atacames

last weekend i went to the beach- this was the north coast of ecuador, a small town called atacames. i went with several people from school and one of the teachers, we actually stayed in the hostal belonging to his brother which was cool. the plan was that mike and would leave a little later because i had work in the morning and that the others would meet us at the bus statin in atacames when we arrived- simple, no? No, when we arrived there was noone we recognisedat the bus station, so having only the name of the hostal and little else we asked a taxi driver if he knew our desination, he did, great so on we hopped destined for the playa. (i should mention the taxis, are actually motorbikes with a wooden plank making two seats for passengers attached to the front (!) and nothing to stop you falling off the front but a little luck, i not even too sure how the driver was able to see what was in front of us!) as it turns out the driver had no idea at all where our hostal was and so after a bumpy ride to the beach and many stops to ask for directions we established that in fact it was back in town, so back we went. back in town we finally found the hostal, only to realise that there was in fact noone there; they had we were informed, by the friendly bar owner next door, gone to the beach to begin the evenings' drinking. our taxi driver helpfully told us he would take us back to the beach so we could look for them (i could see the dollar signs flashing before his eyes!), ok, so off we set again. as luck wouls have we ahd only just got around the corner when he screeched to a halt a pointed into the darkness ahead- "tus amigos!". and yes he was right our friends were walking towards us out of the darkness, they had it turns out just been to the bus station only to find we had arrived n hour earlier. so at midnight we check in and then head to the beach for some cocktails and salsa dancing! the cocktails go down very well, and even the dancing (following a few drinks) doesn't seem to go badly. we get to bed very late (or is that very early?) and the following morning i'm feeling decidedly worse for wear, a huge breakfast helps to cure this and we head to the beach and after little nap and a few hours lying down i feel able to face the day.unfortunately the sun is not really shining but thats not to important as our plan today is a bbq at an ecological lodge further inland (also belonging to paulo's brother). we set out, about 10 of us piled into his truck, most of us in the back travelling in the fresh air- good fun but a little damp due to the sea mist!
the eco lodge was really beautiful, set in pretty gardens with a large swimming pool (which curiously was green!). once we unpacked everything we set about preparing dinner, starting with more cocktails (!) after which preparing dinner became even more challenging than it should have done as we found out there was a problem with the water supply.....there was none!
nevermind, we managed in the end and dinner was cooked and eaten. after tea we had a swim as night fell and the huge orange moon rose above the trees (not sure how much of a good idea this was as for a few days afterwards i wasn't feeling 100%) when we all gotten wet and cold enough it was time to go home so back along the unmade road back to the hostal, after which i was too tired for more dancing and had an early night.
sunday, and today the sun is really shining, unfortunately we were catching the bus just after lunch. we do however had enough time for me to get just a little pink on my nose and mange to get sand in every possible area of my rucksack! on the bus we are treated to 4 (yes four) steven siegal films back to back, but the views out of the window as we rose back into the andes were spectacular enough to make it bearable.