this morning i went to isla de la plata. a small island (3 x 6km) a 1hr boat ride away from puerto lopez. according to the guide, the island was so named from the legend where the pirate sir francis drake hid gold/silver in the water around the island. as one of the irish tourists noted, it’s funny that here drake is a pirate, but back in the uk, he’s an explorer. anyway, the island is like a smaller version of the galapagos, with many birds. it’s very very cool to be able to walk up to the birds without them caring. we even walked right by some parent/baby blue-footed boobies, and they didn’t budge (they were in the path). very very unique and cool experience. the island itself is also quite beautiful. on the boat ride there, we also stopped for a bit to watch some humpback whales.

now a word about the 1hr boat ride over there. the waves were not too high (6ft max…averaging about 3ft)…but the captain gunned the boat the whole time. so much so, that the boat would often get air…and then belly flop into the water. everytime the boat landed, there was a loud crash, as if the boat were being dropped onto cement. it’s the first time in my life that i’ve been glad to be wearing a life vest. that said, the boat ride is quite fun….but not for the faint of heart.

afterwards, i had dinner with an aussie…and should have stayed in puerto lopez with my new friend, but instead wanted to check out hosteria alandaluz….an eco-resort which lonely planet bills as eco-friendly and low-impact. i should have stayed in puerto lopez with my friend. well, lemme preface by saying that its dark, so i cant appreciate the natural beauty (it’s right on the beach). however, it’s way overpriced….and more disappointingly, it seems to be a farce. how so? well, for starters, the majority of the lights here are incandescent! isn’t that the first thing you should change? that, plus they’re blasting music, don’t have motion-activated lights, etc. etc. i wouldn’t be so mad if they called it what it was…a nice hotel by the beach — that i believe, and am willing to pay more for. but i don’t like it when they lie. i assume that most of the people here think that they’re paying more, but are helping the environment….i think they’re just getting screwed. also, i’m the only person camping here. i’m quite certain that some of the hotels i’ve stayed at have been lower-impact than this one. and much cheaper too. (note: rooms here go for $25-80, but i’m camping for 7…still overpriced)

ironicaly, i don’t really like drving that much…but it is very nice to be back in the sentra. there are some obvious hassles with taking a car (like shipping it across continents)…but there are some equally obvious benefits (like the freedom it enables you). i think my favorite part of having the sentra is the personal space it provides — and the complete control over that space. most people have (and need) a small space which they can ‘own’….for most travelers that personal space is their hotel room. i’m fortunate, though, to have that space anywhere i go: so when i just want to escape from the present reality and go to a safe place which i understand, i can just step into the sentra.

today, i drove from guayaquil to puerto lopez. part of the road is called the ‘ruta del sol’, although it was quite overcast (a good thing, since the weather was nice and cool). depending on how you perceive it, puerto lopez is either a charming little fishing village turned tourist town….or a dirty, poor town on the water. having been through central america, i see it as a nice little town. the main reason people come here is to visit the national park just above the town. perhaps the highlight of the park is isla de la plata….an island that many refer to as the poor man’s galapagos. i’ll be catching a boat to the island tomorrow morning.

i also visited agua blanca…a strange little community in the national park. the community is home to a large archaeological site and about 60 families. the community is strange because it’s kinda like an independent entity within ecuador. the people living there do not pay taxes to the government, and in return the government does not give them much support. nonetheless, the residents there consider themselves ecuadorians and they can vote. i don’t really get it.

the hotel i’m staying it as on a hillside overlooking the town of puerto lopez….it’s a pretty ridiculous view for just $20. on another note, it’s really nice not having to deal with plug adapters. so far pretty much all plugs have been the same kinda we use in the good ol’ usa.

pics:
1) beautiful natural pool in agua blanca. it’s above a sulfur reservoir — according to the guide, in some places there is as much as 70% concentration of sulfur. also according to the guide, this is not only safe, but healthy. he did look pretty healthy.
2) puerto lopez from the german-run hosteria la terasa.

so, today i picked up ushi (the sentra)!

for those of you who are curious re: the process….here’s a slimmed down version:
1) in san jose, i drove around to a bunch of shipping companies (hamburg sud, maersk, etc.). i got a few prices….and one guy at maersk recommended a friend of his who’s a shipping agent.
2) the shippng agent in san jose (viviana) checked out a bunch of shipping options…but none of them were great. the best was $1800 and would take 10+ days. i decided to risk it in panama.
3) in panama, i repeated the process…checking out a bunch of shipping places. i also went to colon, and met with shipping places there.
4) i ended up choosing CSAV. they seemed to have experience and seemed relatively competent. i paid them $1500 cash.
5) i went to the police station there to get an exit form….that took a day.
6) i drove the car to colon, then took a bus back down to panama city. in colon (manzanillo), i paid $15 for immigration and left the car (+ keys) with a guy at the port, who drove it in.
7) i flew down from panama to quito. the 1st class flight was just under $500.
8) i got to guayaquil on sunday night…and stopped by the csav office on monday morning. i waited several hours and paid $75. they gave me some forms.
9) the next morning (tuesday morning), i went to the port and spent the whole day dealing with customs, etc. the agent (who handled al the paperwork) + bribes (cops, etc.) cost $140. i also had to pay $27 for the customs.

so, in the end, the whole process cost about $2.2k. it also took a couple days of office/car work in panama and a couple days here in guayaquil. this sounds like a lot of time and money. and it is. but, after talking to some other people, i think i did pretty well (except for the flight). one guy i met at the hostal here in guayauil has been trying to get his car out for a couple weeks. One of the huge things is FCL vs. LCL. LCL is more expensive at first….but cheaper and faster in the long run. LCL they deliver you the car. FCL they deliver you the container (and you have to deal with the container + car).

ecuador officially uses the us dollar (excludng the us, the third country in my travels thus far: el salvador, panama, ecuador). here, more than in other ccountries, coins are everywhere. it means that you need a small bag or dedicated pocket to handle the 10-30 large coins that you may be carrying at any given time. you know all those sacajawea $1 coins that were launched in 2000, but never really took off? well, they all seem to have ended up here.

this morning i took a taxi to transoceanica. they occupy about 6 floors of edificio sudamerica, a building near the water…but unfortunately i was stuck waiting in the windowless office for several hours waiting for papework and for them to unload the car at the port. thanks to eli for his gift of ‘heart of darkness’. i got all the paperwork sorted out (…i hope), but i won’t be picking up the sentra until tomorrow (…i hope).

just outside of the building is malecon 2000 — a really nice gated promenade along the riverbank. it’s clean, has cool art, a small park (with fish), remote control cars/boats, cafe’s, a museum and even an imax! there’s also a mcdonalds here….which has an incredible view (perhaps the best located fast food joint….after the kfc? on the beach in pacifica). it was so nice, i ended up eating there (…maybe the first fast food i’ve had in a few years?).

malecon is really thin (50 yards wide?) but almost a kilometer long. on the east side, malecon leads to a manecured pedestrian path through las penas. the staired path up las penas feels very nice and very fake…kinda like disney land. this illusion becomes apparent at some points along the path…where an arched entrance divides the clean (safe) from the dirty (dangerous). similar to many other places in the world, some of the best locations (i.e.–a hill overlooking the city and river) are also some of the poorest.

pics:
scaffolding is an interesting combination of metal, rope and bamboo
malecon and las penas (taken from malecon)
the stairs of las penas (just like disneyland)
las penas archway dividing imaginary from reality
malecon (picture taken from mcdonalds)

well, a long morning in search of the ferrocarril. i woke up at 5:30 am and walked tot he train station. there, i learned that the ferrocarril from riobamba to alausi was sold out. so, i hopped on a bus to alausi (2hrs, $1.59). once there, i got in line for the rountrip train to the devils nose. it looked like i was going to get a ticket….until we discovered that many people in front of us were tour guides. the first 4 people in line purchased amost 35 tickets (the train only holds 48 ppassengers). naturally, people were very upset…and some people even left the ine….while other tour guides cut in line and screwed us over even more. two thing: one, most of us in line would have rather paid more to a tour guide had we known that option was available; two, it’s b.s. that the guides can buy so many tickets.

anyway, they added more train times (1pm, 3pm and 4:30pm). i got a ticket for the 3pm train. however, after a quick breakfast, i decided to get see if there were any no-shows for the 11am train. luckily, almost half the train was missing! so, i got onto the 11am train…and even had a spare seat next to me!

now, about the train. it actually looks more like a diesel bus that’s been put on tracks. very strange. you also can’t sit on top of this one (like you used to be able to do…and maybe can do with others?). so the bus drives down the track about 10 miles or so, through a cool valley. the tracks are on a steep hill. so steep, in fact, that the tracks do switchbacks along the mountain: but in such a way that the train goes forward….then reverse…then forward again. there’s not enough room to make a proper curve, so the train goes forward, then an attendant swithes the tracks, and it continues going down….but in reverse.

the train is cool…but iike an israeli that i met…it was more about the ridiculous experience to get onto the train than the ride itself. i then hopped on a bus to guayaquil. i met up with naldo’s friends: willem and caroline. they have a really nice apartment just outsidde the city. they gave me some awesome suggestions of stuff to do…and i think i’m set for the next few days!

pics:
1) alausi
2) the ‘bus driver’ insisted that it had always been a train
3) transporting sheep on a bus

one of my favorite things about quito thus far is that i can wear a jacket here. it’s one of three places on the trip thus far where i haven’t been sweating (or on the verge of sweating). it’s also nice wearing a jacket since it provides me with a lot more pockets. this is especiallu useful when traveling around for a week with a very small daypack (my lonely planet book + xo laptop take up almost 2/3 of the bag).

today, i thought i was going to see most of quito….and i did see a lot…but later learned that quito is absolutely huge (see pic from teleferrico below). it started off with me having breakfast and being interviewed by some college kids for their class. i then walked around quito for several hours….seeing beautiful churches and nice museums. it seems that both art and museums are appreciated in quito. museums are incredibly cheap (even cheaper than panama) and are quite good. they also try to give out free souvenirs (like posters, nice pamphlets, etc.) which often cost more than the cost of entrance (50c – $2).

i then hopped onto the teleferrico — a gondola which takes you hundreds (thousands?) of feet above the city. from there, you observe a sea of white houses as far as the eye can see. quito is huge. up top, they have an coygen bar and coca tea. there’s also a nice little hike up there in the mountains….where the air is really crisp.

back down below, i hopped on a bus to riobamba. the bus ride was fine and the guy next to me was — like all ecuadorians — very nice. he’s from an indigenous tribe, as many people in ecuador are. many wear awesome hats….like you’ve probably seen on the web before. one really nice thing about ecuador is that the family unit seems to be very strong. maybe because of that, most of the kids here are awesome. tomorrow, i wake up very early to ride a train — an experience which is supposed to be very nice….hopefully they still have tickets available.

pics:
1) the basilica (i think) in quito
2) an old street in quito
3) quito from the teleferrico
4) gay pride parade in mariscal

last night/this morning five of us (two from the hostel + 2 of brendan’s friends) went out to the causeway in panama city. it’s very nice out there (great view of the city…plus a nice cooling breeze), although it is very spread out. we went to a decent restaurant then afterwards went to a small fenced in block with 10+ clubs. if you don’t count the 15 people working there, plus the people who’d wander in for a few minutes at a time, we were basically the only ones at the club (212). it was a lot of fun, though, and a fun group to hang out with. i don’t know how 212 stays in business….our bill ended up being $60 (including tax and tip)….and as we were leaving, they insisted on giving us free shots (to keep us there even longer?).

so, as the twitter feed shows…apparently i ended up booking a first-class ticket from panama to quito (it was the cheapest fare from kayak…which was still quite expensive, as you can imagine). it was nice hanging out in the elite lounge, even if the food was kinda weak (supermarket bagels, packaged muffins and apples). if you’re wondering if the spot gps messenger device works on the plane…the answer is no….but at least it didn’t crash the plane.

entering quito is definitely a start of part II of the sentradiaries….and the plane trip was a nice intermission. from what i’ve seen of quito so far (just a few hours)…it’s awesome. the people here (like maria, the ecuadorian from the hostel) are really friendly. ecuadorians also seem generally very happy and genuinely interested in the feelings of other people (from my own experiences and what i’ve observed). i don’t want to jinx it, but if the rest of ecuador is like this…i think it might be favorite country from the road trip thus far.

so what have i done in quito? i landed in the airport…went through customs/etc (5min from stepping off the plane to leaving the airport!). then caught a bus to the neighborhood of mariscal (25 cents!). from there, wandered around mariscal…and waited out the heavy rain storm. mariscal is a very cool place. it’s filled with bar/cafe/lounges which often have hostels upstairs and often have live music at night. the feel of the neighborhood is a bit like haight-ashbury….only clean and more chique (is that spelled right?) — the prices are pretty cheap too….my hostel is quite nice and is $10 for a shared room….although there were other decent hostels with private rooms (with bathroom) for as low as $8. i don’t think my pictures can capture the vibe of the neighborhood.

note: location is panama city
taxi’s in panama are cheap (imagine taking a cab from one side of san francisco to the other for only $6). however, relative to driving the sentra, it’s quite expensive. today i took four cab rides, totaling $16.50…and driving the sentra around i would have spent less than $3 (including getting lost, parking, etc.). The cab rides were from Clayton (Ciudad del Saber) to the modern art museum ($5, 10min); art museum to casco viejo (canal museum & nice place to walk around/lunch) ($1.50, 5min); casco viejo to shipping agency ($4, 10min); and shipping agency back to Clayton ($6, 20min).
one nice thing about taking the cab is that you don’t have to care about driving (…maybe just your safety). for instance, today, a large truck blocked a major road (with 2-lanes of traffic). cars were not moving….well, that’s not quite true. many cars were trying to back up (while other cars stupidly moved forward). others — from buses to beamers — jumped the curb. here’s one van that got stuck hopping over.
on another note, here’s my take on panamanian’s from my limited experience here (…however, i’ve only had quick experiences in countries thus far….so this excerpt can be taken as being more or less accurate relative to the other countries in central america). panamanian’s seem to come in one of three flavors: rude, apathetic or very friendly. there also seems to be more or less equal numbers of each personality (it reminds me of the farside cartoon). there is also a very clear distinction between pacific/atlantic panama……with the atlantic side being much more caribbean (garifuna?) than the pacfic.

lastly, here’s the canal schedule for the cap melville tomorrow (july 3):
arrive at gatun locks: 0850 (east lane)
depart gatun locks: 1030
arrive at pedro miguel locks: 1540 (west lane)
depart pedro miguel locks: 1625
arrive at miraflores locks: 1655 (east lane)
depart miraflores locks: 1815

note: location is panama city
today was the innauguration of panama’s new president, ricardo martinelli. i wish i had known the president’s name the day before….so i would not have embarassed myself after inquiring if the man seated next to me on the bus (from colon to panama) was involved with martinelli’s cider (he had a hat which said ‘martinelli, president’ on it)
but i diverge. everything was closed today (which is why i had to drop off the car at the port yesterday). instead, my roommate (at the hostel) and i went to the roberto duran stadium for the festivities. outside street vendors sold hotdogs on sticks, steaks on sticks, and soda. inside, we got a free bag of lay’s potato chips and coupons for free cups of soda and water (unfortunately, they were using styrofoam cups). along with the crowd of a few thousand, we watched several artists perform on stage. while a couple of the groups were very talented….the majority were dj’s/mc’s….which are apparently very popular here….but also seem to have very little musical talent. the pairs get on stage and shout. then a part of a popular song is played…while they sing along (often out of key)….then make a joke or laugh….and repeat. maybe it’s an acquired taste, though, since the crowd seemed to love the hour and a half of it. moreover, the radio here (and in parts of mexico) is often similarly annoying.
unfortunately, brendan and i could not take anymore….and decided not to wait till 7pm to see the president talk there. instead, we took a taxi to calle argentina, and met up with some friends of his at a restaurant. it was quite good. we also went to the only microbrewery in panama. it was ok…but overpriced. they import most of their raw ingredients from chile. afterwards, we walked to the nearby casino, hung out for a bit, then headed back.