Hello from
Montanita, Ecuador!
The last post I wrote was when I was in Colombia a few
miles/KM from crossing the border into Ecuador. The border crossing into
Ecuador went much more smoothly than I thought and here is why… I started
traveling in Central America with my US passport. Several countries in South
America have Visa fees ranging from $100-$135 if you are US citizen. If you are
a European/Australian/NZ citizen most of those fees are waived. Since I have a
French passport I figured it would save me a few $$$ if I started traveling
with that passport instead. But when you start traveling with one passport and
get an entry stamp on it, you are required to travel with that passport in that
respective country. It’s only at the border, after filling out a few forms that
you can change passports and get your next entry stamp on that different
passport. Thus to make a long story short, it was pretty easy to transition
from traveling with my US passport to my French passport.
Once I was in Ecuador I converted by Colombian Pesos to US
dollars. It was a funny feeling using US dollars in a country outside of the
US. Also, paying for everything in
dollars in Ecuador makes me realize even more how cheap food/lodging/etc…is
here compared to back home.
My first stop in Ecuador was in a city called Otavalo up in
the Equadorean Andes. On the bus ride to Otavalo there were vendors selling food
at bus stops along the way. One lady was selling plastic bags containing
several chopped up white/yellow cubes. Thinking it was sliced up pineapples I
gladly paid the $0.25 for a bag of 15 pieces. Once I tried the first piece, I
quickly realized it wasn’t pineapples but sugar cane pieces. It was like eating
pieces of candy and it was quite addicting as well. By the time I finished the
bag I was having a major sugar rush, almost like having drank a large Red Bull
or Monster energy drink. Once I finally arrived to Otavalo 3 hours later the
sugar high finally wore down. I had lunch at a restaurant just outside the bus
station and almost fell asleep while eating from the “crash and burn” effect of
the fading sugar rush. Never again for the sugar cane on a 5 hour bus ride! Going
back to Otavalo, it’s a city in the Andes Mountains with a large population of
indigenous people in the surrounding areas. Because of the large quantities of
indigenous people, it is also well known for its wool clothing markets setup in
the main square every day.
After Otavalo, I was off to Quito, the capital of Ecuador.
Perched up at 2800 meters it is one of the highest capitals in the world. It was easier adjusting to the altitude in
Quito compared to Bogota (2300m) since I had already been up in high altitudes
for the past 3 weeks. I stayed in a really fun hostel called “Hostal Central”
in the historical district of Quito. The hostel was organizing a “food tour”
that night and we were able to sample a bunch of different Ecuadorian foods. I
really enjoy hostels that have group events like this since it makes it a lot easier
to meet other travelers, rather than each traveler doing their own thing.I also got to partake in a walking tour of the old town and do some hiking in the nearby mountains of Quito.
Following my weekend in Quito I arrived in Montanitas. When I
first got there, it was rainy, the dirt roads had turned into a mud “slip and
slide”, and overall not your ideal beach weather climate. Spanish classes
started on Monday morning so I had some time on Sunday afternoon to check out
the town, look for a surfboard to buy, and meet the other students that would be
taking Spanish classes as well. Montanita
Spanish School is where I’d be taking my classes and is the main school in
the. Almost all of the students were staying in the nearby Montanita Cabanas which is kind of like a big hostel a few minutes
from the school. Most of the students here were other travelers (~18-30 yrs
old) that were either just starting or already a few weeks/months into an extended
trip through South America. The majority
were from Switzerland (~15 of 30), which seems kind of strange at first since
it is such a small country. The main
reason is that Switzerland is broken into the Italian speaking, French
speaking, and German speaking areas of the country. Thus, in addition to
English, Swiss people are used to speaking several languages, and therefore picking
up on another language like Spanish is normal to them. In addition to Swiss
people there were several Germans, Australians, Canadian, and Dutch travelers,
but the American representation was pretty low.
I took the placement test Monday morning and since I had
already taken classes in Bogota, I was placed in the advanced beginner class
(A2). The classes here are structured a little differently than in Bogota. We
have two hours of class in the morning, then a three hour break, and then two
hours again in the afternoon. The morning classes are focused on grammar while
the afternoon classes are more conversation/practical. In Bogota it was four hour of classes at once.
Between my classes I did some board shopping trying to find the best deal. The
stores were pretty expensive since they wanted to make some nice profit off the
boards they were selling. I ended up talking to the server of a restaurant
about boards and he told me he was selling his. I ended up getting a good deal
and bought a wetsuit top as well since the wind made it feel a little chilly
being in the water for a while.
The rest of the week was pretty routine but really fun. I
would typically have my 4 hours of class per day, followed by a 1.5 hour surf
session, and end with dinner/drinks at the cabanas or in town with the other
travelers/students. Since August/September is usually the windy months in this
part of Ecuador, the surf conditions were alright, but not great. The Wednesday nightlife in Montanita is
usually pretty lively so classes on Thursday morning were a little rough for
everyone! I scored some really fun waves Sunday morning at a spot called Ayampe
about 40 minutes north of Montanita. It was about 5-6 feet and really glassy
between 7:30-9:30 am. Since it was Sunday morning, I saw a bunch of drunken Ecuadorians
coming back from the bars as I was leaving to go surf!
The following week I was placed in the next level Spanish
class: B1. They consider this to be intermediate where we go into depth with
preterite tenses (regular/ irregular verbs) and prepositions. Since it is low
season right now, most of the day is cloudy and overcast. It doesn’t rain and
it isn’t cold, but the sun just does not come out much. When the sun finally
did come out Wednesday and Thursday, all of a sudden the city and atmosphere
was a lot livelier.
As I finish up my last few days here in Montanita I can
gladly say that my time here was very enjoyable. Being able to spend a solid 2
weeks with the same people was a valuable experience. As opposed to only staying
in one place for 1-2 days, the interactions between travelers are pretty
superficial since you spend so little time together before each traveler heads
off to their next destinations. Although I was only here for 2 weeks (some
travelers are here for 5-6 weeks) it was well worth “staying put” in one place
and getting to know other travelers behind the repetitive “What’s your name,
where are you from, and where are you traveling to” conversations that are so
frequent in hostels.
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