Hostería Mandála...
Today we spent about five hours or so in the bus traveling from Guayaquil to a little fishing village called Puerto Lopez. The ride was extremely humid, hot, and uncomfortable. The vehicle that we ride in is a pretty spacious twenty passenger van but when we put all of our luggage in there things get a little cramped. With the relentless sun and the thick coastal air streaming through the windows, it is easy to feel physically agitated on our trips. In addition, being cramped inside of a vehicle with the same people you see pretty much every hour of every day can make for mild psychosis. Another observation, too, is that transportation in Ecuador is wildly different than it is in the United States. When traveling across the country, a vehicle can maybe attain an average speed of about 35 miles per hour. Rarely do the vehicle break 50 let alone 60 miles per hour. This can be attributed to Ecuador's poor road conditions, swerving mountain passes, and constant road construction. Whenever construction workers are repairing or modifying a road here, they shut down a lane completely and sometimes we must wait at a standstill for about thirty minutes just to be waved on by the flagger. Really different than in the U.S.
Anyway, we arrived in Puerto Lopez and I felt as if we had entered into Heaven. The landscape (like in the picture above) was so beautiful. The place that we are staying is pretty incredible too – it's called Hostería Mandála – and there are probably about 20 or so bungalows in which we are staying. All of the habitations are situated in a very lush and very beautiful garden – there are hundreds (maybe thousands) of flowers everywhere, all sorts of bushes, and a wide variety of trees. The whole feeling feels like we are staying in the jungle – in our rooms we wear mosquito nets while we sleep. I have been taking my malaria pills anyway but the mosquito nets come in good handy to make sure I am not eaten alive. Anyway, the place here has almost any accommodation imaginable – all sorts of board games, books, musical instruments, and art supplies for guests to use during their stay. The Hostería is also located on the beach, literally a thirty second walk to the waves. When we got here today, our group had the afternoon off so we just decided to relax by swimming, playing beach soccer, ultimate Frisbee, and just laying around.
Today was a really great day.
Hostería Mandála...
2 comments:
I wish I could have seen this with you. This is beautiful.
Hah... it's funny you used the word heaven because that is the first word that came to my mind when I saw your photo.
Post a Comment