Mompiche – pooches, pals, plankton and a very angry Brazilian

14/1/23

From Esmeraldas, we had a surprisingly long but very pretty bus ride to Mompiche. We passed through lots of jungle, passed by many a bamboo house, and saw a kid walking across the fields to school in uniform and shiny yellow Wellington boots. What a world 💛

When we arrived in Mompiche, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It was literally one dusty road with lots of smaller dirt tracks off to the side. Adam (the Manc guy) and I got breakfast at the local bakery/cafe before heading to our separate hostels to check in, change and chill. After showering, I chilled on a yoga platform with hammocks surrounding it and got talking to some surfers and yogis.

In the afternoon I planned to walk to an island nearby with Adam. A few of the surf/yogi squad joined and we became five – 3 strong on the Brits – me, Adam and a (real, not Guildford 🤣) Londonder Nadia, Sharon, an Aussie/Israeli and Sana a Dutch girl who was visiting her friends, the owners of our hostel. We set off in the blazing heat, with the workaway volunteer thinking we were crazy!

It was nice to have a bit of a squad for the day. We set off along the first beach past a few fishing boats resting on the sand, having a quick swim before heading away from the beach. We went along a lane, past a herd of chilled cows, up a road, past an animal rescue centre until we reached a sign to Playa Negra, the black beach.

It was beautiful with glittering sands sparkling in the sunlight. We swam, and left, keen to continue our walk. We headed up the scorching tarmac until we reach a turn for Isla Teretere. We made it down to the shore before we had to take a thirty second boat ride to be shuttled across the deep tidal river. We chilled and chatted at the beach, before taking a swim. Sharon got stung by a jellyfish and went to get first aid (some salon I think!), from the lifeguard before we headed on in search of turtles. Sadly, there were none there, although the signs and protected parts of the beach were still there. After walking the length of the beach on a turtle hunt, we turned around and got another shuttle boat off the island, towards an all inclusive hotel. A boat owner was happy to drive us there, so we assumed it was allowed.

We crossed onto another beautiful beach with white sands and at least three arches in the rock cliffs. We walked along the beach towards Mompiche where we were staying, but the beach suddenly stopped, with some tumbling down concrete steps up onto the cliff top as the other option. Since the tide was coming in, and we didn’t want to go back and pay for two more boats byo go back the way we came, we carried on, hopping the wall at the top of the forgotten steps just as a woman in a ballgown passed by! We walked through the hotel and found the road out. Unfortunately, we had to walk past security who stopped us to ask how we’d got in without our VIP pink wristbands. Nadia, who had been travelling S. America for the last nine months had the best Spanish and took the lead. Bizarrely, although we were on our way out, the security guard called for his senior who came to speak to us. He drove to us and after a day of walking, we were all secretly hoping that he would escort us off the premises in his truck – save us the walk! Sadly he didn’t, instead he just drove slowly behind us most of the way! How bizarre.

We quickly returned to the sign for Playa Negra and were pleased to find it was in fact a short cut. We continued back to Mompiche’s beach, stopping in a beach cafe just neetled above the beach. I ordered fish with a kind of lime and garlic sauce, which came with rice and fried plantains. It was glorious. I also got a fresh pineapple juice after trying Sharon’s. Mmm. A fine meal, with fine folk and a fine view!

After food, Sana and Sharon headed back and us Brits carried on up to a viewpoint overlooking the bay. It was only a five minute walk but it was pretty good. Afterwards we walked home and I stopped to enquire about surf lessons on the way. I booked in for the next day at 12 noon when the tide would be best (whatever that means!).

After a quick (and cold) shower back at the hostel, it was time for happy hour. I got a caipirnha which was pretty good! We chatted awhile and then me, Adam and Sharon played jenga. Afterwards, I went to bed. Although it was Saturday night, I’d been on a night bus all the previous night so the thought of an actual bed to sleep in sounded pretty bloody good!

15/1/23

Since there was no pressure to do anything until my surf lesson at 12 noon, I had a nice long lie in til around 10.30 before going on a ‘good coffee’ hunt. I headed to a supposedly recommended coffee place only to be served with a cup of frothy almost imperceptibly brown milk. This was very sad but, I left it because the breakfast that came with it was glorious. I chatted to a Chilean guy called Tom who had travelled loads of S America and had done two years work in Oz. After breakfast, I headed to my lesson.

I met my teacher Figo again and then waited for Adam to turn up as he had booked onto my surf class last minute. Then we got our boards and carried them to the beach (not that I needed to carry one on the way – winning! 👸🏻🤣). We had a quick theory lesson and then got on with the surf. I managed to stand up on every wave to start which I was very chuffed with and caught my second wave pretty far in. Sadly this skill/luck didn’t last and as I became more tired and the waves became more fierce, I became a little more fearful and less good. Figo was pushing us onto the waves, but at least I was glad to have caught back up to where I was the year before. Sharon was swimming with her Brazilian friend and cheered me when she saw me surf past her! ✌️

After the lesson, Figo made us coffee and we chatted for a fair while in broken Spanish/English. It was pretty good listening practice for me, which was nice! Then I headed back to chill. I showered and read my book in a hammock some more. I was meant to be meeting Adam at 17.30 to go and watch the sunset on Playa Negra. I spritzed up with mosquito repellent and headed off, but Adam was nowhere to be seen. I waited 5-10 minutes and then decided to head off. I re-bumped into breakfast Tom who was tempted with the walk, but said he better not because he was recovering from a chest infection..

I started along the beach. I didn’t have a lot of faith in the sunset as the sky was really cloudy but I went up the usual lane. I decided I was going to try and find the secret beach (a mini Playa Negra) that the workawayer had mentioned before. I found the hole in the barbed wire just before the animal rescue centre and slipped through. After a short walk, I stumbled across some other fine tourists. They assured me that the beach was close. After finding the beach, I headed up to the to of the cliff to look down at the sea from above. From the to, there was a glorious view of the real Playa Negra but absolutely no sun. I headed down to raucous jungle noise, one of the locals told me it could be monkeys I could hear.

Back on the main road, I bumped into Adam. He had stayed at the hostel to help someone else check in and then had gone to my hostel to get me, stopping for a beer after realising I wasn’t there – classic! We turned around and chatted the way back. We stopped for empanadas on the way before heading straight to happy hour. We got a couple of caipirinhas each, and chatted with Sharon and an American guy who thought all drugs including heroin should be legalised! I sat in a swingy hammock seat for a bit before saying goodbye to Adam and heading to bed.

16/1/23

Today was meant to be the day I road-tripped with Sharon and her friend, and Sharon had woken me up because we were leaving earlier than planned. I packed quickly and went to use the ATM before leaving. Sadly, the ATM didn’t work with either of my cards. I headed back and the Sharon’s friend a Brazilian lady arrived. She didn’t seem so happy to see me and clearly kept saying she wasn’t a collectivo (shared taxi) and that she wasn’t a nice woman. She told me that she was a seventy year old with five grand children. I didn’t understand why any of that was relevant but despite Sharon’s attempt at calming her down, she was still very angry. She told me it would be $20 because she wasn’t a collectivo and I could get the bus otherwise. The bus had already gone, so that wasn’t an option til the next day anyway. $20 was expensive for only a three hour ride but I was prepared to pay more when I thought it’d be a gals road-trip. The final straw was when she told me that I needed something to put under my dirty feet (which weren’t even dirty!). I pulled out my bag, told the angry Brazilian that I didn’t come to fight, said goodbye to Sharon, and walked down the road purposely with no plan, no place to go and barely any money.

I bumped into Edwin/Figo, my surf instructor who asked how I was and once realising I was upset, invited me for coffee. We chatted in my broken Spanish and he made me breakfast. Then he said if I needed money, he could give me $20, no problem. I looked up hostels on booking.com and found one with a tent for only $4 a night, which would give me around $10 for food for the day. Perfect! I booked it, thanked Edwin and left. When I rocked up to the hostel, Sin Fronteras, Martin, the owner, showed me around and offered me surf lessons. I explained that I didn’t have money for a lesson and he said he had PayPal – perfect! I booked a lesson for that afternoon and did a little Spanish and read my book on a flying mattress ( a mattress suspended in the air) until then.

We set out for my surf lesson and went through the basics again on the sand. Then we went in and I was still able to get up and stand on the board. After a bit, Martin told me to try alone, without a push from him, only with me paddling. I managed for a bit before the waves became too big and the current too strong. We battled on for a bit before we have up and headed back. We dropped the board back at Figo’s before I returned to chill in a hammock. Martin came to chat with me awhile before we went for lunch. He took me somewhere with good ceviche, an Ecuadorian specialty, a cold soup with raw fish (or lightly cooked shellfish). I had prawns (camaron) and squid (calamares) in soup with rice and fried plantain on the side and it was yummy! We looked out at the ocean as we ate. After lunch, we went in search of coffee, as I had told my sad tale of bad coffee the previous day. Since it was half 3ish, a few places were closed so we got coffee from the bakery cafe and cake from the pastelleria and then we were going to sit by the beach. Martin suggested we sit in his bar, Plankton which overlooked the sea. It was entirely made of bamboo and was very cute. We chatted there for ages and headed back after watching the sunset from hammocks.

We headed back to the hostal to see the dogs, which needed feeding, one of which was only a few weeks old and was extremely cute. Then we headed back out a little later to eat empanadas. Martin had told me that there were phosphorus plankton in Mompiche and since it was one of THE coolest things I’ve ever done, I was v keen to see them again! We walked to the far side of the beach and went for a swim in the dark. Afterwards, we negotiated the rocks along the beach in the dark and went for margaritas in the bar on the beach. All in all, my day finished a lot better than it started! Perhaps a day with no plans, is a day full of potential!