Long weekend at the beach

Another trip I took from Quito was to some beaches in Esmeraldas. As Quito is pretty far north within Ecuador, the Quiteños head to different beaches than people from Guayaquil. From Quito, you head straight west to the beaches of Esmeraldas province. I ended up visiting the beaches near Atacames, Sua, and Tonsupa. These are all beach towns just south of the main city of Esmeraldas

(at the seafood market)

I had made friends with a few of the other greeters, through Johanna, with whom I went on the ill-fated trip to Baños. I made sure this trip would involve plenty of relaxation time. They were all leaving early from work for the long weekend, but I couldn't swing that, so I took a bus out there, but was able to get a ride back. One of the greeter’s friends’ families had a timeshare in a beach house, so we stayed there for the weekend. The long weekend consisted of not much more than swimming in the pool by the house, swimming in the beach, drinking beers on the beach, and heading in to the seafood market to bring home a slew of shrimp for ceviche and clams to boil. The pictures should more or less explain how delightful of a weekend it was. 

I really enjoyed my time in Quito. I met a bunch of great people, had a lot of fun, saw some cool things, and got a feel for what working in an Embassy is like versus working in the Consulate. On the whole, not that different, but you do get the sense of more “diplomatic” type work going on-because there is. I was really fortunate that there was the need for me to go up there and work, as It definitely isn’t an opportunity that all consular officers get to have. 

(view from the balcony where I stayed)

(view from another friend’s apartment)