Donkey Den

For 9 days, Colin and I were the (for the lack of a better word) managers at a guest house in the tiny beach town of Santa Marianita. Wow.

There is a wonderful website that we highly commend for anyone who wants to travel.

www.helpx.net

Sign up and pay a small fee and suddenly you are connected with hundreds and hundreds of hostels, hotels, farms, homes, etc. that are looking for travelers that can work a few hours a day in exchange for a room and at least one meal a day.

Colin and I found a guest home on the coast that looked amazing, contacted the woman that runs the place, and hopped on a bus the next day headed to Santa Marianita.

Linda is an American woman that retired and moved to Ecuador 8 years ago. She wanted a home on the beach. She started by building a little house, then added on and on and on and next thing she new she was running a guest home.

Linda. So welcoming and loving to us. An incredible woman to have built this place on her own.

Linda is also a huge animal lover and it becomes apparent as soon as one enters the property. No less than 5 happy dogs will greet you and there are at least 7 to 40 sleepy cats that might give you a moment out of their napping to meow and demand a bit of attention.

 

The sweet dogs of Donkey Den.

While we were there we basically ran the place. We were given all the keys, the cell phone, the money box. In a way, we were given total freedom to run the guest house. We helped clean and prep rooms for guests, make sure the guest had everything they needed. We also did some pretty big projects like sealing concrete and treating bamboo of newly constructed buildings.

 

Amazing breakfasts everyday at the Donkey Den.

 

Sophie and Erika. The two other helpers that left early to let us move in. I am so glad that we got to meet them both. We are planning to see Erika in Peru, and hopefully we will be Sophie in England one day! Also, our friend Erika has a wonderful travel blog, you should check it out! www.herhappytrails.com

There were times that it became a little overwhelming. Dealing with complaints about things that are out of our control. Yuck. Also, we saw a lot of misunderstandings and frustrations between the locals and the expat community. The language barrier between home owners and local workers was devastatingly evident. It was more than frustrating for Colin and I to see wonderful local people who work hard for their living, being judged as over-charging or cheating a client due to the language barrier.

What stood out to us is the importance of understanding, kindness, grace, and patience...and while we had frustrations, we are grateful that we also saw these things. Linda was so kind and welcoming to her volunteers. We saw grace and understanding as two other volunteers left earlier than planned, giving us space to move in. (Thanks Sophie and Erika!) and we saw much grace from the locals as they listened to us stumbled over words while trying to communicate in Spanish!

Colin enjoying a Cuban. Thanks, Danny.

Stephanie and Rieka....other wonderful volunteer we worked with.

An uninpiring photo of a very inspiring guy. Dennis was a friend we made ast the Donley Den. Fluent in Spanish, English, and German. He helped Linda create the Donkey Den as it is today.

Waiting to flag down the bus.

Four other volunteer came in while we were there, so we decided to continue down the coast. We stayed at Mantanita for 2 night. It's a fun beach fiesta town where we were able to catch the tale end of an international surf competition. Australia won. Despite being shocked by our hostals bad electrical lining and being caught in a small riptide, all was great!

Loving the beach in Montanita.

 

One of our favorite restaraunts in Mantanita. All this for 7 dollars.

Last breakfast in Ecuador. Delicious!

And now we are in Peru!! Cusco is incredibly beautiful. More on that next time!

The amazing view from our hostal in Cusco.

i could be a beach bum

It has been about a month since my last post...and what a month is has been. Mountains. Cities. Teaching. Dogs. Hostals. Beaches. New friends. Old friends. More and more and more. So get ready for a whole lot of pictures!

We started the month of march in Quito, working with Summit Advdnture, instructing 9 students and 2 staff members from Waynesburg university in Pennsylvania. All in all we worked about 2 weeks.

Colin's portrait of one of the local kids.

Old friends. Illineza Norte. Working with locals to plant 1,000 trees. Playing with kids. Learning about recycling in Quito. Introducing students to Quito. Playing with some local children.

After the course wrapped up, Colin and I made the move to the coast. After a 4 hour bus ride that turned into 7 1/2 (though I am not complaining...some of the stories I have heard about long bus rides are truly horrendous), we arrived in Atacames. The next morning we took a motor taxi and headed to the tiny town of Sua.

Sua has basically one street. The town is tiny and one wouldn't give it much of a thought if it wasn't for the peace and tranquility that is so easy to find there. A beautiful beach with beautiful locals that seemed always willing to lend a hand and give advice about other locations that a couple young drifters should head to on their journey south.

Following advice, we headed out the next day to the town of Mompiche. This town was larger than Sua, but still very small. Here we made friends with others staying in our hostel, walked miles on the beach, and got the worst sunburns either of us had ever experienced.

After 4 days in Mompiche, and another 4 buses, we got to the next recommended town. Canoa. Oh, Canoa. If I could spend 6 months there, I think I would still be sad to leave. Everything one could want in a little beach town you can find in Canoa. Restaurants. Tours. Friendly locals. Cheap yet beautiful hostels. A great number of fun people that are all looking to make friends. Beautiful sunsets. Surfing.

Colin had surfed two different times near Santa Cruz, CA in the past, but I had never so much as touched a surf board. But with common sense, caution, and my phobia of sharks thrown to the wind, we rented a couple of boards for three days and attempted to teach ourselves to surf. It was not a pretty sight to begin with. I am sure that I entertained loads of beach dwellers with my antics, but eventually I was able to stand up and catch a few waves. What fun!

We made good friends and had great times in Canoa, but with our limited time and the Easter Holiday causing priced to literally quadruple,we continued south.

Then, Puerto Lopez. More beaches, more mosquitos, more restaurants, more friendly people. More dogs that I want to adopt. We were there about a week. Being the brilliant, hard-working man that he is, Colin arranged to work 4 hours a day alongside our hostals owner in exchange for our room cost. Colin saw lots of sun last week as he transplanted bambo and hacked at things with a machete.

We went to Isla de la Plata. It is a small island about one hour from Puerto Lopez. It is also known as "the poor man's Galapagos". Many animals that inhabit the Galapagos are also found on Isla de la Plata. Beautiful.

And now we are at Santa Marianita. It is a whole other story....basically we are running a guest house for a couple of weeks. We have the keys, the phone, the money box, the car, and the owner's permission to do whatever we want....oh boy.

More to come!

Banos means more than Bathroom

After 3 weeks of city dwelling, Colin and I decided it was time to head to a place that we love...back to nature. Quito had been great. It was a perfect start to our overseas traveling. We'd had a great family, a good school, and a steady group of friends that had welcomed us and made us feel at home. Still, the rest of Ecuador was calling.

We bid farewell to the city and headed to the one place that had been recommended more than any other: Banos. Banos de Agua Santa, to be exact. It has been described to us as the capital of extreme sports in Ecuador. And sport there are aplenty. Cycling. Climbing. Rafting. Kayaking. Puenting, or bridge jumping. There are motorcycles, scooters, and dune buggies to rent. You can rappel down a waterfall or zip through the jungle head first on a wire.

Hiking with new friends in a downpour, jumping off a bridge, and enjoy some tea and good beer in Banos

There are also some of the more genuinely friendly people we have met so far. Banos is a small town...and it has that small town feel. That same atmosphere that you might find in a Midwest town, or in our much loved, much missed Oakhurst. The people generally seem happy to have you there to see their town. They are proud of where they live...and rightfully so. The beauty that surrounds that little town (including the nearby active volcano, Tungurahua) is astounding. I wrote in a past post that I could live in Quito for a long time. That was before we went to Banos. Colin is ready to find a guiding job and put down roots! Sounds good to me. :)

Tungurahua. A beautiful volcano that one might be lucky enough to see some action from. No, I did not take this picture.

Like most people, Colin and I enjoy making new friends. And what a difference there is in making them while traveling. In my experience thus far, I have realized that if you speak the same language as someone else in a country that your native tongue is not spoken, there is great potential for friendship. It's a nice perk to international travel.

A great night. The U.S, Canada, France, Norway, and Australia all represented.

We have been back in Quito for a week. Colin had a couple of dentist appointments. He is so brave! Happily, all is well there.

And now we work! It feels so good to be doing something with a purpose beyond fun and travel. We are working with Summit Adventure, being guides for a group of college students from Pennsylvania. Service. Mountaineering. Challenges. Gaining experience and making friends. We will be climbing Ruccu Pichincha and Illinisa Sur. If you think of us, send up a prayer for safety, health and fun.

 

Colin, myself and my our sweet friend, Paulina on our first time up Ruccu Pichincha.

Also, as it's my birthday, I have the right to brag..this is the great gift Colin got me.

We miss our friends and family back at our many homes. Still, we are very glad to be here.

Hasta Luego.