Victoria was telling us that all of the contestants for the "Miss Ecuador" contest will be coming to their bar on Saturday night for a 'meet and greet' evening. They are selling tickets like hot cakes for their special event! The girls will also spend time at a nearby tourist village called Canoa.
After coffee, our hostess from Las Olas - Rafaella -- picked us up and a wonderful local experience is what we were about to enjoy. We drove across the long bridge to a popular seaside town of Canoa. We passed through San Vicente which is another seaside town. Lots of tiny little shanty places and ever so many tuk tuks driving people to and fro.
We arrived at Canoa and enjoyed a long walk through the town and along the beach. I have to say the one thing that tugs at my heart in a big way in these third world countries is all the dogs roaming around --- many of them so sickly and unhealthy looking (especially those who are apparently nursing pups). I want to spay or neuter them all and carry dog treats for them. There was a lovely little girl dog (I actually think she has been spayed) who called the restaurant home. She, of course, got to clean my plate up. And I noticed, she found other plates in the restaurant that had been left and just hopped up with her front feet on the table and helped herself to yet another free meal. Rafaella told us the owners of the restaurant were such lovely people and they allowed 2 or 3 of these street dogs to hang around the restaurant. I think there are enough westerners who frequent it that the loose dog problem is not really a problem !
Lunch was enjoyed at the Bamboo restaurant in Canoa. I had the most delicious white fish with coconut/curry sauce. Joe at the best dang calamari I have ever tasted! and Rafaella enjoyed local shrimp.
Rafella was sharing with us that there are many shrimp farms in the area. Her dad has a shrimp farm and her husband helps out there. They are in the process of making it an organic shrimp farm. She also told us that most of the shrimp grown here are raised in the most natural of environments. Chemical/hormones are not used.
So we have learned that not only are the mango groves here, but coconut groves, corn fields, many any rice paddies as well as shrimp farms. Today on the way back to Bahi from Canoa, we stopped at a roadside farm and bought a large watermelon. It is now in the fridge getting nice and cold for our evening enjoyment.
Tomorrow Rafaella has offered to take us to her fathers ranch which is about an hour away. She shared with us that he raises and shows "Paso Fino' horses. When she heard of my love of horses, she made this generous offer. The Paso Fino horse is of noble heritage and began in Spain. It is known to have a smooth natural gait. I can hardly wait to see his horses. He has the 'daughter' of one of the most famous Paso Fino stallions in the world. I was not familiar with this breed of horse until today - and have already read all about them. They make great trail-riding horses!
After lunch, we drove back to Bahia and at 4:00 o'clock we will be on our way to the project. We are both excited to see it!
Dave (one of the partners in the project) and his wife Kim picked us up and we drove out of town through some extremely lush and beautiful country and down a mud road (which will be two lane paved once all the heavy equipment is gone and it won't break that pavement) . We spent a long time walking the golf course property and then drove along the beach to where the lot is located that we have put a hold on. The view is stunning and we think it would be such a fabulous place to spend our winters.
After touring the property, it was back to town (stopping along the way to say hi to the cutest little donkey !) and out to a lovely private restaurant for a dinner of sea bass and risotto. Such a lovely ending to a fabulous day in Ecuador!
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