CANOA, Part 3

26. January – 23. February 2011

 
After a very long journey on buses I finally arrived in Canoa. This time I did not feel like a tourist at all. And I didn't live like a tourist either.

There is not too much to write about these four weeks in Canoa. Usually days were spend with walks at the beach, hanging around, talking to friends, watching the sunset and the occasional fiesta.

Aside from the sunset we also watched the moon set one night. While we walked to the bar around 10 pm, we saw something light over the sea and it took a moment to realize that it's the moon. Quite an amazing and unusual sight.

I had a great time and enjoyed being in Canoa a lot. Read below what's worth special mentioning:

Walking to San Vicente

One day we decided to walk along the beach to San Vicente, 15 km south of Canoa. It was very nice – walking along the beach without people around. Just water, sand, shells and palm trees. And a huge jellyfish. I also enjoyed the quietness -the only sound was from the waves, no cars, no music,..

After four hours of walking barefoot my feet were sore and I was glad when we finally got to San Vicente. After we had a good lunch there, we took the bus back to Canoa. Everyone thought we were crazy – walking 15 km along the beach just for fun. But I liked it.

Montanita

A few days after I arrived we went to Montanita, the most famous Ecuadorian beach town for a few days.

Surfing

Since almost everyone in Canoa is surfing, I had to try it again and went “surfing” with three different boards. First I went together with Carlos on Manuel's windsurfing board. It's a very long and stable board and it's fairly easy to stand up. Anyways, the first wave threw me of the board – while lying down. But after that I managed to stand a few waves. More or less. The next time I went with Carlos' short little board. Well, I didn't even try to stand up, since lying on the board was difficult enough. It's interesting how unstable these boards are and how difficult it is to keep the balance. The day before I left, I went surfing on a fun board – a typical beginners board. There were not many waves and only small ones. So, I spent a lot of time just lying and sitting on the board - training balance. It was great and the first wave I stood all the way to the beach. It was fun. After swimming all the way back out I was quite exhausted and the next waves weren't that successful. But I wish I would have had that experience earlier. It was a lot of fun and I probably would have practiced surfing more often.

Birthday

As on most days, not much happened during the day. In the evening we enjoyed a bottle of wine under palms at the beach, had a great dinner and a few drinks with friends. And I got some nice birthday presents as well.

After more than four weeks it was time to get on the traveling–road again and say “Good Bye” to Canoa for now - yet another time.
GRACIAS a todos!! Yo extrano Canoa!

But before leaving Ecuador to travel further south I went to Guayaquil with Carlos for some sightseeing and shopping.