The craziest thing woke us early this morning. At first it was low, and I thought maybe it was more of the students’ party. But bit by bit it got louder until it was blasting in our room like a disco. I’m not exaggerating. I put in my earplugs and Matt got up to see what was going on. It was 04:00. There was a truck out there with a lone guy playing beach DJ for himself. At this point Matt saw people from two directions approach the truck, and the music abruptly ended. We went back to sleep until 09:00.

The two red roofs, by the way, are our hostal. The first night, we were in the shorter one, and last night we were in the taller one, with a private balcony and hammock.

When we woke up, we went down and had breakfast with the other guests. This time, we had a lengthier chat with an Irish woman named Claire. She and her friend Katy (pardon spellings) have been traveling South America for a while now and had some wonderful stories and suggestions. Eventually, though, Matt and I went on yet another quest for water and aloe vera. When we got back, we packed up then made an effort to get our Galapagos vouchers printed. Soup story. Then we went to lunch, eating ceviche again at the same place as 2 nights ago. Delicious.

After lunch, it was time to go to the bus to leave for Guayaquil. It was so hot that we called a taxi for the 10-minute walk. We bade farewell to our host, who was really nice if disorganized and Claire and Katy, and hopped into the cab.

Unfortunately, we were informed at the bus station that all buses for Guayaquil were sold out today! We have a flight to Galapagos in the morning, though, so I asked how we could get there. The ticket seller recommend we go to Montanita, take a bus to Santa Elena, then get another bus from there. We took off in the taxi for Montanita, and barely caught the bus, with the taxi blocking its way.

It was 50km to Santa Elena, stopping everywhere, so it took a long time. Then we bought tickets for Guayaquil and made an easy transfer.

In Guayaquil we spent a little time at the bus terminal, first printing the vouchers for tomorrow then calling the hostal we’d selected from the lonely planet. This place is great, silent and empty, with friendly hosts who suggested a dinner venue for us (that we ignored, although the same place is also recommended in Lonely Planet, in favor of middle eastern food) and have already arranged our morning taxi to the airport.

Next posts: Galapagos!!!

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Location:Rumichaca,Guayaquil,Ecuador