Fishing

     This morning the local fishers were right outside on our beach at low tide. They row long wooden boats out past the surf and drop the center of their long net. Meanwhile their crew on the beach holds onto the ends of the net. Then the boat comes back in and working with the surf they slowly pull the net back. As many as twenty fishers now roll the fish towards the center of the net while still in the surf. Eventually they have a big pile of fish that they load up on to waiting pickup trucks. Then they carefully load the net back up into the boat, roll the boat up on to the beach and lift it up into one of the big pickups and drive away. There were four different groups doing this this morning and they all seem to help when the net pulling starts up. It looks very physical. Stay tuned for pictures.

     Our surfing teacher today said that the there are more stingrays at low tide so our first lesson is tomorrow afternoon at high tide. That fits with my sting ray experience. My stings don't hurt anymore but the are two dime sized red swollen spots on my ankles. I will not provide pictures. 

     It is not always sunny here. Mornings are frequently cloudy. Sometimes it burns away, sometimes not. One of the Ecuadorians I know says that this part of the coast that we are on seems to be like this. It is so spectacular when the light hits the water and the sea turns from grey to blue. 

     Yesterday was Epiphany. Locals matched around town with a band. Many señores y señoritas were walking along costumed as a king or the Madonna with child. They were followed by kids, families, and dogs. It was a festive atmosphere for our dinner on the street. We had yummy pork chops with beans and rice.  

     We are busy making plans for the rest of our trip. This weekend we are going up the beach to a little town called Puerto Lopez that is in the middle of a national park. We will ride out to an island and go up into the dry forest (really a desert). We will return here to the beach for the rest of Januaury. Then we will be in Cuenca, an old colonial city and day trip from there to Incan ruins, hot springs and other places for two weeks. From there we will spend a couple of days each at a couple of towns between Cuenca and Quito known as the Avenue of the Volcanoes. This will be during Carnaval. Then we will spend as much as two weeks in Quito with days trips out to places like the large market in Otavalo. And take a 3-5 day trip to the upper Amazon. That should fill us up. Stay tuned.