Onward march

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hope things are well on your end! Charlie and I decided to leave the beautiful Montañita in order to stay on schedule for our trip, which realistically is no schedule. We would like to spend about a month in each country, so it´s on to Peru! We are leaving for Tumbes at 4:45 in the morning, which means we will be staying in the bus terminal tonight to save some money. Hostels in Guayaquil are the most expensive, and since we won´t be in the room for very long, we´re doing the cheaper route. We bused to Guayaquil earlier today, and won´t be departing tonight in order to ensure a daytime boarder crossing. It´s what most travelers have recommended to us. Apparently there has been some problems with people crossing the boarder at night, so we are staying away from the trouble at all costs. We also will have to convert money and find a hostel, which would not be as safe to do during the night. I don´t mind staying in the terminal because we have our sleeping bags, which does make a BIG difference. We will probably have to figure out some sort of alarm clock, but this terminal is HUGE with a shopping mall inside.

I´m sad to leave Montañita because I loved that town. Well, mostly I loved the beach, but Tumbes is on the coast as well. Hopefully we will have great weather there too. Charlie´s big toe is sprained from surfing. It makes me giggle when I watch him gimp around. We joke that our problems aren´t really problems. He said he´ll take a sore toe over the cold weather any day.

In Montañita, the people give kisses on the cheeks to girls when saying ¨hello¨and ¨goodbye.¨I don´t like this very much and feel really uncomfortable when doing so. Not to be rude, but most the people have B.O. and getting that close to them is not appeasng at all. Charlie gets to give them a fist pound. Lucky. I guess it´s okay though because at least we have made friends. Sad to say goodbye to the nice people that showed us a great time.

I´m also going to miss the ¨cake lady.¨ It´s this seven month pregnant lady who walks around selling homemade chocolate cake all day. She says I am her best customer. It´s probably because I would buy at least two pieces a day from here. It was SOOO delicious and I haven´t had a cake fix like that in a while. It´s no surprise that she would scout me out. I wasn´t ever hard to find. Always basking in the sun on the same sandy spot on the beach. Smart business woman, I´ld say.

Box wine is BOMB here. Franzia has nothing on this stuff. One liter of wine is $6. Best deal ever. It's from Chile and I don't think I´ll be drinking anything else. Charlie and I sold two stores out of their merlot and cab. They keep it cold, which is different, but on a hot sunny day it´s perfect.

Here we are enjoying our last fruity drinks.......in Montañita...

The buses here have started to give me motion sickness. They slam on the gas and brakes constantly. I don't think they have figured out they aren´t getting anywhere faster if they speed up and then have to slam on the brakes. A red light is a red light. The seats do extend outwards to give more space between the two people. "It´s every fat person´s dream." - Charlie Vaubel.

We love and miss you all!

Love always,

Matti Jo and Charles Dale