Cruz Del Sur Buses Rock!

So I am on the overnight bus to Lima as I type this. How great are these buses? We just ate a really good dinner, have watched 2 movies and now I am using the internet. I love it! Only about 13 more hours to go.

Our evening in Guyaquil ended deliciously with an amazing dinner at the restaurant Blu. It is one of the Zeller's favorite restaurants and I can understand why. We all had a starter, mine was beef carpaccio and then I had the sesame crusted tuna steak. It was amazing. The family then went with us to the bus station and Vincent wanted to make sure we were safe and got on the bus okay so they hung out with us in the waiting area. I think Vincent enjoyed it more than anyone as he had never spent time in the bus station. He quickly came to the same realization that we had the day before, this is an awesome bus station! So we said our goodbyes (which were hard to say as in just 24 hours, we had really become attached to this family) and then boarded our bus.

The bus was comfortable but we really didn't sleep as we left Guayaquil around midnight, then made it to the Ecuador border at 4am. It took another 20 or so minutes to get through the Peruvian immigration and then it was only 2 hours to Punta Sal. Keri and I still managed to have a grand time on the bus. We had this man sitting in front of us that we called "Smiles" because all he did was stare at us and smile. It is a little unnerving to look up and see a man just grinning at you through the crack between the seats. Imagine doing that about once every 20 minutes or so.

So we were supposed to be dropped off at Punta Sal. Around 6:15am, I asked the stewardess lady when we would be arriving in Punta Sal and she said in 10 minutes. So Keri and I got our stuff together. We were looking out the window and realized that we were coming into Mancora which is 30 minutes past Punta Sal. They had completely passed our stop. So the people on the bus rallied for us and ran up to tell the bus driver to stop. We were a little pissed because now we had to pay 20 soles to get a taxi from Mancora to Punta Sal. Unfortunately, there are no taxis to Punta Sal at 6:30am so we ended up taking a moto-taxi all the way there. It was hysterical. When I upload my photos, you will see. It took about 45 minutes and it is a bit scary when the huge tour buses go speeding past you, but we had a great time. It was so beautiful to be cruising along as the sun was going up and the wind in your face.

We got to our hotel, Caballito de Mar (which means Seahorse) around 7:15am and had to sit by the pool until Reception opened at 8am to get a room. It was a happy homecoming for us as we had gotten to know so many of the workers the week that we stayed at our beach house down the road. There were lots of hugs and kisses all around. We had breakfast, got our rooms (you pay the same price regardless if you share or not so we got separate rooms) and showered before heading down to the pool.

We spent the day by the pool and down at the beach. We had some fruity cocktails and hung out with our friend Gian. He has a break at 4:30 so we all went down to the beach to do some fishing. The kitchen manager cook is this portly older gentleman and when he was trying to fish, he got hit by a big wave that knocked him down and after rolling around in the surf, he managed to right himself, only to find three hooks from the lure attached to his shorts in the most unopportune spot. I will let you figure that one out. We were all dying with laughter, he was too. We didn't have much luck so we just hung out until Gian had to go back to work.

A family from Massachusetts checked in later in the afternoon so we all sat around the bar talking until it was dinner time. Keri and I had our favorite seafood dish and shared a bottle of wine. We were pretty beat since we didn't sleep much the night before so we went to bed. It was really hot though so it was a bit hard to sleep.

This morning, we just hung out by the pool, went into town to print out our bus vouchers at the only internet place and then came back to shower and head to Mancora to catch the bus. It was a sad, sad goodbye. Our taxi driver friend, Nito, took us into Mancora. He had a thing for Keri and we were both a little tickled yet also weirded out when he took a hair of Keri's that had transferred to him during one of his huge hugs to her and put it in his wallet to save. Strange, huh? Gian came with us to Mancora to say goodbye. He has the whole month of June off for vacation so we are trying to plan a rendevous in Cusco or Lima. We shall see. He is a really cool guy who helped us out a lot when we were in Punta Sal. One of those guys that knows everyone and can get things done.

So that brings us to now. On the bus to Lima. We are supposed to arrive at 11am. we have our hotel set up and Keri and I are planning a day of manicures and pedicures and massages. All of which we can get for only about 10 soles. Very cheap. Then it is to the airport on Wednesday to go our separate ways. Sadness!!! Oh, I gotta go. We just started playing BINGO on the bus and I love it!