Ecuador, March 4, 2012: The Coast to Guayaquil
The final day of our trip began with an outing to Salinas, a resort beach community about 20 minutes down the coast from La Libertad. Our time lounging was short-lived, however, as we had to get back for a lovely homemade lunch of shrimp ceviche, fried plantains and rice, prepared by Carlos’ family. Very tasty! Not only was his family very hospitable, they were also great cooks. Lucky us!
We said our goodbyes around 2:30pm and hit the road back to Guayaquil, where our trip began eight days before. Carlos’ cousin, Maria Jose, and her husband, also named Carlos, met up with us in Guayaquil and drove us around the city a bit in search of souvenirs. We then returned to Carlos’ aunt’s house for a delicious homemade dinner of that Ecuadorian classic, Seco de Pollo. I’d had three servings of Seco de Pollo during my time in the country, and hers was by far the best, although I had to endure some teasing since I failed to clean my plate.
After dinner Carlos and Maria Jose took us for a walk around a different part of town that we hadn’t yet seen. Carlos spoke English very well and was incredibly friendly and fun to speak with. I wish he had been around for more of the trip. It’s interesting and slightly sad that while traveling you can meet people you would like to get to know better and include in your life, yet whom you know you will never see again.
We concluded the evening with a couple of beers and some funny chat at Carlos’ aunt’s place, and we hit the hay around 11:30pm. Tomorrow would be a big travel day back to Boston.