Up Ruta del Spondylus

Posted on January 29, 2013 by April Cattell

False starts. Back tracking. Forgotten items. Everyone have everything now? Okay. Let’s go! ¡Vamos chicos, vamos! Bags in the trunk. Boards on the roof. Friends in the back. My chico behind the wheel. Music on the speakers. Driving north from Manglaralto.

Montañita: The streets are crowded with waikis and surfistas; the music thumps from nearby hostels; all is buzzing with energy. Cut through, cut through. Olón: The Santuario church and orphanage is perched on the point, looking like an ark left after the flood subsided; a big futból game going on in the pueblo; a cheering crowd is in the street. Cut though, cut through. Curía, San Jose, Las Nuñez, La Entrada: The villages get smaller and the houses get bigger; mini-mansions for the extranjeros and guayaquileños ricos with big walls to keep out the locals. Dodge the donkeys and the street dogs who lay down the road and watch us swerve around them without a care in the world.

Then climb, climb, climb. Up through the jungled hills. No people, no villages. Just lush green and the ocean off in the distance peeking out at us through the valleys. And then down. The waves roll beside us as we coast along, back, Continue reading →

Two Years in Ecuador

Posted on January 9, 2013 by April Cattell

Well folks, another year has past, and I’m still here. For last year’s anniversary I wrote “One Year in Ecuador“, comparing my last year in the States with my first year in my newly adopted country. So now year two has rolled around. Time for some more comparisons.

In the form of… Cory, mi sobrino (a.k.a. My friend Ronny’s dog).

Ronny was one of my first friends in Ecuador. I met him while I was taking my CELTA at Kamala and he was managing the place. He adopted Cory the puppy a few weeks after the course began, so Cory was the Kamala communal pet. Now, 2 years later, Ronny and I are still close friends, and Cory is still making mischief, just on a bigger scale.
Puppies… they grow up so fast, *wipes a tear*, and what a way to see the difference two years makes.