Ayampe: Our Beach Getaway

We heard about Ayampe through friends and it sounded like the perfect place to relax away from the crowds. It was just what we needed after our first few months in Quito. Quito is cool, but it was nice to go to a place where we didn't smell cars any day we were there and we knew everyone in town by sight within a couple days.

The lady at the corner grocery store (one of three in town) probably started referring to me as the one who ate coconut popsicles for lunch everyday. We saw the local expat yoga instructor and her surf teacher husband almost everyday even though we only went to their classes once (Otra Ola is awesome!). The beach was quiet and only got busy when we could see maybe 20 people on the beach at one time.

Ayampe was perfect for long walks on the beach, watching the waves crash, getting to know the tides, examining interesting rocks (we loved the green beach rock and the shells with surprising colors inside), chasing scuttling crabs and trying to figure out what they eat, reading and crocheting in our hammocks, taking a yoga class, taking a surfing class, naming all the dogs roaming around, watching the chickens looking for grubs, and trying every restaurant in Ayampe (Four in total: 1) healthy Finca Punta Ayampe with its excellent breakfasts, 2) little Italian pizzeria at Las Orishas hostal, 3) our cabins' restaurant La Tortuga, 4) Surf, a cutely decorated, but sexist in terms of portions of food they give, bar/restaurant where you can watch the surfers try the waves). 

We even managed to tear ourselves away from our hammocks to go into Puerto Lopez, the fishing town about 20 minutes north. We skipped the famously tourist-heavy surf town of Montanita though. 

The rest of our pictures are on facebook and Greg's going to post about his new talent soon!