Reunited on the Coastal Plain
I spent Tuesday thru Friday in Guayaquil, seeing some sights and hanging out. On Wednesday I got some extra pages in my passport at the US Consulate in Guayaquil...I got this idea from Gabe K. who did this in New Zealand. In Ecuador it might not have been quite as easy, but the whole process only took about 3 hours so I suppose it wasn´t too bad. And it was free! After this I found Naomi and Tamie (who had been waiting for me) and we headed to the Malecón...it was hot out, I had a delicious batido de frutilla y guineo, then we eventually met up with two Guayaquileños (Jose and Diana) for lunch....we ate at a big mall food court where I had a delicious cuban sandwich and a guava juice and several panes de yuca and also a small coffee. Tamie and Naomi had met a guy who knew Jose through Couchsurfers (a website that lets you stay with people all over the world, like Global Freeloaders and Hospitality.com). Anyway, Jose and his girlfriend Diana were cool, and we ended up meeting up with them and some of their friends later on for some drinks at a bar in Urdesa. Before that though we headed to the plaza in Guayaquil that has all the iguanas and checked them out, then walked through the mall section of the Malecón and then through a crazy marletplace where I bought a bathing suit for 5 dollars. Then we went home and had dinner (we made chicken fajitas with guacamole) and then headed to Urdesa where we had Pilsener and some patacones (fried green plantains).
On Thursday we slept late, then had a delicious brunch of pancakes (thanks to Aunt Jemima) and eggs and fruit. In the afternoon we headed into Urdesa (which by the way is a ritzyish northern section of the city of Guayaquil) where Tamie and Naomi got haircuts and I used internet. We also did a bit more shopping for food and walked around a bunch. Then we headed home again, made yet another great dinner (a pizza loaded with sauce, cheese, peppers, onions, garlic, salami and tomato) and a garden salad. Brownies for dessert. We watched TV and eventually went to bed. Then on Friday morning we headed to the bus station...they headed south to Peru and I headed north toward Santo Domingo.
I wasn´t sure when I boarded the bus if I´d do it or not, but at some point I decided that I was going to get off the bus near Babahoyo to visit the banana plantation that I visited 3 years ago. This turned out to be really fun. Just before noon, I hopped off the bus in the middle of bananalandia, in front of Hacienda La Dianita, a Dole banana plantation. I had pictures with me from 3 years ago, and one woman I took a picture of was still there! The bosses there were happy to show me around and glad to look at my pictures...since I never really got a chance to 3 years ago, I asked for a tour of the plantation. My tour ended up being a 30 minute hike to the very back of the plantation, passing thousands of banana trees and crossing over gullies on very shaky bamboo pole bridges. My guide had to hold my hand for two of them since I nervous about losing my balance. Inside the plantation it´s really quiet...you just hear the rustling of the leaves in the breeze and the shuffling of lizards on the dried out, fallen leaves. In the back of the plantation they were picking bananas, and I got to see this process which was cool. I took a video. Then it was time to walk back to the hacienda, where I saw how they cut, cleaned and packed the bananas. All of the people were super nice and want me to send more pictures (or bring them when I come back in another 3 years). Hopefully I can. Sadly, this morning I stupidly transferred all my pictures to my ipod and then erased them...which means I can´t post any on my blog. But I´ll be posting them hopefully in June.
In the early afternoon I left Hacienda La Dianita and caught a bus on it´s way to Quito (via Santo Domingo). The ride to Santo Domingo was hot and sticky, with lots of banana and palm plantations. I got to Santo Domingo at 4:30, and my friend Jackie (one of the ´girls from Santo Domingo´ - see February) was supposed to send me a text message with the name of a hotel I should stay at. She didn´t, and also didn´t respond to my text messages, so I ended up going to a place that was mentioned in the Rough Guide, called Hotel Jennefer. It´s pretty nice, especially for 7 dollars, but I think there might be bed bugs. Or else I was just bitten today, which is also very possible.
The center of Santo Domingo, where my hotel is located, is super busy with tons of stores, stalls and people selling everything. This, combined with the heat and last night´s rain, reminded me of India. Today I slept late (9 am is late now apparantly) and had breakfast at a place near the market...good eggs and bread and juice and bad instant coffee. Then I went to the University where my friends had classes (even though it´s Saturday) and met up with some of them. Jackie had eventually called the night before to give me directions. During their break I had a special empanada (I forget the name) made with plantains and peanuts and filled with chicken (a specialty of Manabí on the coast) while Andrea, Aracely and Jackie had cheese empanadas (also made with plantain dough). Very tasty. After their classes were over, I went with Jackie back to her house (her parents have a restaurant) where we had lunch...I´m meeting up with Jackie and several others again tonight, not sure where yet, but now that I have a cell phone, things like that are much easier!
That´s about all for now, I´m staying in Santo Domingo for one more day, then on Monday heading for the beach in Canoa! Sorry there are no pictures this time, I will try hard to post some on my next blog post...hasta luego
On Thursday we slept late, then had a delicious brunch of pancakes (thanks to Aunt Jemima) and eggs and fruit. In the afternoon we headed into Urdesa (which by the way is a ritzyish northern section of the city of Guayaquil) where Tamie and Naomi got haircuts and I used internet. We also did a bit more shopping for food and walked around a bunch. Then we headed home again, made yet another great dinner (a pizza loaded with sauce, cheese, peppers, onions, garlic, salami and tomato) and a garden salad. Brownies for dessert. We watched TV and eventually went to bed. Then on Friday morning we headed to the bus station...they headed south to Peru and I headed north toward Santo Domingo.
I wasn´t sure when I boarded the bus if I´d do it or not, but at some point I decided that I was going to get off the bus near Babahoyo to visit the banana plantation that I visited 3 years ago. This turned out to be really fun. Just before noon, I hopped off the bus in the middle of bananalandia, in front of Hacienda La Dianita, a Dole banana plantation. I had pictures with me from 3 years ago, and one woman I took a picture of was still there! The bosses there were happy to show me around and glad to look at my pictures...since I never really got a chance to 3 years ago, I asked for a tour of the plantation. My tour ended up being a 30 minute hike to the very back of the plantation, passing thousands of banana trees and crossing over gullies on very shaky bamboo pole bridges. My guide had to hold my hand for two of them since I nervous about losing my balance. Inside the plantation it´s really quiet...you just hear the rustling of the leaves in the breeze and the shuffling of lizards on the dried out, fallen leaves. In the back of the plantation they were picking bananas, and I got to see this process which was cool. I took a video. Then it was time to walk back to the hacienda, where I saw how they cut, cleaned and packed the bananas. All of the people were super nice and want me to send more pictures (or bring them when I come back in another 3 years). Hopefully I can. Sadly, this morning I stupidly transferred all my pictures to my ipod and then erased them...which means I can´t post any on my blog. But I´ll be posting them hopefully in June.
In the early afternoon I left Hacienda La Dianita and caught a bus on it´s way to Quito (via Santo Domingo). The ride to Santo Domingo was hot and sticky, with lots of banana and palm plantations. I got to Santo Domingo at 4:30, and my friend Jackie (one of the ´girls from Santo Domingo´ - see February) was supposed to send me a text message with the name of a hotel I should stay at. She didn´t, and also didn´t respond to my text messages, so I ended up going to a place that was mentioned in the Rough Guide, called Hotel Jennefer. It´s pretty nice, especially for 7 dollars, but I think there might be bed bugs. Or else I was just bitten today, which is also very possible.
The center of Santo Domingo, where my hotel is located, is super busy with tons of stores, stalls and people selling everything. This, combined with the heat and last night´s rain, reminded me of India. Today I slept late (9 am is late now apparantly) and had breakfast at a place near the market...good eggs and bread and juice and bad instant coffee. Then I went to the University where my friends had classes (even though it´s Saturday) and met up with some of them. Jackie had eventually called the night before to give me directions. During their break I had a special empanada (I forget the name) made with plantains and peanuts and filled with chicken (a specialty of Manabí on the coast) while Andrea, Aracely and Jackie had cheese empanadas (also made with plantain dough). Very tasty. After their classes were over, I went with Jackie back to her house (her parents have a restaurant) where we had lunch...I´m meeting up with Jackie and several others again tonight, not sure where yet, but now that I have a cell phone, things like that are much easier!
That´s about all for now, I´m staying in Santo Domingo for one more day, then on Monday heading for the beach in Canoa! Sorry there are no pictures this time, I will try hard to post some on my next blog post...hasta luego
posted by DMP @ 4:03 PM
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