Thursday, Dec 29, 2016
I decided when I went to bed last night I would go to the 7 am Infierno workout today. Why did it seem like a much better idea last night? This morning it is just me and one other person, Pat, here with Carlos who is leading the workout. This works for me because the individualized attention is great.

Workout time!
Running into Pat here at the Infierno reinforces how small this community is. I met Pat for the first time at a Christmas Eve party that was held at the Cottages where we are staying. Pat is a local expat and is friends with Kim, the owner of the Cottages. Kim’s party was for her friends and guests. Now, with only one other person here working out, I know who she is. That’s how life is here, and I like it.
It was a tough work out for me. My abdomen muscles are in bad shape. It does make me realize how much more effort I need to put in to build muscle mass. I think I’ve hit the age that without doing this, my muscle mass will continue to decline. I think this is called “old man syndrome”. 😉
It’s a beach day today at Don and Donna’s farm in Pajanal. This means a much shorter bus ride for us today. As before we waited on the side of the road for a bus headed in the direction of Bahia. It is a scorcher outside and our wait time was about 30 minutes. We must have just missed a bus before we got to the road.
When the bus arrived I could feel the cold AC immediately as I stepped on. A welcomed respite from the hot Ecuadorian sun. There are even seats available for all of us! The drive to the farm only takes about 20 minutes and we’re dropped off right in front of it.
Don and Donna are waiting for us with their truck to drive us all down the road leading to the beach. I almost bounced out of the back of the pick up once when I became airborne after a bump. When we arrived at the beach Donna said the adventure ride was gratis. 😉
The beach is beautiful. It is such a relaxing place to hang out and just “be”. In some ways, walking alone on the far stretched beach with no people around has a Castaway feel to it.

Quiet solitude
As I am walking along the shore line, ahead I see a group of vultures surrounding something that has washed ashore. I walk over to investigate and find them picking at a sea turtle that has recently died. Most of it’s flesh is still in tact but it is definitely dead.
It’s not a large turtle, maybe two feet across at the widest point of its shell. I wonder how it died? There are a couple of chips in its shell that looks like it could have been caused by a boat prop. I went and got a large garbage bag, and with Easton’s help dragged it back to Don and Donna’s beach. I am going to have someone clean it and salvage the shell.
After walking the beach and swimming in the ocean, we all just relaxed under the thatched roof of the cabana and enjoyed the breeze coming off the ocean. Every once in a while the wind would change direction and the smell of my beach find wafted in the air. No bueno!

Chillaxin

Leaving the beach
When we were finished enjoying the beach we went back to the farm for lunch on the big porch. Walter’s wife, Sandra, made us seco de pollo from fresh chickens raised on the farm and served with rice and salad. She also made freshly squeezed limon and passion fruit juice from the fruit grown on the farm. Donna made a pineapple crumble for dessert. It was a fantastic lunch!

Lunch time!
The day was winding down and it was time for us to catch a bus back to the Cottages. We said our goodbyes to Don and Donna and headed to the road. While we were waiting for the bus, Michelle started a round of “Don and Donna have a farm, e i e i o. And on their farm they had a …..” She took turns pointing to each of us to fill in the blank. I only caught the last of it on video when the bus showed up.
Our evening was relaxed. We ordered pizza to be delivered and enjoyed cold beer from our fridge. Roy brought out his dice and we played a heated game of Ten Thousand. Roy won!
Chau
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