Today is a restful day—reading, listening to music—compared to yesterday. Ron and Donna, a really special couple that have become our friends, picked us up and drove up to Montañita to visit some Ex-pats. There was a stop at Manglaralto to see Bill & Colleen. They are building a house on some land less than a mile from the beach. They chose bamboo so it would blend with the native landscape and it will be a lovely house.

Then on to Curia and to Robert & Barb’s house. What a lovely house, and what lovely people. Everyone was friendly with curiosity about our stories, and great adventures and advice to share. Robert shared a story about a dead baby whale that had washed ashore just a few days prior, and how someone called the policia to help do something. Then he grabbed a shovel and started digging a hole in the sand, so the policia started digging and several people on the beach. When the hole was big enough, they buried the baby whale. Now the area is crawling with crabs.

Shell and Marsha were another couple that we met. They have a bed-and-breakfast, Villa De Los Sueños, on the beach. We are looking forward to staying there sometime soon. 

http://www.villadelossuenosecuador.com

On the way back, we stopped at TJ’s brewery in Montañita and had a micro-brew beer and fish tacos. Ron tried the Coffee-Cacao Stout and the rest of us had the Pale Ale. TJ has a big reputation as a brew master and the crowd was international with a musician from Colombia who played lovely music.

http://www.montanitabrewingcompany.com/contact.html

After we returned to Salinas, we stopped at Sin Bar to see if the enchiladas were still being served. While we missed the enchiladas, we were treated to an impromptu “fire dance” by Claudia.