Following my return from a two week trip to Colombia, my wanderlust began creeping in right away for more Latin American adventures. I’d planned to save until January to cover most of the continent I hadn’t yet, but ended up caving in early and booking a smaller trip to Ecuador. I’d always been intrigued by its diverse topography and thought some leisurely time there would take my mind off things. But unfortunately, things didn’t go exactly as planned.
Above: View from Dancing Dragons San Pedro Retreat in Lentag, Ecuador
Things initially went along pretty smoothly following my arrival in Guayaquil. I took a three hour mini van ride to Cuenca the morning after I flew in and then conveniently found a good deal on a taxi to Lentag, where I planned to attend a San Pedro retreat. The first few days were relatively stress free, despite my slight disagreements with the owner, but unfortunately things began to go in a tailspin quickly after that. One morning as I was getting ready to bus into Cuenca, the owner and his girlfriend remarked that they hadn’t seen any cars on the freeway for quite some time. I then found out that there had been strikes going on all over the country to protest the increasing costs of fuel, with demonstrators blocking major roads. It appeared that I would be temporarily stranded and unable to bus to Banos, where I intended to ride one of the famous zip lines. I’d be lucky to make it into Cuenca, let alone up there.
Luckily, the following day I managed to take a cab to Cuenca where I could further assess the situation. I was dismayed to find that I wouldn’t be able to bus to Guayaquil, which resulted in having to dip further into my trip fund for an airline ticket. I figured from Guayaquil perhaps I’d be able to make it to the coast, which I’d intended to visit after Banos. But I was in for an unpleasant surprise.
Once my plane arrived in Guayaquil, I was told by transit police that roads all over the country were completely blocked. It wasn’t limited to one specific area and people were stranded everywhere unless they flew. But naively I heeded the advice of a taxi driver at the airport who insisted he could get me to the coast, due to my lack of desire to be stuck in Guayaquil. So off I went, having no idea what was in store.
After almost two hours into the trip, I thought I’d get lucky and make it there without issues. But sure enough, before long I ended up seeing an influx of traffic dead stopped in the middle of the freeway, with smoke billowing in the distance. The cabbie then stopped and got out to inquire about the situation with other drivers. Curious to see where the smoke was coming from, I walked to the blockade and found several burning trees in the middle of the road.
Above: Me checking out the blockade
The cabbie sighed and told me that heading back to Guayaquil was the only option. I wasn’t having that so I paid him what we agreed upon, grabbed my stuff and began walking around it. Around a hundred people were amassed by the burning trees which I made an effort to gingerly bypass. I was relieved when I got to the other side and proceeded to skateboard down the freeway. After a mile or so I decided to hitchhike and was thankfully picked up after about ten minutes. It was a family on their way to Salinas, a town about forty minutes from Montanita.
Above: Me skateboarding down the freeway and hitching a ride with the family
I had a pleasant ride into Salinas despite the situation and was thankful to catch a cab to Montanita from there. Naively I thought everything would be smooth sailing from there since I was fairly close. But once again, before long I was greeted with the reality of the situation.
Above: The driver and I witnessing the second blockade
Dismayed, we quickly came across another mass of people and burning shrubbery. The driver rolled down the window and got the attention of a transit police on motorbikes to find out what was going on. One of them was nice enough to guide us through a backcountry road to the other side, seemingly mitigating any issue. But it wasn’t even five minutes before we encountered a problem again.
At this point, tired of paying an arm and a leg for different cabs, I solicited a ride from someone with a motorbike for a reasonable price. We zigged and zagged our way around any obstacle that presented itself on the way to Montanita, which made for an enthralling experience. It was my first time on a motorbike in at least ten years.
Once we arrived, I thanked the driver for getting me out of the pinch and made my way to the nearest hostel. I was pretty exhausted at this point, and didn’t care about quality. A simple mattress would do.
I stayed at a place called Tiki Trip for two nights before deciding to call it quits and make it back to Guayaquil for an early return flight. The country wide strikes were causing some stress about getting back so I decided I’d better bite the bullet. Aside from that, I was beginning to feel unproductive and work was calling me.
Overall I’m glad I made it to Montanita although the journey was more enthralling than the actual destination. October is considered off season and there were hardly any people on the streets. I also found a lot more garbage than I’d hoped to coming from squeaky clean Cuenca. It looked like a fun spring break party destination, but not much else.
Above: Famous Montanita sign, a typical street corner, and the beach
Solo trips are often unpredictable, for better or worse. In this case things were unfortunately cut short due to the circumstances and I didn’t accomplish everything I’d wanted to, but it was still an interesting experience. Sometimes it’s necessary to get out of your comfort zone.
Reed Travels 