Wednesday, Apr 6, 2016
I got up at 6:30 am, made some coffee, then Easton and I headed to the farmer’s market for some supplies. It was not hot at 7 am while we were walking to the market. It was almost pleasant. 🙂
Among other things, we needed to pick up some eggs and the place we usually buy them was out. I went to the guy who we buy our milk from and asked how much his eggs are…”2 for a quarter”, was his response. This is his usual price; I know that. I asked him if he would take 10 cents a piece…”no”, he said. Ok, gracias, and on I went to ask someone else.
I asked a woman who has an actual tienda (permanent store) in the market. Her eggs are 12 cents each. I asked her if she would take 10 cents, she said no, and then told me the guy next to her, who sells mostly meats, sells his eggs for 10 cents each. I thought that was extremely nice of her to tell me. So I went next door and bought my eggs from him for 10 cents a piece.
I’m not exactly sure why I am telling you this, but I think it has to do with the fact that prices are not always the same, and definitely not always the same based on if you are local or not.
Going to the market is like going to buy a car…you know the salesman wants to get as much as he can from you, and you know that this same car will sell for various prices to various people. Did I mention I absolutely detest buying a car from car salesmen?
Buying things at the market is like buying the car. There really is a “right” price for everything, and once I have found what it is, I really have no interest in paying more than that. The bit of insanity is that we are talking about cents, a 50 cent difference maybe…is it really worth the grief I put myself through? Probably not, but I haven’t come to terms with it yet…so I will keep on finding my 10 cent eggs until I have my emotional break through on this. 🙂
When Easton and I got back from the market Heidi was making her “out of this world” Breakfast Yogurt for us. It was once again truly delicious. After breakfast Easton and I headed out to meet up with our friends to head for Puerto Lopez to go fishing!
We hired a driver to take Steve, his sister Debbie and her beau Dennis, and Cindy, me, and Easton to Puerto Lopez. The driver brought his wife and small daughter with him. They all sat in the front, and we piled into the seats in the back. With our luggage, it was a tight fit for us.
Our driver was probably one of the safest drivers I have experienced since living in Ecuador. He didn’t pass cars on curves, tailgate, or drive fast. We figured he wasn’t going to take chances while his family was in the car. The downside was that it was cramped and it seemed to take a long time getting to Puerto Lopez.
After checking  into our hotel we walked along the beach toward town, enjoying the cool ocean water rolling over our feet as we went. We stopped at a place called Victor Hugo and grabbed some lunch here.
They have the standard fare of rice with fish, or shrimp, or chicken, and also have an unexpected Mexican food menu. Easton and Steve had the tacos which they said were very good. 
 I had the breaded fish with rice and french fries. The fish was terrible…just dry and hard, inside the breading that surrounded it. A couple of the other’s in our group had fish sandwiches, and their fish was way overcooked as well. Can’t say I would be inclined to go back there and have anything involving fish.
We spent the afternoon in good conversation getting to know each other better. We know Steve and Cindy, and this was our first time getting to spend time with Debbie and Dennis. They are a great couple who are interesting and fun…they do not let the grass grow under their feet! We shared lots of laughs.
During this time we also had the guide for our fishing trip drop in at the hotel so we could decide the details for tomorrow. Our guide’s name is Paco and he has a boat called “Mi Paco y Yo”. Literally translated it means “My Paco and I”. Let me know if you can tell what that means, I couldn’t figure it out.
We decided on a 7 hour fishing and snorkeling trip with Paco. He will provide the boat, three fishing lines, snorkeling gear, a sandwich lunch, water, and take us to an area to hopefully catch some big fish. Total price, $250 bucks. We all want to catch a Yellow Fin Tuna. We asked Paco what our odds are in doing that, and he said, “If you are lucky”. Guess we will see tomorrow.
There is a restaurant in Puerto Lopez called Bell Italia. It is a small, quaint place run by an older Italian man and his Italian wife. He makes all his own pasta and together they cook the food. The seating is limited, but it has a very cozy, family like feel to it. The food was fantastic! It is a must eat at place in Puerto Lopez!
We are staying at the Hosteria Mandala. 
Heidi and I stayed here when we visited Ecuador in 2013. It is still a great place to stay!  It sits back a few hundred feet from the ocean, and you can hear the waves crashing on the beach while in your room. 
 Not all the cabins have AC, and because of the room layouts we needed for our group, our particular cabins were ones without AC. Hopefully it will be a restful sleep because we need to be up by 5:15 am to be ready for our fishing adventure, and right now it is sooooo hot!
https://youtu.be/x7VCS-erfPE%20
Chao.
Loved the video of the sunset and your exceptional writing Todd. It is nice to hear the explanations of the food that is there. With diet like that, are their many Obese people there, I have my doubts.. Does Heidi not like Fising or does she fear going on a boat in the Ocean. Say hi to Heidi, Easton and give Keeper a Hug for me. Is keeping coping with this environment???
Obesity is present in Ecuador, although not as much as in the states. Most Ecuadorians have rice and patacones (fried green banana) with most every meal. These are high in starch which breaks down into sugar. I assume more people aren’t obese because they don’t seem to eat large portions of food here. I haven’t found the Chuck O Rama buffet yet Gayla 😉
Heidi stayed home because Keeper was sick and on antibiotics. She is doing 100% better now though.
Thanks for reading.