Well, one somewhat bad day out of three weeks isn’t bad! There have been some positives for today but some disappointments as well.
Jenny actually went to Curves by herself this morning! We flagged down a cab outside of our hostal, showed the driver where to go, and she was on her way! Not, however, before telling the driver, who wanted $3.00, that I’d only give him two – he “reluctantly” said ok. While Jenny was working out, I started packing all of our belongings. When she returned (she hailed a cab all by herself – I’m proud of her!) we finished packing and took everything, except one carry-on, to the office for storage until tomorrow, when we return to Quito. We weighed everything and it looks like we’ll be okay on our weight for the flight home, but I’ll check again Thursday; if we need to, we’ll get another suitcase.
Daniel took us to the airport for our flight to Manta. The ticket agent would not allow us to take our carry-on with us, which, at the time, surprised us. However, when we saw the plane, we knew why - it was a turbo prop! We also wondered how Jenny and I were seated together when she was in seat 8D, I was in 8F. When we got on, we figured it out – seat A was a single on one side of the aisle, seats D & F were on the other side of the aisle; I still don’t know what happened to B, C, and E!
Things changed when we got to Manta! After we got our bag, we went outside to catch a cab. When we made the reservations thru Hostalworld.com, they sent me a message that said the best way to get to our hostal was to catch a cab for $6.00 or a bus for $2.00. However, after getting information on the hostal where we were gonna stay, their website said they would provide transportation to/from the airport for free. When I verified that, the guy who responded to my email said that service was not currently available but would have us picked up for $16.00. I responded and told him no thanks, we’d get a cab. Oh, the hostalworld data said our hostal was few minutes outside of Manta right on the beach. When we asked the cabbie outside the airport how much it would cost (something always done before getting into a cab here), he said $20.00! I said no way; give me my luggage (he’d already put it in the trunk) and we’d catch the bus. About that time, a young man came up and asked If my name was Larry; I said yes and he told me he was from the hostal. So, we came here with him. It was, however, a lot more than “a few minutes out of Manta – more like 25 minutes and waaaaay away from Manta. We went through the outskirts of the town then kept going and going until we reached a small fishing village on the beach. We checked in, went our room and turned the air conditioner on. We do have a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean, just about 100 yards from our window and small patio.
Next, I went downstairs to get a modem because I had been told, after my inquiry, that the hostal did not have wifi but does have a modem I can borrow to have internet connection. The guy at the combination desk and snack bar, could not speak a lick of English so he did not know what I was asking for. A guy standing at the bar, whom we later found out is Ecuadorian but has lived in New York for the past 27 years, interpreted for me; the employee said no modem! So, that disappointed me because I had specifically been told we’d have internet.
We “took a deep breath” and kept going! We went down to the beach, Jenny took her shoes off , rolled up her pants legs, then waded out into the ocean. I had her turn around so I could take a picture. About that time, a huge wave came ashore and, before I could warn her, it got her wet from her legs down! I got a little wet, but not like her! We both dried out though. We walked the beach to the north for awhile and took some pics, then we went south to a small fishing village. While there, we saw some boats coming ashore so we watched. They had caught some large, what appeared to be sword fish but didn’t have the head of a swordfish so we don’t know what kind they were; I got some up close pictures. We then came back to the hostal, ate supper (had fresh fish!), then came to our room. We had hoped to see a beautiful sunset from our window but the clouds prevented that. At least they have DirecTV in our room so we can watch shows in English!
I now hope that we’ll get the free breakfast that we’re supposed to get. Perhaps we can get away early enough tomorrow to sightsee around Manta before we leave.
Jenny is feeling better; thanks for your prayers.
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