After spending some relaxed time up on the Andes and soaking in the Amazon basin, we headed west to the Pacific coast. We had two bamboo cabins waiting for us in Montanita, where we had planned to spend the christmas. We were all excited for the fact that this country has it all in a very compact package. In a few days you can experience high Andean mountains, pure Amazon jungle and a hot Pacific coast. Not a bad destination for a few weeks holiday trip...
Iitu sorting out the situation with the police. Normally it's routine, but this time all the documents were lost for a while. Mum was stoked.
On the way to Montanita we stopped to give some old veggies to this one eared donkey. He seemed to be a happy fellow in spite of the missing ear.
How nice it was to be on the coast again. It had been many months since we had seen Pacific ocean last time. There it was, waiting for us with its brilliant waves!
Montanita is full of restaurants, hippies, surfers and freaks. Odd but relaxed place.
Karma fitted there perfectly.
The Birds!!! Every cable and light pole in the village was full of them. Creepy as Hitchcock's movie.
Iitu getting ready for the first surf session in Montanita. Behind are the bamboo cabins where we stayed and behind them is a good old Karma converting some more salty air to corrosion.
The compulsory dog friend who lived in a same area, Rauno Jr.
They also lived there, and the mother dog was very seriously trying to get rid of the puppys fleas.
Artisan dude making a hair thing for Iitu. He was native from Peruvian amazon. Montanita was full of artisans trying to make their living and the selection was so huge that it was hard to buy anything.
Henri going to the water. He fighted boldly the waves and finally managed to stand up few seconds.
Mum surfing without waves. She went surfing every morning and actually managed to stand up for a few seconds too. Not bad!
Im trying to proof that you can make a hang five with 6'8" funboard.
Christmas atmosphere was almost absent in Montanita...
...but not fully as the local kids came to sing their christmas songs.
We started our christmas eve with delicious and strong fruity drinks on the street.
Henri and I had Mango Coladas, Lea and Iitu Maracaibos. The drinks are good in these countries because the fruits are so fresh.
Christmas dinner served. Delicious sea food off course.
And after the dinner came "santa" with presents.
This was the third christmas in a row that Iitu and me spend away from Finland, and we promised ourselves that the next year we will be home.
After long enough time spent in bamboo cabins we moved to an interesting ecological lodge called Alandaluz. It was a small "village" build taking care that the impact for environment is minimized. We stayed in this funny blue house.
The place looked like an Oasis from the beach. It was good to see that somebody took seriously the environmental issues. In the lodge they recycled everything, used composts, and build with bamboo. They also grew their own veggies for the restaurant.
The restaurant had many specialities, like this pumpkin stuffed with delicious prawns.
We probably ate too many pumpkins...
In Alandaluz we did some horse riding on the beach, and our butts were sore many days afterwards. Note my arms orthodoxly high.
There was also a billiard table so Henkka got a chance to humiliate us many times. It's quite hard to loose every game against your little brother.
At night we had a cool bonfire. Bamboo burns well.
Finally it was time to head to Guyagil where Henkka and Lea had their flight back home. Everybody was happy as the three weeks had been interesting and relaxing.
In Guyagil which is quite an awful place generally, we visited a strange park in the center of the city. The small park was full of big iguanas who liked patting. There were hundreds of them.
Thanks a lot Lea and Henkka, we had a really good 3 weeks holiday from our routinized travelling. Hugs!
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