We made it to the soul restoring village of Baños. There is so much hiking/ biking/ waterfall viewing that can be done. Our first stop were some of the natural hot springs (Baños = baths) for which the city is named. Everyone has to wear colorful swim caps and looks adorable.

More like an airport. We are definitely not in coastal village territory anymore.

Jipijapa. Xipixapa. Happy happy.

NOT A DRILL. REAL HOTSAUCE. THANK YOU MONTAÑITA.

Our hostel was called the Funky Bablylon. Definitely a funky two nights. There were lots of French people and one German guy staying in our room who was very awkward but extremely kind and liked bikes.

The owner wore a bathrobe and played Friends on a big TV on Sunday night.

I also took a shower with a spider!! I told him I would not hurt him but please don’t crawl on me.

This is a beautiful grandmother sea turtle we found washed up on the shore. Her energy was so powerful and we felt so drawn into her giant rainbow shell and rubbery flippers. The birds were helping scavenge/ decompose her body (you can see their footprints in the sand).

There were also MILLIONS OF RED CRABS.

Sea life/ the ocean is so incredible and so alien. The rhythm of the tide and continuous spirals of waves rolling over each other and breaking into white sea foam captivated my attention for hours on Sunday morning.

Church

This pizza place had $1 slices and a beautiful, badass lady who took great care of tired, wet, hungry Marmen/ Caya. Coming from dry season in Canoa, the soft rain and humming insects made for a muddy and verdant welcome to Montañita (or as locals call it, Montaña- idk why there are no mountains and it is at sea level).

Montañita is beautiful! And colorful! And known for amazing surfing, food, and parties. It is sometimes compared to Thailand as it feels very tropical/ friendly/ busy.

Idk who this is but he took a selfie with us

Kittens in cardboard boxes

My favorite are bolones which you can get for $1. It’s more of a breakfast food usually with black coffee. They are softball sized balls corn or plantain and whatever else: cheese, egg, shrimp, veggies. They are really fun, definitely dodgeball material.

Also, almuerzo is a big thing in Ecuador. Usually you pay around $2.50 for a soup (with popcorn to put on top). In the city you could get pork or chicken but on the coast most of the soups are seafood. Then you get a main dish (beans or meat) which comes with rice, salad, plantains, and juice. Ecuadorians go home from school to have lunch (often with their families) and take a 1-2 hour siesta before returning to school/ work. I think I really like this system compared to the 25 minutes US students get to wolf down their corn dogs and chocolate milk. Which, I’m pretty sure was the same price for me ($2.50 US)?

This pupppppy lives at the minimarket. His whole little squirmy body fits in one armful<3<3<3

This momma is new bff from the beach. She also followed me home so I gave her a little bit of rice to say thanks for protecting me! (But I don’t speak dog I’m just trying to work on Spanish for now)

Wondermut!!!! This is Ross’ dog. She is a local adoptee and so lucky to have such attentive owners that give her yummy meals and don’t believe in corporal punishment. She’s such a sweetheart and comes to sit on you when she knows you need snuggles.

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DOGS ARE BENEVOLENT

Men here are sexually attracted to their surfboards. Our instructor, Kiki is superrr friendly and named his surf school “happy happy”. His school is actually just him in a little beach hut with plastic baggies of mangoes. I wish I was surfing everyday, but my stomach stuff made me very unmotivated this week. I want to go once more before we head out on Saturday because Kiki lets us use his boards (and slack line) for free! I understand how one can be deeply and madly drawn to the ocean. This is a new kind of awesome respect and I am quickly falling for coconut oil and salt water.