Falling from a space ship…

So you’re way, way up there in your dream.  You are the pilot of the spaceship, climbing, soaring and careening into dives that make your heart pound.  Roller coaster butterflies thrill inside your stomach.  You are totally in control.  You look down and see interesting little specks below but out ahead is where the real rush waits.  You pull on more power, master and commander of the universe.  Suddenly and without time to prepare, the spaceship flips over and you begin falling.  Falling.  Falling.  When you wake up you are miraculously unhurt and have somehow managed to land in the exact place that you have been trying to find in your dreams for years – but you could never quite ‘get there’ because the alarm always went off two seconds too early. 

You pick yourself up and look around.  Where am I, you wonder?  I can’t be on Gilligan’s Island because it’s not tropical.  The hills are brown and barren - sparse vegetation trying to grow in rills of sandy terrain.  You notice that the line of mountains behind you are not majestic cliffs of granite, they are towering sand dunes intermittently gashed with deep canyons caused by run-off.  This must be the rainy season you figure, because the day is cloudy, hot and very humid.  Then you hear it.  Then you see it.  The sea.  So noisy, continually rumbling and turning inside out, so frantic to rush in a hundred directions at the same time.  Pelicans seem content with the roaring and commotion as they glide a few inches above the waves, but your prairie ears are not.  And then you look down.  Sand everywhere.  In your clothes, in your toes, in your hair,  You begin to brush yourself off but the sand grates against your skin like sandpaper and sticks like glue.  Sand and sea everywhere you look.

Your eyes zero in and begin to focus as you look around – the scene is actually much nicer than you first thought.  In spite of the noise and confusion the ocean is just gorgeous.  It’s warm and playful and continually fills the air with mist and rhythm.  As you watch, the colors on the surface of the sea are affected by the energy of every single thing in the area – the sun, the clouds, the wind, the time of day, the tide.  In one millisecond the ocean can spin a thousand shades between green and silver.  The beach is wide and inviting too, even though it is made of sand it is hard packed and easy to walk on, especially at low tide.  You notice a few cabanas spread along the beach – they look so rustic and inviting with the emerald sea floating in the background.   Another thing you notice – there’s no one around.  Who knew there was a single place left on earth with such beautiful sea and sky, and no one there to enjoy it?   Whoops, you hardly have time to finish that thought when you spot a lone figure and a dog walking along the beach in the distance.  At least the place is not entirely deserted.  Then you notice a few homes scattered in the hills and are surprised because some appear to be new and modern.  You walk along the shore and there, in the distance are two dozen fishing boats pulled to high ground in front of a picturesque fishing village.  Ha! There’s way more life here than you first thought.  Then it hits you – the entire scene is surreal, mystifyingly surreal, like you’re a single color in a vast oil painting.  Sun, sea, sand, sky, warm breeze, not crowded.  Too good to be true.  It reminds you of a gorgeous beach resort you visited a few years ago when you searched so hard for a postcard to send home, a card that perfectly described every detail: the place, the moment, the excitement and your feelings.  You realize with a chuckle that you won’t have that problem here, the perfect postcard is all around.  You don’t have to buy it and you don’t need a stamp. 

But where are you?   Then you see the sign, Kite Beach.  Apparently the place is famous for kite surfing.  You continue reading - Santa Marianita Beach, Ecuador.  Now you know the name.  You have identified the place that’s been missing at the end of your dream.  

And we’re here too.  You fell out of your space ship, we came on the bus.  We did not know a place like this existed anywhere in the world.  Even after years of travel, we have never imagined this setting.  For the first two weeks after our arrival we felt like we were on another planet, the place is that unusual. One of the most remarkable things about Santa Marianita Beach aside from scenery and weather is Linda, an American woman who speaks almost no Spanish yet has somehow managed to reinvent herself in Ecuador.  She owns a little guest house on the beach in Santa Marianita.  She moved from Florida six years ago after suffering the loss of three family members in unrelated incidents.  After four years in Manta she eventually built the two story beach house.  The lower floor has two large studio apartments that are available for rent year-round and the top floor has a few bedrooms that she sometimes rents but they are usually occupied by ‘Helpx’ workers (more about that later).  The studio apartments are fairly new, spacious, nicely furnished, well equipped and affordable.  Linda is very laid-back, a one-woman organizer who suggests rather than commands, and she is at the core of a fairly large expat community.  She pretty much knows everyone in the area who was not born in Ecuador.  Her new life has made room for three loveable dogs (Vi and Dave may question the word loveable!) that she rescued from disastrous situations as well as eight cats.  We never know who has the biggest smile, the animals or Linda.  If you leave things alone long enough they will take care of themselves – Linda’s philosophy.  She told us that sometimes when she’s driving in Manta people often give her a friendly wave, then she realized they were not waving, they were trying to tell her she was driving down a one way street the wrong way - she giggles about that and then adds, in Florida they shoot you for making a mistake like that.  That’s why I love Ecuador so much, people only wave.  

Since the beginning of February we have been catching our breath inside the dream.  Most days we do nothing but read, write, think, walk and socialize.  No phone, wifi yes, TV yes – but we never turn it on.  The air in Santa Marianita is wonderful.  No pollution.  It is soft and moist and fresh on your skin and is always being pushed around by a pleasant breeze.  Occasionally we sit in the sand, as close as we can get to Papua New Guinea, and have a toast to the sunset.  We bring our own wine and wine glasses of course, because those are extras.  Everything else in the theatre is supplied by Mother Nature.  The flaming best sunsets on earth happen in Panavision right in front of our wondering eyes.  Sunsets so vast you can see the backbone and the ribs of the sky as they support the weight of the most dazzling colors on earth.  Our all time favourite sunset happened in Kuta Beach, Bali, in 2003.  Good on us, now we have a tie.   

Other things we have learned since we stepped off the bus –  Linda arranges for people from an organization called ‘Helpx’ to work at the beach house.  Helpx.net lists situations around the world where young people can assist with chores for four hours a day in exchange for free accommodation.  The first Helpx we met was Brecht, a nice young man from Leuven, Belgium, who reminded me very much of how Caenen might look when he is the same age.  Brecht is working his way around Ecuador until he starts university in September.  Two days later, Dave from the UK and Bennie from Australia arrived, a couple who plan to work their way through South America until June 2011.  Another Helpx is Denis, Linda’s right hand man.  Denis is Ecuadorian and assists with language translation, computer problems, driving and everything else.  Sadly for Linda, Denis is leaving in early March for a year of university studies in Germany. 

On a more sombre note, just before we arrived at Linda’s a Helpx couple from Hungary fell in love with the sea and took ‘a bath’ several times each day.  They were warned to be careful because the waves were unusually high due to a previous storm.  On January the 29th they entered the sea at about 5pm and he was caught in a riptide and carried away.  Sadly for everyone concerned, he drowned.  His body washed ashore three days later and his fiancé started the process of taking his remains back to Hungary.  Very traumatic for Linda and all her guests and a brutal reminder that life is as fragile as a wave.

What about the food in Ecuador?  Sometimes we eat at the apartment, sometimes we share the cooking, sometimes we eat in Manta or at a beach restaurant.  Groceries can be purchased from several large stores in Manta and while some food is very inexpensive (fruit and vegetables) other products are not.  Most of the time the food in this part of Ecuador is excellent and affordable, especially if you like seafood and fish.  But not beef or pork – almost always tough.  The beer.  Well it’s cheap and there’s plenty of it.

And what about the kites?  Unfortunately for us the winds of kite season change in January so when we arrived on February 1st the party was over.  We would love to have see them soaring over the ocean but it will have to be another time.  During kite season there are three schools right near Linda’s Landing.  People come from all over the world, but mainly Europe and South America, to participate.  When it’s not kite season and it’s not a weekend, Santa Marianita is deserted.      

Manta is twenty minutes by car from Santa Marianita.  She is not a very pretty city and sometimes she smells quite fishy.  She is the tuna capital of Ecuador.  Manta is home to a fairly large expat community - many have lived there for years but more and more seem to be arriving every day.  Do you know why?  In September 2010, International Living Magazine declared Ecuador to be the best expat retirement country in the world.  Many retirees are renting but most own real estate and reside permanently in Ecuador for exactly the same reasons that expats move to Lake Chapala or retirement communities anywhere.  Climate, low cost of living and a strong social network.  One thing we have noticed is that even though real estate is a hot topic, almost nobody talks about health care – quite the opposite to our time in Mexico.  Thanks to Linda, we have met some mighty interesting people.  Most of them live in Manta, most are permanent, some are snowbirds, many are in the process of doing retirement research.  Folks from Florida, Texas, California, Washington, New York and the southern States, but the vast majority of old and new arrivals are Canadian.  Americans cannot believe they are being outnumbered more and more everyday by Canadians in Ecuador.  Our friends Vi and Dave, the best socializers in western Canada, live in the studio next door.  If it weren’t for them we wouldn’t be here at all.  They returned home last year raving about Ecuador so this year many of their friends have paid Linda a visit.  Before we arrived in Santa Marianita we were quite worried about feeling trapped in such a tiny place, but that has not been a problem.  On the other hand, when it is time to head to Peru at the end of the month we will be primed and ready for a boatload of new adventure.  And do you remember Paul and Lindsey, the young backpackers we met on the Costa Victoria who later stayed with us in Buenos Aires?  Well, they happened to be in Cuenca and took the bus to Manta.  We met up again at Linda’s.  They stayed several nights and entertained us with stories about their travels including a robbery in Peru.  A delightful young couple we lovingly refer to as our parents because they keep checking up on us.  Take a look at their blog if you want more information.

Well, there’s much more to tell about Santa Marianita but this postcard is long enough.  We have turned your spaceship upside down and dropped you at the end of a dream,  Hope you enjoyed the visit.