thursday marked the beginning of easter vacation, so three of my friends and i went white-water rafting in santo domingo. after getting up at the crack of dawn (literally), driving three hours to the river, my friend suffering two heat strokes, i finally got to experience my first white-water rafting adventure! can you believe that i hadnt been white water rafting before? i remember going to colorado for gram's 70th birthday and everyone got to go rafting, but im pretty sure i was about 3feet tall at this point so i wasnt allowed to go. but here i am, 14 years later, and it was definitely worth the wait! i loved every minute of it and i cant wait to try rafting in the states now. after about 2.5 hours down the river, we grabbed some lunch, and headed back to quito with our guides. we were in a mad rush to make it back because my friends and i had to catch the 11pm bus to the beach... tough life, huh? a full day of rafting then leaving for a weekend trip to the beach - gotta love it! we did make it back to quito eventually, packed our bags, and headed to the bus.
we decided to go back to canoa this weekend (for the third time!) because its one of our favorite beaches, we have a bunch of friends there, and NORMALLY its only a 6 hour bus ride aka super easy. but this past weekend was semana santa or "holy week" and its the time of the year when every ecuadorian and their mother heads to the coast. we had a lot of trouble finding a bus company that was not completely sold out by wednesday. and when you hear this story you will not even believe how ironic it is that it happened on the busiest traveling weekend of the year...
we were on the bus en route to canoa at precisely 11pm thursday night. i remember my friend colleen exhaling a huge sigh of relief because after the problems with the bus tickets, hitting traffic on the way home from rafting, and scrambling to make it to the bus on time, we were finally on the bus and that meant we would be at the beach in no time. WRONG. at 2:45am i woke up to find the bus engine completely turned off. i looked out the window and realized we were in the middle of the highway surrounded by a bunch of other buses and cars and no one was moving. the bus driver told people to get off the bus and go the bathroom because we were going to have to wait here til morning. everyone was so confused and in a really bad mood, but we decided we'd just go to bed and hoped everything would be figured out by the time we woke up. at 5:30am, the bus people were getting antsy and some of us decided to get off the bus to see what the heck was going on. about 100 feet from our bus, was a humongous pile of rocks and dirt and mud. during the night there had been a humongous landslide that prevented all the buses and cars from passing!!! the driver told us it would be at least 24 hours before the pile would be cleaned up and even then, he wasnt sure if buses would be able to pass. this is typical ecuador! if this had happened in the states, there would have been a maintenance crew at the site at 2am cleaning up the mess and the cars and buses would have been passing through with no problem by 5 in the morning. since ecuadorians move at the slowest pace known to man, i knew the landslide wouldnt be cleaned up for days. so at this point, my friends and i were seriously contemplating hitchhiking to the beach because the last thing i wanted to do was spend a weekend in rainy and cold quito when i was supposed to be at the beach. but sooner or later, the us driver announced that we could go to the beach but just in a roundabout manner. so after being on the bus for 9 hours already, we pulled a U-turn and headed back towards quito, circled around through santo domingo (where i had been precisely 12 hours before!), and headed towards the coast. after stopping several times to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, and drop people off at other beaches, WE FINALLY MADE IT TO CANOA! get ready for this: we spent 18 hours en route to the beach when it normally takes 6!!!! i cannot even explain my feeling of happiness to get off that bus and see the ocean. its pretty obvious that whenever you travel in ecuador, you need to expect transportation problems. its awful and annoying, but at the same time, its so entertaining. my friends and i honestly think we could write a book because of all the crazy adventures we have found ourselves in this semester - mostly because of the ridiculous people, places, and things we've encountered on bus trips. and the 18 hour bus ride was so "vale la pena" (worth the trouble) because we had an amazing weekend in canoa with our beach friends and like always, did not want to leave when sunday rolled around.
here i am, monday morning, back in quito, obviously missing the beach and the "no pasa nada" lifestyle. but i feel like a spoiled little brat even having these thoughts because in 24 hours i will be on my way to the galapagos islands! i've taken so many amazing trips this semester and i just cant even believe how lucky i am that i get to travel to one of the most beautiful islands in the world on top of everything else! (insert: huge thank you to mom and dad). its going to be a trip of a lifetime, thats for sure, and i cant wait to share the pictures, stories, and adventures when i return on friday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! i know you desperately wish your youngest daughter were in town, but i hope you can get over this and still have a fantastic day! LOVE YOU.
aloha,
rastas (my nickname at the beach!)
rafting!
deslabe aka landslide
clearly we couldnt pass it...
i love you canoa!
amigos y la puesta del sol.
we decided to go back to canoa this weekend (for the third time!) because its one of our favorite beaches, we have a bunch of friends there, and NORMALLY its only a 6 hour bus ride aka super easy. but this past weekend was semana santa or "holy week" and its the time of the year when every ecuadorian and their mother heads to the coast. we had a lot of trouble finding a bus company that was not completely sold out by wednesday. and when you hear this story you will not even believe how ironic it is that it happened on the busiest traveling weekend of the year...
we were on the bus en route to canoa at precisely 11pm thursday night. i remember my friend colleen exhaling a huge sigh of relief because after the problems with the bus tickets, hitting traffic on the way home from rafting, and scrambling to make it to the bus on time, we were finally on the bus and that meant we would be at the beach in no time. WRONG. at 2:45am i woke up to find the bus engine completely turned off. i looked out the window and realized we were in the middle of the highway surrounded by a bunch of other buses and cars and no one was moving. the bus driver told people to get off the bus and go the bathroom because we were going to have to wait here til morning. everyone was so confused and in a really bad mood, but we decided we'd just go to bed and hoped everything would be figured out by the time we woke up. at 5:30am, the bus people were getting antsy and some of us decided to get off the bus to see what the heck was going on. about 100 feet from our bus, was a humongous pile of rocks and dirt and mud. during the night there had been a humongous landslide that prevented all the buses and cars from passing!!! the driver told us it would be at least 24 hours before the pile would be cleaned up and even then, he wasnt sure if buses would be able to pass. this is typical ecuador! if this had happened in the states, there would have been a maintenance crew at the site at 2am cleaning up the mess and the cars and buses would have been passing through with no problem by 5 in the morning. since ecuadorians move at the slowest pace known to man, i knew the landslide wouldnt be cleaned up for days. so at this point, my friends and i were seriously contemplating hitchhiking to the beach because the last thing i wanted to do was spend a weekend in rainy and cold quito when i was supposed to be at the beach. but sooner or later, the us driver announced that we could go to the beach but just in a roundabout manner. so after being on the bus for 9 hours already, we pulled a U-turn and headed back towards quito, circled around through santo domingo (where i had been precisely 12 hours before!), and headed towards the coast. after stopping several times to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, and drop people off at other beaches, WE FINALLY MADE IT TO CANOA! get ready for this: we spent 18 hours en route to the beach when it normally takes 6!!!! i cannot even explain my feeling of happiness to get off that bus and see the ocean. its pretty obvious that whenever you travel in ecuador, you need to expect transportation problems. its awful and annoying, but at the same time, its so entertaining. my friends and i honestly think we could write a book because of all the crazy adventures we have found ourselves in this semester - mostly because of the ridiculous people, places, and things we've encountered on bus trips. and the 18 hour bus ride was so "vale la pena" (worth the trouble) because we had an amazing weekend in canoa with our beach friends and like always, did not want to leave when sunday rolled around.
here i am, monday morning, back in quito, obviously missing the beach and the "no pasa nada" lifestyle. but i feel like a spoiled little brat even having these thoughts because in 24 hours i will be on my way to the galapagos islands! i've taken so many amazing trips this semester and i just cant even believe how lucky i am that i get to travel to one of the most beautiful islands in the world on top of everything else! (insert: huge thank you to mom and dad). its going to be a trip of a lifetime, thats for sure, and i cant wait to share the pictures, stories, and adventures when i return on friday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! i know you desperately wish your youngest daughter were in town, but i hope you can get over this and still have a fantastic day! LOVE YOU.
aloha,
rastas (my nickname at the beach!)
Shay, miss ya Chica, hope you are doing well...great stories!
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