ($5pp) which gave us time to use the bathrooms (.25 for a huge supply of TP from the attendant for me; free for John!). It´s a good thing that we hadn´t gotten up early enough to make coffee since this was the last bathroom we would see until we reached Quevedo.

We knew to look at it that this was NOT a first class bus. We ¨checked¨ the big bag which was stowed in a bin missing one of its door latches, and we didn´t get a claim check. I could have checked my new powder blue backpack but the guy saw me eyeing the dusty dirty compartment and said I could take it on board the bus with me. We had locks on the zippers of both bags so only outright theft would be a concern. I got seats above our luggage bin and John stood outside watching it until we were ready to leave the station. If we seem paranoid it´s because the majority of cruisers have returned from their inland trips with stories of theft.

At 9:15 we were on our way with the radio blaring, a baby crying, and a $3 pair of reading glasses I bought from a guy outside my window (with John as ground support to bargain him down from $6). Four and a half hours, two popsicles, two varieties of cheese rolls, and very numb tushes later we made it to Quevedo. Along the way we passed through green fields, rural hamlets, and small towns, with people sometimes getting on and off the bus in front of their houses. We love the variety of bamboo huts (homes) here, and split bamboo is used everywhere for fences, benches, and bus stops. There are air plants growing on overhead wires and in trees, and horses, mules, and donkeys parked alongside the road. There´s no need to pack snacks for the trip because vendors regularly hop on the bus selling: a variety of fried and baked goods out of cloth covered baskets; what I call fruit juice in a to go cup, which is an orange with just the external rind cut off and a hole cut in the top, which is then squeezed and sucked to get the juice out; candy and gum; yogurt popsicles; watermelon slices; and bottled water and juices. It was a food court bonanza and really helped to pass the time. At last a grandmother boarded carrying a live chicken in a plastic grocery bag and it was official - we were on a ¨chicken bus.¨

At the central terminal in Quevedo we checked connecting buses to Latacunga for tomorrow (8:30 AM on Ambato for $4pp or hourly buses on Cotopaxi for slightly less), and then took a taxi to the Hotel Ejecutivo Internacional. It´s what by Stateside standards would be considered a dump - very worn out and not exactly spotless, overlooking a noisy street - but it has A/C and cable TV with a few channels in English. Since it only costs $18 for a double room we´ll tough it out for the one night.

Linda and John

Fourth of July in Ecuador

2008-07-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

The cruising community had two opportunities to celebrate our nation's independence yesterday with a potluck at 1 PM at PA and an old fashioned party for the kids at 4 PM in a local park across from Hostal Coco Bongo. I made a bus trip to Portoviejo with some friends and didn't get back until after the PA meal was already winding down. John reported that the food had been plentiful and delicious, and I could see that there were lots of leftovers, but I was saving up for the party later. Along with the rest of the boats waiting to go up river, John and I strolled down to join the Saiananda crowd for their party in the park.

It got off to a bit of a slow start, but we were very glad we gave it a chance to get going because we ended up having a blast. It was the perfect setting for a Fourth of July party, and Linda Lea had put the word out in the neighborhood that there was going to be a group of crazy gringos having a fiesta in the park. Suzy, of Coco Bongo, provided a charcoal grill (the ubiquitous metal drum cut in half lengthwise and mounted on a rebar frame), kitchen support, and music (after electricity in the city came back on), and Linda Lea had done most of the food prep. Judy set up the ticket booth where tickets were 25 cents each: three tix for a hamburger, two for a hot dog, two for a pony bottle of sugary soda (the "Inca Kola" was yummy in small doses - sort of a bubble gum, cream soda flavor), one ticket for a cup of cole slaw or potato salad, and two for a piece of banana bread. There was plenty of Pilsener beer in the ice chest and Suzy's bar was open in Coco Bongo.

The cruiser kids (Yvette-10, Dana-11, and Fletcher-12) from Aquamarine and Desiderata did a fantastic job preparing the fixin's table for the burgers and dogs, while the two dads traded shifts manning the grill. The girls cut the delicious locally special ordered buns and put them in handy yellow "to go" plastic bags (which made eating them easier and less drippy), and Fletcher passed these to Mike or Chris for the meat delivery. Once the BBQ got going the local kids and their parents showed up in droves and the burgers and dogs flew off the grill. I'm not sure what they thought of the concept of paying for little pieces of paper and then turning those over for food, but they lined up for all of it with the rest of us.

When no one could eat another bite it was time for some action. The children at the Saiananda sponsored grade school had made an American flag "pinata" for us out of a cardboard box with lots of red, white and blue tissue paper, and it was filled with candy and toys. Half a dozen local kids had hung around long enough to give the cruiser kids some stiff competition taking blindfolded turns trying to whack it open. Mike learned a new skill as he dipped and waved the box which was hanging from a length of (very bent over) PVC pipe, even momentarily landing the pinata on top of one child's head. Eventually the pinata (and Mike) couldn't hold up to the assault any longer and the candy spilled out under the rush of miniature, and young at heart, scavengers alike.

After all the candy and discarded wrappers were cleared up from the paving bricks and the grass someone brought out the water balloons. Unfortunately there was a bit of confusion over the difference between a water balloon "toss" and a water balloon "fight," and the water balloons didn't last long. Eric and Sherrell played nice, but Sherrell still managed to take two to the chest and got soaked. Even innocent bystanders like John and me were splashed by aims gone bad. The parents were easy targets, but woe to a kid whose dad took one too many hits. I wonder where those boat kids learned to run so fast.

Finally we managed to round up some not so "safe and sane" fireworks to get started on the real fun. For starters we had a half a dozen You-light-ems, a large bottle rocket with an M-80 on the end. These were stuck in a convenient crack in the curb and the lighter was passed from dad to dad: "You light em", "no, YOU light em", "NO, YOU light em"... The big finale was a 3' paper mache effigy of he-who-must-not-be-named (you supply your favorite image) which was stuffed with fire crackers and set on fire against a curb in the street roundabout. Hilarity ensued when the thing wouldn't "go" until a little gasoline was applied. There was much yelling at the two pyros to "Run!", and we made sure the fearless local kids kept their distance until finally it went off with a brief but satisfying set of bangs and was left to burn in the street. We wound down by lighting off something I don't remember seeing when I was a kid which was much more fun than sparklers. These were like Roman candles but longer and skinnier which we held at one end, lit the fuse at the other end, and pointed (preferably) at the sky for a series of single launches 30' up in the air. You could feel the stick pulsing in your hand with each pop, and it was fun trying to aim for the power lines (but not at the thatched roofs!).

By 8 PM it was time for people to catch the last bus back to Saiananda, and we had a hungry cat to feed, so most of us called it a very good night. This is one Fourth of July I'm sure we'll never forget!

Linda and John

Re: Quiet week

2008-07-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

This is in reply to Gallant Fox's comment, and I thought I should post it lest I give people the wrong idea about Bahia.

If you are already planning to come to Ecuador for a season, then Bahia de Caraquez is probably the best place to stay. We haven't been to Puerto Lucia, but have heard from Don and Marie on Freezing Rain that it has less of a social scene than here. Yes, you have all the nice amenities (which were off limits when they stayed there), but according to them most of the cruisers who stayed at Lucia were there to work long days on boat projects and had little interest in socializing. Here in Bahia there are over 40 boats (not all of which are occupied) with cruisers who are interested in things like Mexican train, cards, beading, yoga, learning Spanish, eating out, trading DVDs, swap meets, and plenty of socializing during happy hour at the bar.

I think most people are happy here especially if, as I wrote, you have plans to leave the boat and travel. For some of us (and I know from talking to others that I'm not the only one), it's difficult to park the boat in one place for six months and not be actively cruising. Even with easy access to shore the boat becomes smaller, and life becomes somewhat routine. I personally miss moving from anchorage to anchorage, seeing all the wildlife, and the swimming and snorkeling we did during our summers in the Sea. Most people wouldn't miss the heat, the bees, chubascos, etc. of the Sea and might prefer this. Lots of people are here because of the cooler weather, but the almost constant cloudiness can have a negative affect on some people.

If you plan to travel, Bahia de Caraquez is a great place to bring your boat. People have been taking wonderful trips throughout Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. And you can leave the boat to return to the States without worrying about it since even if something does happen, there are lots of other cruisers on hand to straighten things out.

The ecuatorianos we've met are friendly, open, and helpful people who are happy to have you visiting their beautiful country, and Ecuador is a great jumping off place for traveling the rest of South America. And when your visas run out you have many options for extending your cruising from here - the Galapagos, the South Pacific, Chile, return to Panama, etc.

Linda

Quiet week

2008-06-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be so silent, but it's been a very boring week. The electricity in the entire city was shut down from 7 AM to 2 PM every day last week, and even longer over the weekend (to 5 or 6 PM). Today it's on again but may be shut down at 2 PM until 9 PM. This affects us primarily in the areas of showers (no water pump and no hot water) and internet, so we have to schedule those activities accordingly. I could still do email on the boat, I know, but has been hard to get motivated to do much of anything.

The days are cloudy and gray, often with light rain or drizzle mostly at night. The afternoon wind usually comes up out of the W/SW which gives me goose bumps even though the temp in the cabin is still around 78 degrees. Every once in awhile we get a hot sunny day. I miss wearing nothing but a bathing suit all day, and find myself constantly having to change clothes here depending on whether I'm going to town to shop, going to town to walk, going in to PA for a shower, going to town to eat out, or changing back into my old comfort clothes for life on the boat.

I force myself to continue going to yoga three times a week and have started taking Spanish with a small group. The teacher for the latter is not an actual teacher, but a young woman going to school to learn English. We have a two hour session at $2/hour/pp which is dirt cheap, but I'm not sure how effective it's going to be partly because of her lack of experience and partly because we're all at different levels (including two raw beginners). But it gets me thinking about it again and should at least be good practice.

We miss MX every day. I especially miss the excitement of raising anchor and slowly sailing off to a different place every few days. Staying here is like spending the entire summer anchored off of the dinghy landing at Bahia de los Angeles with every day revolving around going into town. Our summers used to be a chance to catch up on our budget because BLA is remote and we weren't spending any money. But life here revolves around spending money, especially if you do any inland travel. Yes, that travel is relatively cheap but if it isn't in your budget to begin with, it's going to be a big drain on your cruising time. So I can really only recommend coming here if you're already in the habit of leaving the boat to return to the States, or if you have the money to travel for weeks at a time in places like Ecuador and Peru. And of course this all works best if you don't have an animal on board.

We're grateful not to be swatting bees every morning, but we miss summer in the Sea of Cortez!

Linda

Pictures of Bahia

2008-06-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

I've added a link to pictures in the recent "Beaching Batwing" post, and I've also added a brief description of John's "hospital" stay with pictures dated May 21 (so go back to the May posts to see that one).

Here are some nice views of Bahia de Caraquez from the top of the cross on a hill above PA. The cross has stairs in it letting you climb to the top to get even higher above the trees.

http://picasaweb.google.com/svnakia/ViewFromCross

John doesn't like this way of doing pictures and prefers to have them in the blog itself. But it's much easier and faster for me to use the Picassa links so maybe we'll try to do a little of both.

Yesterday we had a delicious almuerzo with Iwa at Hugo's. We still can't get over the fact that they can serve us a full meal for less than $2.

I'm continuing to take yoga classes three times a week. They're in Spanish so I'm gradually learning the parts of the body. I hope to start taking Tai Chi from a gringo guy the other two days of the week, with weekends off for other activities. John sometimes goes for a long walk while I'm in class, and Monday mornings we can walk to Leonidis Plaza for the street market. Yesterday I found a pair of Bill Blass denim capris in perfect condition for a whopping $5. Your Goodwill donations at work!

Everyone we meet here is so friendly and eager to engage us in conversation or to help us find whatever it is we're looking for. We're really enjoying this bustling town and all it has to offer.

Linda

Bahia de Caraquez Resource List

2008-06-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

(Last updated 6/18/2008)

This is going to be a work in progress as we learn about new resources to document for Bahia de Caraquez. See also the older "Ecuador Cruising Guide" under Resources at http://www.sv-carina.org/.

You can get a color map of Bahia listing some services from the Tourist Office (all the way at the beach end of Bolivar upstairs in a blue and white building) or see "Coco Bongo" below for an older version of a street/services map.

almuerzo = a fixed menu lunch, usually from $1.50-1.75, which includes a glass of juice, soup, and a plate consisting of, salad/vegetable, rice, and a meat or fish (sometimes you have a choice of entree, but not always)
Bolivar = Avenida Simon Bolivar; the main drag with a landscaped median
PA = Puerto Amistad
Malecon = Malecon Alberto F. Santos

MERCADOS/TIENDAS

Frigo Don Plati: Ante at Morales, just before the mercado entrance; this is counter service only but don't be shy about asking for what you want because prices are generally cheaper here than anywhere else; if they don't have what you want, Eduardo will order it from Manta (like crema agria = sour cream).

Frigo La Granja: Riofrio between Morales and Bolivar; butcher with refrigeration, clean

Mercado Municipal: Ante at Morales; mornings only with Saturday being the biggest day; fruits and vegetables, flowers (upstairs), fish, etc.

Navia: Bolivar between Ante and Ascazubi

Tia: Malecon and Ascazubi; A large "super market" with almost more dry goods than groceries

Yanina: Mateus between Bolivar and Montufar; family run small store with many U.S. products

PANADERIAS

I never thought I would miss Mexican pan dulces, but it's slim pickings in Bahia. They have something they call a "cinnamon roll" but it's an airy flavorless bread rolled around the cinnamon. So far, the only thing I've gotten excited about are the pan de yucca with cheesy centers. The cookies and sweet breads are blah.

Brown door (#1726): Across the street from PA (not the panaderia); this must be the entrance to a private residence because they only open sometime after 3 PM to sell pan de yucca, cheese and eggs.

El Rey de Pan: Upstairs in the mercado municipal for pan de yucca. These are small round "biscuits" made with flour from the yucca plant with cheese in the middle. He has two sizes and closes up when he sells out (early). You can also find these at a private residence across the street from PA where they also sell cheese (to the left of the panaderia directly across the street from PA).

Latin Pan: Riofrio at Montufar; good pan de sal and integral (wheat) rolls

Panaderia El Chonero: 911 Montufar

Panaderia Gaby: Ante across from public market

RESTAURANTS

Arena Bar: Riofrio west of Bolivar (new location as of 6/4/08); 2-692-024 (Elizabeth), 5 PM - Midnight, pizza and pasta; a little more expensive than most, but a nice ambiance and attentive service; the only problem is their difficulty with processing the checks, so look yours over carefully.

Big Boy: Ascazubi at Malecon; open at 7 PM; cheap hamburgers

Café Gal: Bolivar across from Banco Pichincha in the courtyard of the Western Union building (edificio Gal); almuerzo

Ceviche hut: On the beach west of the "lookout"; mornings only

Chifa Lau: Malecon near Ascazubi; Chifa = Chinese; inexpensive, large portions of fried rice and chow mein

Coco Bongo: Cecelio Intriago between Arenas and Checa; a bed and breakfast hotel, open to the public for breakfast and lunch; Suzy, the Australian owner, has the best map of Bahia in town, although the street names are difficult to read.

El Mana: corner of Bolivar and Arenas; almuerzo

El Rey de Burrito: Hurtado at Hidalgo; Tues-Fri 1800, Sat/Sun/Hol 1300; serves Mexican food, but we haven't heard great reports about this one

Hugo's: 408 Riofrio at Morales; almuerzo

Ice cream: There's no premium ice cream in Bahia. There are two places, Choco Banana (Arenas between Bolivar and Malecon) and Tropihelados (Bolivar at Arenas), but their ice cream is of the ice milk variety. Commercial brands like Pinguino are better, especially the Dips (10 bonbons to a package; five different flavors) made by Gino's for .60/bag.

PA: Happy hour weekdays from 4-7 PM; $5 burgers and higher end menu for the rest

MISC

Auto Repuestos Chavez: Ascazubi near Malecon

Bahia Yacht Club: Malecon between Riofrio and Arenas (Sylvia); $60/month "temporary social" membership (inclusive) to anchor out, up to five boats only; otherwise it's $1/day to use pool/shower facilities; $10 additional cleaning fee to bring in your own food and drink for groups up to 30 people; bar is only open on weekends.

Banco de Guayaquil: Bolivar and Riofrio (ATM machine)

Banco de Pichincha: Ascazubi and Bolivar (ATM outside bank on Ascazubi)

Cinema Bahia Digital: 1418 Bolivar at Venueza (Carlos speaks English); quality DVD copies for sale ($2 each), and a small "theater" which you can reserve for private showings at $2/person.

Dentist: Dra. Mariana Cazar Gomez; 1115 Bolivar at Ascazubi (upstairs in edificio Gal, the Western Union building), 052 692 318; office with x-ray capability.

Dr. Eduardo Rodriquez Mieles: 713 Bolivar (north of Riofrio), 084-361-709; dermatologist; his wife, Sra. Sophia Pena de Rodriquez is a cosmotologist and keeps his appointment book; they live in Guayaquil and visit family every other weekend when they see patients in Bahia; both speak English

Dr. Leonardo Viteri: 214 Riofrio, Bolivar y Montufar, 2-690-429; general practitioner; recommended to us by everyone, but not inexpensive; he ordered blood work covering everything (including HIV and Hepatitis; that cost $60), then he admitted John to a room at the clinic overnight for IV saline solution to recover from an amoeba infection (total cost $230, including $50 for the office exam part of the visit); we felt this was overkill and next time would do as recommended by another cruiser: go to the pharmacy for a stool sample cup; deliver the stool sample to a laboratory for analysis; return to pharmacy with results, and the pharmacist will issue the appropriate drug.

Hair salon: Bolivar, next door to 1209 (between the church and Ante; awning over door says "coffee")

Leonidis Plaza: Monday tianguis (street flea market) with housewares and clothing; used clothing for $5/item

Museum: Malecon at Ante; free on Sundays, closes at 5 PM; English speaking guides

Post Office: Correos del Ecuador, Malecon before Ante

Tourist Information office: Bolivar in the last block before you hit the beach

Yoga: Puerto Amistad, Margarite; 8 AM Tues, Wed, Thur for $2/session (one hour) or $20/month; mats provided or bring your own

CANOA

A somewhat "under whelming" (thanks for the perfect description, Tammy!) beach town just a ferry and bus ride from Bahia. Makes for a nice day trip.

Bambu: Hotel and restaurant at north end of the beach.

Cafe Flor: Good signage will help you find this charming cafe outside the main part of town. Real coffee and extensive menu including burritos and vegetarian options. Open 9-3 AM, 6-9 PM; closed Sundays.

Rio Muchacho: Organic farm which sells in Canoa on Saturday mornings (riomuchacho.com).

Surf Shak: On the beach. Supposed to have good brownies.

Sturm und Drang

2008-06-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

The "unsolicited" testimonials posted to the Southbound group on yahoo extolling the many virtues of PA are driving us crazy. We know for a fact that TM has asked cruisers to write letters on his behalf and this is so uncalled for. So far we have restrained our natural instincts to respond to these "oh, everything is lovely" missives on the Southbound group, but I'm afraid John's going to really let loose one of these days. We're still working to get the boat to Saiananda but in the meantime this is the most divisive issue we've ever experienced in the cruising community.

It's so weird to us that people feel a need to defend the integrity of PA when it's the only game in town, it's obviously a lovely facility, and Saiananda clearly isn't for everyone. In fact only a minority of boats would probably ever want to go there. It's remote, there's no permit to build a dinghy dock yet, no alcohol is allowed on shore, and use of the kitchen is limited to vegetarian meals only. So why is PA so threatened by this tiny haven? Probably only because the moorings cost $100 less per month there, and anyone leaving their boat for the entire season wouldn't mind all the rest of the inconveniences.

A friend argued that it was our choice to stay at PA when they blocked access to Saiananda. He pointed out that we could have moved to one of the three other approved host facilities in Ecuador, and that we weren't forced to stay in Bahia. Well sure that's true, but cruisers are by nature social animals (for the most part), and we wanted to be where our friends are. We don't know a single boat staying anywhere else, and heard from friends who stayed at Puerto Lucia last season that everyone was there for boat work and that the social scene was non-existent. So that's not really a reasonable argument for us since we're going to be living on our boat for most of the season. In fact cost is no longer even the issue since we've elected to stay on a PA mooring while we wait to go to Saiananda. We'd just rather stay here with the rest of the Saiananda refugees in the hopes that the situation changes.

We're trying to make the best of a bad situation but we're not going to let the issue get swept under the table either. A lot of people seem to want to ignore the politics and pretend that everything is hunky dory which is easy to do because on the surface PA is set up to offer most of the comforts of a U.S. style marina. Cruisers love the easy life PA offers and they really don't like to be reminded that there are two sides to every story. For instance, do they know that a lovely couple (from a boat that has been here longer than most) has actually been banned from the PA premises over a silly misunderstanding? Just recently another cruiser now living in Bahia full time had the temerity to write an article to a newspaper defending attacks made on Saiananda by a radio station. In the article he gave his opinion that he thought the mooring fees at PA are too high. The knee jerk reaction to this by PA is that they would love to be able to ban that cruiser too, except that they know what a furor it would cause. It's this kind of emotional reaction to the mildest form of criticism that makes the atmosphere so poisonous here. It's inconceivable to us that a former cruiser would single-handedly divide the cruising community as has been done in Bahia.

Do the new arrivals know that prior to Sailor's Run being refused help entering Bahia (when they wouldn't commit to paying for an entire season's stay at PA) the Port Captain didn't even care if boats moved to Saiananda? Do they know that an official in the Port Captain's office takes special pleasure in telling cruisers that Saiananda is illegal and they can't go there? That this same official (Sr. Guttierrez) started reading a letter addressed to the Port Captain until the cruisers who wrote it asked him not to because it wasn't addressed to him? People who tell us to "get over it" don't understand that we resent one (American) man deciding to mess with the local status quo to protect his piece of the pie. Because it's fairly obvious that during the few days delay between Sailor's Run's initial request to enter Bahia and when they finally got in everything changed.

People also say that Saiananda is "illegal." Legal and illegal are nebulous concepts in Ecuador and it's easy for people to use both terms to paint a picture to their own advantage. Yes, PA will assert that they jumped through hoops to become "legal," but as the Minister of Tourism herself pointed out, "legal" is not the only factor to consider when you're doing business in Ecuador.

PA is already crowded. If Ecuador/Bahia wants to grow its marine tourism industry, Bahia needs to keep the river open to further marina expansion. That includes an opening bridge, and eliminating the agent/host club requirement so that cruisers are allowed to interact directly with the Port Captain/Navy if they choose to process their own check-in/out. There's room for more than one game in town, and PA should be encouraging choice in Bahia, not doing everything they can to take it away.

Linda

Snagging Sarana

2008-06-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

This was a dragging of a different kind entirely! On Saturday, June 7, the R/V Nautilus was moving moorings from the south end of the mooring field where they were in the way of the bridge construction. The Nautilus was literally dragging the heavy mooring blocks along the river bottom to their new locations opposite Puerto Amistad. Up on deck for some chore I noticed that the Nautilus was slowly making its way towards Sarana's bow. At this point I didn't understand what it was doing or that there was any danger, and I watched for awhile and wondered why it was moving so slowly. All of a sudden I heard Jan on Claire de Lune shouting at the Nautilus and waving them away from Sarana's anchor. But it was too late, the Nautilus had already caught Sarana's anchor chain.

Jan put a call out to PA and dinghies came racing out to lend a hand, followed soon after by Carlos in the PA tender. Carlos dove on the mooring and untangled the mess in no time at all, and Sarana was just fine. Here are some pictures of the sequence:

http://picasaweb.google.com/svnakia/SnaggingSarana

This is the first time we're using Picasa for our blog pictures. Please let us know if you have any problems viewing the link to our web album. If it works well for people, we hope to post more pictures using this method.

Linda

Business Casual

2008-06-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we had a meeting at Saiananda with the Minister of Tourism for Ecuador, Veronica Sion, for which we all wore our best town clothes in an effort to look respectable for her. It was such an honor to be able to sit down with a government representative and chat in an open, friendly environment. She took all of our comments about cruising in Ecuador, asked us pointed questions, and was very positive about making some important changes to current policies which would make cruising easier here, especially for boats wishing to spend more than six months in the country. The colonel in charge of the bridge project in Bahia attended, and we understand that he would also like to see an opening bridge across the river, so there's still hope for making that change.

Alfredo, the owner of Saiananda, graciously invited the owner of PA to attend the meeting as well. Instead, in a classic maneuver, Tripp worked with his Ecuadorian business partner to arrange his own meeting with Ms. Sion at PA. Except that here the cruising community was not invited to the meeting and was reduced to standing around basically eavesdropping on the officials seated at the table.

We noticed an obvious difference between the earlier bridge meeting at PA and the tourism meeting at Saiananda. We distinctly got the impression (from the way the question and answer session was handled) that the bridge meeting was a carefully orchestrated show to placate cruisers. We weren't really there to be heard, it was just meant to look that way. In complete contrast, the Minister of Tourism engaged us all in a give and take conversation, took notes, and asked us for our input - what a pleasant surprise.

We were very pleased to be invited to attend the meeting at Saiananda where we were served a fabulous vegetarian lunch and received gift bags from the Ministry containing beautiful tourism brochures and a souvenir T-shirt. It was an uplifting and hopeful meeting during which we felt our voices were finally heard.

Linda

Beaching Batwing

2008-06-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 6

John and a few of the other guys got up before dawn this morning to move Batwing over to "the wall" during the slack before ebb. This is a spot north of the ferry landing where the Bahia Yacht Club property juts out into the bay creating a solid east/west "wall" where a boat can be tied off and beached at low tide. Batwing was towed here to Bahia by Sarana on their passage to Ecuador from Panama after they lost the use of their engine due to a problem with their shaft which made the propeller literally fall off. The new part finally arrived and the tides are big enough this week for "hauling out" to replace it. Several of the locals had the same idea and we saw boats up on one of the small beach areas being repaired and getting new bottom paint applied. Two catamarans, Archie's Way and La Nave, beached across the river from PA to do their bottom paint as well. All went smoothly with Batwing's repair and she was re-floated under her own power on the high tide late in the afternoon (with a little push from John in our dinghy).

http://picasaweb.google.com/svnakia/BeachingBatwing

In other news Ziggy has twice jumped into the dinghy while it was trailing behind the stern, which is a new trick for him. The first time John thinks he did it because there was a cricket in the dink (there are tons of crickets here which is fine once you realize they're not roaches!). It was just close enough to Nakia for him to jump in from the pushpit which hangs over the stern. John pulled the dinghy up close to Nakia so Ziggy could jump back up with some help from the kitty rescue rope now hanging from the pushpit - and he promptly jumped back in again. This morning during slack tide the dinghy was gently bobbing back and forth in the waves behind Nakia, and I watched Ziggy sizing up the gap. After my repeated "Be careful"s and "No!"s in an effort to make him think twice about doing it, he jumped and landed in the dink (not in the drink!). This time John told me to let him stay there to learn his lesson. Ziggy prowled around while I finished my morning exercises in the cockpit and I kept an eye on him when he started sizing up the gap again. When I heard the approach of a panga engine I knew he wouldn't want to stay in the dinghy and sure enough, he made a leap for safety as my heart jumped out of my chest. Good boat cat that he is he caught the top of the rescue rope and pulled himself up onto the pushpit - not an easy feat considering all the junk that's stored back there!

I don't think I mentioned that our trip to Canoa cost a whopping 35/pp one way for the panga ferry (complete with life jacket) and another .35/pp one way for the bus ride from San Vincente to Canoa. The local bus is only .18, pedi-cabs for two passengers are .50 for travel around the city of Bahia, and regular taxi cabs are around $1-1.50. The reason for this must be that gasoline is about $1.50/gallon and diesel isn't much more than that. This was a nice surprise after what we thought were the high prices of fuel in Central America - until we were shocked to learn that those same high prices were the norm now for the States. We feel for all of you, and hope that Obama will be able to turn things around for the country next year.

I'll close by stealing something from my friend, Cheryl on Fortuitous (sorry Cheryl!). We were in the woman's shower which is adjacent to the men's, both of which have open air ceilings. She was talking over the noise of the shower water to a male friend off of another boat when she said, "I think this is the first time I've spoken to a man in the shower who wasn't my husband!"

Linda

Is That Boat Dragging?

2008-06-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

As I wrote previously we are experiencing the extreme tides of the new moon when the river current really rips. Our friends on Blew Moon arrived Tuesday and had a difficult time complying with PA's new request to anchor bow and stern. This is supposed to create more space in the mooring/anchorage area, but it's a bad idea given the currents we face here. It's far better to let the boat swing to the current on one anchor because, if the anchor should happen to drag, there's a better chance of it re-setting itself again. Having a stern anchor out creates tremendous sideways pressure since the boat is never lined up perfectly straight to the current, and further complicates things if the boat drags. It took Blew Moon two or three tries to get their stern anchor set that first day, and they were up early the next morning repositioning once again. Since they gave it their best shot, PA management can't really complain that they finally re-anchored using just the bow anchor.

That same night the big Denmark ketch, Stormdis (unoccupied), broke loose from the stern anchor that PA had set in their absence, and Bruce on 5th Element re-anchored the next morning to make more room between the two boats. Yesterday afternoon we watched Yorikke drag both anchors up river in the flood while its owner was in town. John went out in the dinghy with several other people (including TM from PA) to get it stopped and re-anchored. I think I already wrote about Batwing dragging back in May. When they returned from their inland trip they re-anchored using only a bow anchor. Then when Cynosure tried pulling up their stern anchor to move to a mooring yesterday, John went over to see if he could help. He couldn't figure out why the crew was heaving and straining to pull it up until he saw that they had hooked Batwing's bow chain and were pulling it up along with their stern anchor. What a mess.

With over 35 boats at PA and more still to come it's getting a little congested. I understand this number of boats hasn't been a problem in the past but things have changed dramatically with the construction of the new bridge. The corps of engineers doesn't want us anchoring where the bridge will be, even though they haven't begun doing anything more than taking core samples from the river bed, and the Port Captain has issued a letter saying that we can't anchor south of bridge construction beginning in August. For some mysterious reason that rule is being "enforced" (no one has tested it) effective immediately and PA is in the process of moving unoccupied boats north of the line.

Since the anchorage is also restricted to the south and to the east by a huge sand spit which the locals actively fish at low tide; to the east and north by the ferry routes; and to the west (directly in front of PA) by another ferry path, there's not much room left for boats to anchor safely. PA has lost a couple of mooring spots to bridge construction, and the 20 remaining moorings are all occupied. In fact TM moved his own boat off its mooring so that Cynosure could have a mooring. Those of us still hoping to get our reserved moorings at Saiananda are hoping the Port Captain will amend his previous restriction and allow us to move there. That would surely help take some of the pressure off of the crowded conditions at PA. Even the dinghy dock is a zoo. When you have 15 dinghies tied up on a busy day it's tough to find a parking spot, especially if the current is running hard.

But the $1 rum drinks during happy hour help make all our troubles go away for a few hours!

Linda

Re: Galapagos Comment

2008-06-04T14:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, you can take your own boat to the Galapagos, or rather, you can take your boat to one of the Galapagos Islands. Prices vary greatly. Hiring an agent to clear you into more then one Island can get very expensive. Once at an island you will probably have to hire a guide if you want to go to one of the visitor sites. Most areas are completely off limits.

Basically, we think we'll enjoy it more if we take a plane instead of NAKIA. At least it will only take 3 hours to get there and back instead of 6 days...

Bahia de Caraquez

2008-06-03T15:26:00.000-07:00

We're settling into living in Ecuador for the summer, trying to find some semblance of a routine for our days here. We haven't delved too deeply into boat projects yet, although John has taken care of a few minor problems like replacing the fuel lift pump (to try to stop diesel from getting into the engine oil) and repairing a tear in the main sail. It feels like we spend most of our afternoons on the internet in the bar, which inevitably leads into happy hour, which often turns into an excursion with friends out to one of the many small eateries for dinner, and then it's back to the boat to watch a DVD from the borrowed collections of other boats.

One of our favorite new discoveries, inspired by the loss of satellite radio access, is the free online NPR podcasts. John downloaded iTunes to the laptop and we went to the NPR web site to subscribe to our favorite shows. Now whenever we turn on the computer we bring up iTunes, and the latest episodes are automatically downloaded. So we're back to listening to shows like Fresh Air, Talk of the Nation, Car Talk, and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. I discovered a new one called Coffee Break Spanish which is produced out of Glasgow, Scotland. So not only can we learn some new Spanish, but John gets to practice his Scottish accent at the same time! It's a weird combination but, having lived for a year just north of Glasgow, I enjoy it.

We are experiencing some big tides at the moment and the current in the river really rips, especially on the ebbs. Occasionally we see some big trees floating by, but so far nothing has knocked into Nakia's hull. It can be a challenge getting the dinghy up to the boat for loading and unloading, but we're getting the hang of it.

Monday morning we walked south half an hour to Leonidis Plaza for their weekly tianguis (swap meet). There was no food to speak of, and it was mostly clothing and housewares. I managed to find one second hand clothing stall that had a "dressing room" where I could try on a pair of light blue capri pants, which I bought for $5. I'm going to have to invest in a few more cool weather items so that I'm not wearing shorts and tank tops all over town during what is essentially their cold season.

Saturday we went to Canoa with two other couples. This is a beach "resort" town which was reached by taking a panga ferry from Bahia to San Vincente, across the river, and then a bus the rest of the way. There wasn't much more to Canoa than a few beach restaurants, some beach vendors selling jewelery, and a few "hotels" catering to the back-packer, surfer crowd. But it made for a nice outing and we got to hang out with Rob and Linda of Cat 'n' About before they headed north to the States and then to Guatemala for the rest of the season.

So life is quiet for now, while we wait to see what happens next. We're looking into making a trip to the Galapagos by air, and hope to do that before we leave here. In the meantime, we'll try to make short trips to places like Guayaquil, Quito, Otavalo, Banos, and Cuenca, all in Ecuador.

Linda and John

John's "hospital" stay

2008-05-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

May 21, 2008

After 2-3 days of running a fever (Friday - Sunday), and then diarrhea starting after the fever broke, John decided to pay a visit to the doctor for some lab work today. John's been religiously consulting our copy of "Where There Is No Doctor" as his symptoms changed. So we thought, no problem, a doctors visit is cheap insurance, we'd get the results, get some drugs, and go home. We got to the recommended clinic at 10 AM and the recommended doctor ordered up lab work for everything under the sun (including HIV, hepatitis, cholesterol, liver, you name it) before going in to deliver a baby by C-section (we assume, because he said surgery, and an hour later there was a newborn). After finding out that said blood/urine/stool lab work cost $60 I made a quick trip to the ATM machine to get more money for the doctor's exam (another $50). Finally at 2 PM the lab work came back and the doctor took us into his office. Everything was excellent except for some pesky amoebas that appear to be the cause of the problem. But instead of a prescription the doctor told John he needed to stay in the "hospital" for 48 hours to be on an IV for rehydration and an antibiotic for the intestinal infection. So before we knew it they had John taking a shower, getting into hospital pajamas, into bed, and then hooked up to an IV.

We heard this is the best doctor in town so John is in good hands, and of course we want anything serious to be completely eradicated. But we certainly weren't expecting this, and [I'm updating this a month later] it turned out to be overkill. He had a private room with its own bathroom, A/C and a small TV with channels in English. There's even (oh joy) another bed in case I want to sleep over with him. But it's a little depressing to look at. At the moment I'll be content to return home to Ziggy in the evening.

http://picasaweb.google.com/svnakia/ClinicaViteri

Since, except for the diarrhea, he seemed to be getting better, this is one of those "not good" cruising experiences. But we'll keep our fingers crossed that it all turns out for the best, and at least it isn't anything terribly serious. [He was fine, and nothing further was done at the follow up visit. Total cost was $290.]

I'm off for a late afternoon hospital visit to take him things like his Gameboy and ear plugs (for the roosters next door and the newborn baby downstairs in the nursery).

Linda

Puerto Amistad

2008-05-20T09:09:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday morning we had arranged to be brought across the river bar of the Rio Chone to enter Bahia de Caraquez. I believe it's a requirement of the local Port Captain that every boat use a licensed bar pilot (at a fee of $30 for a single boat, less if you can get more than one boat to cross at a time). Apparently the licensed pilot is away for some time so Tripp Martin, the owner of Puerto Amistad (PA, a river front restaurant/bar with a mooring field out in front), came out with an employee of his, Carlos, and they came aboard Nakia to point out the way. After signing a waiver absolving PA of responsibility should Nakia come to any harm, we were fortunate to have completely calm conditions and a favorable tide and thus entered without incident. Carlos helped tie us up to a mooring buoy and we paid him the $30 fee.

The cruising situation in Ecuador is a new one for us. Currently there are four "host" "yacht clubs" which were created after last season's furor over the whole expensive agent mess, during which boats were required to use an agent to check in and out of every port at a cost of over $100 for each arrival and departure. As a result of the cruiser outcry at this price gouging four of the largest facilities catering to cruising boats banded together to create the current system wherein they will check a boat into the country only if that boat pays to stay at their facility.

On January 1 of this year we made a reservation at a small resort called Saiananda to stay on a mooring there. We first heard about this charming spot last summer from our friend Garth, on Inclination, and then read even more about it in Latitude 38 and SSCA Bulletin articles by Migration and Iwa. Saiananda is farther up the Rio Chone from PA and we were attracted to the quieter surroundings and smaller group of boats since Saiananda has fewer moorings and no anchor outs. As Garth described them to us the moorings are of a type that are very secure, and we had heard reports of boats breaking loose at PA. As a major animal lover I fell in love with descriptions of the animal and bird rescue menagerie located on the premises. As full time liveaboards we looked forward to making Saiananda our summer home for six months, with a few inland trips to keep things interesting. We were unsure of how we would feel about being parked in one spot for that long, but we thought Saiananda would make it all worth while. We figured we would be making visits for drinks and meals with friends staying at PA and that it would become a home away from home when we needed a town fix.

Our plan was to stay at PA while we got checked into the country. This process includes a visit to Immigration in Manta, a two hour cab ride away, along with a shopping expedition and any errands requiring the services of a larger city. So we figured we'd be staying at PA for at least a week to get checked in and oriented to Bahia before moving up river to Saiananda. Unfortunately just before we departed Costa Rica, Tripp Martin became annoyed by boats coming in and doing just as I described. His policy is that any boat he checks in should stay at his facility for the entire season. He reported Saiananda as an "illegal" destination to the Port Captain, and no one has been able to move there since.

PA is a lovely facility with nice showers and bathrooms in an upscale restaurant/bar overlooking the river. There is inexpensive laundry service and wireless internet on site. Unfortunately the PA business model is designed to limit the WiFi signal to the restaurant only and not to extend it out to the mooring field. Undoubtedly this is to help boost bar and restaurant profits, but it's a major inconvenience for anyone living on their boat full time to have to schlep everything back and forth in the dinghy whenever you need to go online. For $270/month/mooring or $100/month/dinghy dock (for anchor outs) fees, it seems reasonable to expect WiFi to reach the boats, especially when PA has plans to invest its profits in additional local WiFi hot spots.

There's also the issue of a bridge which is being built just south of the PA mooring field. In their great wisdom the Ministry of Transportation has decided to go with a low, fixed bridge, preventing any large boat traffic from continuing up river when the bridge is completed. So not only will boats be physically unable to get to Saiananda (most likely not until next year), but there will be first bridge construction, and then bridge traffic noise and dirt right on top of the PA mooring field making it a less attractive option for cruisers in Ecuador. It's a crime against the local economy that bridge planners took such a short sighted view, and didn't design a higher span or an opening bridge with future marine expansion up river in mind.

So here we sit, living in limbo, in hopes that Saiananda will be able to jump through the bureaucratic hoops required to make it a "host" facility so that we can move there before summer's end. If we liked Ecuador, we had initially planned to spend two summers here, but given the lack of freedom to move about the country by boat we doubt we'll return next summer.

Linda and John

http://www.geocities.com/svnakia/map_app.htm?0,36.481,S,80,25.267,W,Puerto%20Amistad,

Pics from Equator Crossing

2008-05-16T14:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a picucture of the GPS, just to prove we were actually there. Take a look at the temp and humidity on the thermometer.

Here's Linda sending off here tribute as Neptune departs...

Here's John taking a little swig before he send's Neptune off with his tribute...

and here's the king of the deep himself, Neptune.

Day 8, Ecuador Passage

2008-05-12T17:20:00.000-07:00

1900 Monday, May 12

Neptune came aboard NAKIA this morning to supervise the inauguration of three Pollywogs into the ranks of the Shellbacks as we crossed the equator. He was resplendent sitting on his throne of sea foam, in a cape made of blue from the abyss, holding his trident, and wearing a crown of silver made by the denizens of the deep. (The crown was a little crude because the denizens don't have thumbs, but Neptune doesn't mind and wore it at a jaunty angle). He posed for a picture against a backdrop of golden sun. We will post the picture shortly for you land dwellers. He left with tribute from the crew: a bottle of Damiana which he shared with John, some cream cookies that he shared with Linda, and his likeness which he shared with Ziggy.

Shortly after crossing the 'the line' we set sail to make for our land fall at Cabo Pasado. Finally, the wind came aft of the beam and we were reminded how well NAKIA sails. Either the bucket that was tied to the keel fell off some time this morning or the current finally let go of us, and we had our best sail of the passage covering 36 miles in 6 hours an average of 6 knots! Compared to the 3.5 knot averages of the last couple days it felt pretty good to be sailing fast again.

We dropped anchor shortly before sunset and started the water heater to take hot showers in celebration.

(Note: only a 10 hour day)
Distance traveled: 55 nautical miles
Distance made good (towards our destination): 49 nautical miles
3 hours motoring, 7 hours sailing

John and Linda

http://www.geocities.com/svnakia/map_app.htm?0,21.708,S,80,28.610,W,Cabo%20Pasado,