My Passport Seem To Be Curling Up

Well, it´s not hot in Montañita but it surely is humid. Woke up this morning way too early because I apparently mistakenly set the rooster for 4:30 a.m. My passport was on the table, having been bathed in oceanfront breezes all night at the open window and was essentially the shape of a mini-burrito.

Never thought I could but I fell back asleep in spite of the fowl audio and managed to sleep until 7:oo. I am at Hotel Charro and believe it or not the proprietress could pass for her cousin. Decent place with DirectTV which gets me CNN and more. Ocean front, ocean view, simple but sufficient. However Charro told me that while the originally quoted (from previous email traffic several weeks ago) $20.00 per night would hold for Thursday and Friday, the holiday (All Saints´/All Souls´) on Saturday would put the room at $50.00. Yeesh, that´s a 250% increase. What happens on Saturday, I ask. Lots of people come to town, she says. But why double and a half, I ask? Because we can is the answer.

Came back to the hotel last night after my first dinner in Montañita (do not tell Ann that I fed two puppies pappas fritas under the table) and watched the Phillies and the Yankees on the lobby tv and met a Canadian guy somewhere near my age who´s exploring becoming an ex pat in Ecuador. (This guy´s had the luck - he met a local woman in Guyaquil who took a fancy to him and I assume he to her. He decided to go to Manta and she said I´ll go too! They get a place to stay, next thing he knows he wakes up with a severe headache in the morning and he´s out a brand new camera he had never even snapped the shutter on, and $225 in cash. No sign of Señorita. She slipped him a mickey. Apparently it´s a profession down here in certain circles. No worries here as I am on the total straight and narrow, but do ask me some time about the fraulein I met on the Portugese coast twenty five years ago who asked me for "fire.")

Canadian Bill told me about a tip he received about a cabaña down the road for $15 a night that he was probably going to check out. I went with him today to look at it and I´ll probably move over there tomorrow. It´s a lovely little thatched cabin arrangement that serves as housing for a Spanish language school. Apparently it gets pretty lively here in town on the holiday night and I don´t plan to bring in November in the local style.

What is Montañita? Well, over the last number of years it has become a surfing destination for people from all over the world and quite the backpacker magnet. Many, many young people here, really from all over the world. It has apparently gained more cachet than most of the fishing villages that dot this coast. Since I used to surf while in high school, I thought it would be fun to check it out and re-imagine old times, but don´t think for a moment I´m getting on a board again. Truth be told, I am probably also exploring my backpacker soul, likely for the last time in my life.

This is the Old West, South American style, beachfront. Dirt roads...rickety storefronts, often open air...lots of loose dogs...everything´s cool, man...civil order is likely kept by Sheriff Wyatt Gonzalez.

Took a long walk on the beach this morning and I have to admit, the peace and quiet I had hoped for was found. It was even peaceful and quiet when I got back to town since the electricity had gone out. But, then, this is the frontier.

Power´s back on, time to get some clothes cleaned at lavanderia...