Day 32: Sea Lions and beaches

Sunday, September 21, 2008

I woke up around 8 am today, got dressed, and had breakfast with my host parents. I had the best fresh squeeze orange juice (jugo de naranja) in the world with oranges from the island. They also gave me some bread (pan), eggs with shrimp (huevos con camarones), and cooked platanos. The platano was the best part – it was hot and soft and so sweet. They said they like to eat a lot of them and I am happy about that because I love them so much!

After breakfast I chatted a bit with my parents, but was still a bit shy (timido). Danielle called me and asked me to meet her at her place. It turns out her house is really close to mine – about a 2 minute walk. We walked for a bit, I showed her my house, and then we got our swimsuits on to go to the beach. Around 9:45 am we headed to the beach where we met up with several of the others. The water was amazing, and the sea lions were so funny. Those that had snorkel gear got in the water right away to see what was down there. I saw tons of fish that were gorgeous. There is one male sea lion (lobo) that likes to guard the beach – when he goes back and forth across the bay barking you can’t really get in or out of the water because he is being aggressive. Luckily most of the others are tame and/or playful, but there are a few males that like to cause some havoc for the swimmers. Stupid tourists also get way too close to them and make them angry – we have already been told to keep a respectful distance because it is their home that we are invading.

It started to rain a bit – it wasn’t really rain, it was more of a fine mist. Jon likes to call it 100% humidity because it is so fine it doesn’t even feel like rain it just feels like being in a cloud. It was between 12 and 12:30 at this point so we decided to walk into town to grab some lunch. After walking around for a long time and finally splitting up, I got burritos with Jon, Katie K, and Caroline. They were really good and not too expensive. As we were heading back towards the school/beach, we ran into the others who were eating at Casa Blanca. It is a much nicer restaurant and also a bit more expensive, but really good. I got a chocolate batido (basically a milkshake) as dessert, and it was the best $3 I have ever spent. That place will be my treat when I really need something good and am feeling down in the dumps.

When everyone was finished we headed back to the beach. After more swimming and relaxing, Sam called us and told us to come to another beach that was more secluded but still nearby. We walked up the dirt road and took a path like she told us too – only as the path kept taking us higher and higher we realized maybe we took the wrong path. From the top of a hill I could see a beach, so we called Sam back and sure enough we had taken the wrong path. The path we were on was a very rocky one with a lot of obstacles, but some really neat scenery. I think several of us are planning on going on that path at a later date…

Upon arriving at Punta Carola, we were greeted with a beautiful view and tons of sea lions. The beach is much more secluded and has a great view, but there are a lot of rocks near the shore which make it kind of hard to get out in order to swim. I went out with Jon, Stian, Louise, Tom, and Katie. The water was a bit choppy so visibility wasn’t great, but we saw some amazing creatures. We saw 5 sea turtles that swam with us for a while, huge fish, lots of sea urchins, and a manta ray. I couldn’t believe that on my first day I was already seeing such things! Katie and I decided to head in because we were pretty far out and the current was getting stronger. Back on land we dried off and headed back into town. I went home to shower, and had a nice cool shower. While I did burn the back of my knees today, I didn’t get badly burned anywhere else like several of my classmates. I am definitely going to need some more sunscreen though because it is rare and expensive here…

After I showered, I got dressed and headed out for dinner. On the weekends we have to provide lunch and dinner for ourselves. I walked around with several people, looking for a place to eat. Finally, once the group split up, Shawna S, Katie K, Rachel, Lianne, and I went to a restaurant called La Playa. It is a nicer restaurant on the bay right near the Naval Base. It is open air so we had a nice fresh breeze off the ocean. I got Spaghetti Alfredo which was absolutely delicious. Before our meal, the waiter brought over a gift and set it in front of me. When I asked what it was he told me it was “un regalo” from his friend. It turned out to be candies wrapped in a napkin which was folded to look like a candy. Cute, but a little bit awkward… (fun fact: there is no translation for awkward in Spanish – they just don’t even know/use that emotion in Ecuador).

After dinner we walked back along the boardwalk, some people got ice cream; we looked at more lobos and crabs, and then headed back to our houses. I live near a lot of people so we were able to walk back together, although walking alone is not a problem in the islands like it is in Quito. My host dad, Leonardo, was still awake so I let him know I was home safely and then I went to bed. My days have been so busy that it is easy to go to bed early and get up early. (Which may be due to the sunrise at 6 am and sunset at 6 pm every day).