After spending a good month away from the coast, we arrived in Atacames. As we don't have anything good to write about this place, we found ourselves on a bus to Mompiche. We have heard that one of Ecuador's best left-hand points is here. On arrival, we weren't expecting much as the swells were travelling in the wrong direction. We were right, and there wasn't much to spark the eyebrows and twitch the nose. We are very excited to come back here one day and experience what we could see of the tremendous potential that this place was letting us lick. In this quiet chilled out town, we were able to fix the tail of my board. One side of the swallowtail had almost completely snapped off during transit from Brasil to Ecuador. This experience of damaged surfboards and repair was about to become second nature with the many more bus trips ahead.
The next town we stopped at is called Canoa. This town carries a relaxed vibe with the potential for raucous parties. Canoa isn't famous for a world-class wave but provides a whole beach of sandbanks that can be playful. The waves seem to carry a sweet flavour of Boat Harbour in Tasmania but without the power. This location is where we met a couple of friends, Justin and Hein. A very relaxed place to kick back at and pass some time relaxing.
We have been in contact with Triff (an old friend of ours from Australia) and heard that he was down the road in Ayampe. So this is where we have decided to head too. With thoughts in the back of our heads that we would be soon back visiting Ecuador's coast, this wasn't an issue missing so much. En route to Ayampe, we stopped at Puerto Lopez with Justin, our friendly translator (not really, but a friendly American who could speak decent Español). Here we ventured on tour with Justin to Isla de la Plata, which is supposed to be the poor persons Galapagos Island. We saw up to 10 whales, Blue Footed Boobies and a turtle on the trip to the island. The wildlife was beautiful, and so was the snorkelling on this adventure. With not much else to do in this town, we said goodbye to Justin and bused 20 minutes down the road to Ayampe.
We will always remember turning up at Ayampe in the dark, wondering where the hell Triff was hiding and where was his accommodation. This issue sorted itself out as one local walked us up a few dark roads until we found Triff's accommodation. Triff could recognise our voices from a mile away. Over the next week, Triff showed us the ropes of this place, and we spent many a time drinking sunset beers and no sun beers for "old times sake", of course.
Eager to see some decent waves again, we all decided to head into Peru. For Triff, he was returning, so we knew what was ahead of us.
Hasta luego Ecuador!
Blue Footed Boobies - Isla Del Plata - Ecuador
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