Ayangue, Ecuador

Sometimes you just look at a map and pick a destination. That's more or less how I ended up in Ayangue a very small fishing village with relatively know attraction of the tourist type. After researching online I found that there was an Eco Lodge I could camp at for $3 a day and if I was an artist for free. I sent them an email, but never heard back so I went anyways.

I hitched a bus and got of where the road leading to the village starts. There I walked the 3km with my backpacks into town and eventually found the Eco-lodge. Somehow arriving into town by foot is much more rewarding.

The "Eco-lodge" was more or less a couple of bamboo lodged and some outdoor cooking area / tent space. When I arrived there was no one on site and all the doors of the buildings were padlocked shut. Next to the lodge was a small house where a local man was netting his fishing net. His name was Kleber about 50 or so years old with 5 kids though only one 10 year old at home at the moment. Kleber told me the owners of the place left days ago and he didn't know where.

I decided to set my tent up anyway. I sent them another email and text and turns out they were in the US, I was more than welcome to use the area for free as an artist, but they hadn't ordered any water and it may run out (it did).

I spent two days there camping, talking to Kleber about life there and exploring the village slash nearly deserted beaches in the surrounding area. It was very relaxing and nice to were really camp and cook over a fire everyday.

I learned one important lesson here. Most restaurants have lunch specials that include soup an entire and a drink for about $2.50 a fraction of the price of a seafood dish during any other time of the day, so if you're going to eat out do it at lunch time.Read more