Since arriving in the highlands, or Sierra, of Ecuador we’ve all been excited about the prospect of the coast, surfing, and laying on the beach. After many discussions and reading numerous articles and opinions, we decided on visiting Canoa, a small beach town that sits almost directly west of Quito. We had decided on renting a car instead of testing our luck with the bus, and although the trip ended up costing a little bit more per person, I feel it was worth the extra cost, despite not seeming so at first.
When we arrived to pick up our Hertz at the airport location we realized, after almost a half hour of the slowest rental car processing I can remember, that they were going to charge us almost double what we had anticipated. Discouraged and frantic, we raced around to the other car companies to learn what they would charge us for a similar trip. We found a good prospect with unlimited mileage, covering the hidden $160 Hertz didn’t exactly tell us about in advance, and quickly set off on our 6-7 hour journey with 5 grown men in a Chevy Aveo. Those of you familiar with car rentals may recognize that name under “Compact” as you scroll to the larger, more luxurious options. Keep in mind that one of us is 6’ 7”. I’ll leave the rest for your imagination.
We set out from the airport and learned very quickly that Quito’s roads don’t really have speed limits – it’s more like whatever you can manage without hitting pedestrians who cross anytime they choose or one of the large public transit buses who appear to have learned the same lesson my father taught me as a young boy regarding the rule of tonnage. As a family sailing in the San Francisco Bay, he taught us the concepts of “right of way” and how to be courteous sailors.However, he also reminded us that even when we have the right of way, our 35’ family sailboat didn’t really stand a chance against the much larger, and slower tankers. With this in mind we cautiously made our way through the city, and Jimmy quickly assimilated to Ecua-driving, including the requisite horn usage every 4-5 seconds.
I’m writing this post in retrospect, and between the trip there and back I’m not sure I’ve ever had a more exciting, adventurous, or scary road-trip in my life. We took two different routes, both of which presented unique challenges and experiences. On the way down we took the less traveled road, traveling through small cities packed with moto-taxis and people on bicycles reminiscent of Calcutta India, and at other moments we found ourselves on the brand new “paved” road that after 5 miles continued as a dirt-road lined with potholes the size of small craters. Not even an hour into our trip we realized how interesting it would be, as we were descending the winding mountain roads, with large buses and chivas bearing down on us, dodging potholes that threatened to swallow our poor compact rental. When we finally reached the coast we decided to take a break in Pedernales for some grub. I’ve never felt so out of place in Ecuador, and we’re still not even sure what it was. Maybe it started with getting the Aveo high-centered on a speed bump the size of a small pyramid, or maybe it was sitting down at a restaurant only to realize it was a $25 a plate parrillada (Ecua BBQ) restaurant and telling them we were going someplace else. Regardless, we finally found a way out of town (the only road south out of town was initially a one way in the wrong direction – it was like a casino with no feasible exit!) and got the heck out of dodge. Hungry and tired, we continued down the coast towards our destination, on another newly paved road…which coincidentally was not-so-paved; it was interesting to say the least. I’ll comment on one more aspect about the drive down – speed bumps. Ecua-bumps can seemingly appear anywhere, anytime, and without any prior notice. Most often we found them scattered along the main roads near small towns, and it only took once to realize that we needed to watch for them more carefully. Our poor Aveo almost went airborne when we didn’t see one coming, and there were absolutely no signs of warning.Excellent planning. I think they might be built up locally so that the local Ecuas can sell off any parts that fall off the cars. We’ll never know for sure.
Arriving in Canoa, it was soon apparent that the trouble was very worth it. El Hotel Bambu was literally right on the beach, with the only possible downside being the neighboring bars which played incessant Reggaeton 22 hours of every day (between 4 and 6 am). We surfed, layed in hammocks, read, web-chatted, played pool, and surfed some more – it was fantastic. The local food was excellent, especially the seafood and fresh fruit / juice. Sunday came much too quickly, and we bid farewell to the beach. Opting for the supposedly better roads of a different route, and wanting to see more of the country, we set out towards Bahia to take the south roads back towards Quito.
These roads were ripe with similar surprises of potholes that doubled as small swimming pools, but the scariest part of the trip home was attempting to get to the town Chone, which according to our map was connected to our path by what was noted as a “major road”. Major road my eye – it turned out to be muddy mess thanks to the rain. After making it up a somewhat treacherously steep portion, we were able to ask directions; continuing would not be possible, but we found a detour and made it down without major damage to the faithful Aveo. We pushed her hard this trip, and despite rain, mud, speed bump-mountains, fog, 12,000 foot passes, construction, and surrounding Ecua-drivers, we made it back to Quito in one piece. As Justin and I talked about it in our room later, we realized that our travel was full of miracles and Heavenly Father watching over us, and I was grateful for those tender mercies that helped us enjoy ourselves safely.
