October 30 to November 2- Road trip from Quito to Salinas

On October 30th our friend Eddie arrived in Quito to drive us home the following day.
We went out to yet another great restaurant within walking distance of our apartment in the La Ronda neibourhood.

And once again I had Cuy ( guinea pig) this time roasted with a wonderful peanut sauce- really yummy and much more tender than the barbecued version I had last year.
I also ate it like chicken wings with my hands- much more effective as the meat is scimpy.

Next morning at 9AM we were ready to leave- car packed with our four suitcases and overnight bag. We had decided to make 2 overnight stops- one in Crucita to visit friends of Eddie's  plus pick up Eddie's wife Paola who was visiting there already. The next stop was to be Puerto Lopez where our friends from Collingwood, Shandra & Gerry lived.

It took us awhile getting out of Quito as the highway south seemed to go right through town with lots of traffic. Once out of the city, we drove into the mountains going west towards the ocean. The road was great and the scenery amazing.

 

It took us until 4:30PM ( with two short stops- one for lunch and the second for cervazas) before we arrived in Crucita, a small fishing village. We had booked a room at the Ocean Blue Hotel so went there first to check in.

A very nice hotel about a block from the beach.

 

We then drove up to Ron and Brenda's house on a hill overlooking Crucita. And WOW, what a house! I only took pictures of the outside living room- when we got a tour of the other 3 floors I didn't take my camera but this was definitely a million dollar house- WOW again!

This is the pool area.

                                           And this is the outdoor living room.

 

And the view of the ocean.

 

And our super host & hostess!

 

We all went out to dinner at a great Italian restaurant, great food & service.

 

Do we look like we MAY have had a bit too much vino!!! LOL

 

The next morning we walked from our hotel one block to the beach and had a delicious breakfast at a typical Ecuadorian restaurant- an egg omelette, rice and tomatoes & cucumber- quite delicious.

The view out of our restaurant.

 

The beach was right across the road- lot's of fishing boats had just returned.

The beach there is quite deserted and has wonderful sand for walking. We took a long walk along the beach and met another Gringa, Tetiana from Washington. The neat thing in Ecuador, is we expats always exchange names, cell numbers & emails- so our list of new friends grows and grows.

 

After saying goodbye to Ron and Brenda, the four of us, Uwe, myself, Eddie and his wife Paola were off to our next stop, Puerto Lopez. Our friends from Collingwood had decided this was the place for them and had bought a house on the beach there.

 

We arrived at this small beach town in time for lunch.

View from our retaurant on the Puerto Lopez malecon.

 

 Our group having a delicious lunch.

 

Puerto Lopez is a very pretty town, hills all around and a great beach area.

 

We had booked rooms in the hotel beside Gerry and Shandra's house.

 

Great views of the beach right there and the sounds of surf while sleeping!

 

We all went for cocktails at their house first. Very nice house with such an excellent beach view- wow. These are our hosts in their pretty kitchen.

 

 

 

We then went up to their 3rd floor and deck- again excellent views of the sea.

 

 

 

And our gang having cocktails on the scenic level.

 

And yet again, another Italian restaurant - those Italians are everywhere!!!- with excellent food.