Ayampe!

After a month of hectic travel around Panama, moving every one to seven days, driving for four to eight hours between spots, and then flights to Ecuador (and another rental car and a four-hour drive up the coast), we finally made it to Ayampe. This is the spot we have chosen to settle in for a few months, to finally stop moving around so much and get back into a simple daily rhythm of life.

We had the rental car for a week and drove a ton more around the western part of central Ecuadorian coast. I was pretty well over driving for hours and hours every day on stressful Latin American roads, but we wanted to explore the surrounding coastal communities (and the surf breaks, of course) before we committed to Ayampe without any doubts arising from another one of Tam’s FOMO flare-ups.

So, mission accomplished and rental car returned yesterday, here we are settled in today.

Whew.

Ayampe is a super-relaxed little beach town, with busy port towns and busy tourist night-life-party towns about thirty minutes North and South of it respectively. There is a law that was passed just in Ayampe that does not allow bars, loud music, parties on the beach, or pesky vendors selling crap in town or on the beach.

Kinda perfect for me.

It feels very Baja-esque to us, and, failing that specificity, very Mexico-esque. Once you turn off of the beautifully paved and well-maintained coastal highway it is all just dirt streets here in town. There is no apparent need for pavement: there is no through traffic, and it is off the main road, with just a few surfers and folks selling fruit and eggs driving around the five blocks of town.

The quiet dirt streets of Ayampe town. It feels like stepping back in time twenty-five years ago on our road trips through Baja.

The local basketball court and futbol field.

Way up at the end of this road is the main coastal road. Our house is on the right, just where you see the flags. We are on a little row of restaurants and a gelato shop just on the upper edge of town.

Our little two-story palace for the next two and a half months (minus the rental car in front).

It sits surrounded by peaceful gardens and trees, and we have a jacuzzi that is exactly what the doctor ordered after dragging this old carcass out surfing for too many hours.

Its a comfortable, airy, little house with tons of natural light, beautiful carved hardwood doors, and some funky hippy-ass art painted on the walls

This is the view from the taco and burrito restaurant across the street. I love the use of art and color in so many of these Latin American towns. Our place is the bright blue house just visible on the right side of that last picture.

How much better does it get than this? A two-minute walk to the beach to surf and watch the sunset (quite often at the same time), and across the street from delicious carne asada burritos with arroz y frijoles.

The beach here, on a regular Friday afternoon.

And, since no post of mine seems to be complete without some kind of animal pictures…

Most of the dogs here in Ayampe are fat, happy, and living the perfect dog life on the beach.

Some people let their dogs ride in the back of the truck. For others it is the family cow.

And this guy… They brought in this pile of dirt, and within an hour he was the self-proclaimed king of Ayampe.

So, anyway, here we are. I look forward to settling in and working on some blog posts (maybe I can even go back and finish some older ones), getting some mental and physical exercise, and not driving for a while.

La vida sencilla!