Playing Tourist

     For the last 13 days, we have had the great pleasure of having Matt and Nelly Klein visit from Santa Fe, NM.  I met Nelly back when we both lived in Phoenix.  We were running partners for a couple years and even did a 1/2 marathon relay together.  With all the time we have been putting in to getting the house finished, we decided to take these days off to be able to spend time with them and also to get to see some of the area that we hadn't yet.
     We enjoyed some time hanging out at the beach and in our pool.  The table in the pool got broken in good with some nice, cold beverages.  On Saturday we made a trip down to the La Libertad malecon where Nelly had some awesome shrimp cerviche.  From there we made our way up to the mercado where we had a batido (which is a fruit smoothie).  It was absolutely the best I have had.  Since, we were kind of eating our way through La Libertad, we ended up with lunch at our favorite little restaurant, El Coronel, where we had our $2.00 almuerzo (inludes choice of two soups, two different entrees and two different juices).  To say we were stuffed would be an understatement.
     On Monday we took our first trip away from home.  Miryan, Kevin and her sister's family took us up to Dos Mangas (near Montanita) for a hike to some waterfalls.  The hike itself took about 4 hours round trip.  We spent about an hour or so at the waterfall (a small one), so we could eat lunch and the kids could swim. Having the young kids with made it so much fun.  They ranged from age 7 to 11 years old.  Oh, and Miryan's sister is 8 1/2 months pregnant.  I can't believe there was not one ounce of complaining from anyone.  We saw a lot of different fruit trees and plants and even got to try some mame (best described as something between a peach and a mango). It was delicious!.  We did hear some monkeys for a while but unfortunately never got to see them.  It was kind of an eerie sound to hear them calling.
     After the hike, Miryan and her family headed back home and we all went to Montanita to stay overnight.  We got checked into our hostel, The Hurvinek.  The location was good because we were just a couple blocks from all the action in downtown Montanita.  Montanita is a surfing town with a lot of very laid back people in it.  A very different atmosphere, but enjoyable.  You will never see more dreadlocks anywhere else, I swear.  The lobby/dining area of our hostel was very nice with lots of homemade wooden furniture.  Then we saw our rooms.  The mattress was no more than 4 inches thick and hard as a rock. It would have been more comfortable to sleep on the floor.  At least they did have hot water.  I think their main clientele is backpackers and younger people who don't care about comfort as much.  We had a good time, nontheless. 
     On Tuesday, we took a tour through Montanitours (which I would highly recommend if you plan on spending time in Montanita).  They can help you out with just about anything and there are people there that speak English as well, if needed.  We went in a van north up to Puerto Lopez where we took a boat out to Isla de la Plata (named after the silver color of the island which comes from bird poop).  It took about an hour to get there.  This is also nicknamed the poor man's Galapagos.  The island is uninhabited, but very cool.  We took about a 2 hour hike, where we saw many blue footed boobies and red breasted frigates.  After the hike, when we got back on the boat, we saw sea turtles swimming beside us. Also some very pretty black and yellow fish.  We were then given the option to go snorkeling if we wanted. The water was so cold I didn't stay in long. John, Matt and Nelly were smart and didn't go in.
     Since we had one more night to stay in Montanita, we hit the town again.  We went to a hookah bar, which was a new experience for me.  It wasn't too bad. We tried some fruit flavored tobacco.  It was actually quite relaxing.  The next morning we headed back to Montanitours to go on our zip lining excursion.  I had no idea what to expect, but was very pleasantly surprised on how beautiful it was!  The ziplines crossed valleys of green, lush areas where there were even cows grazing below. I have to admit, I was a little freaked out at first but very determined to try it. I went first and it was awesome! I never felt unsafe or scared, just in awe of the view I had way up in the air.  You can see the beaches of Montanita.  We did six different lines ($15 per person).  Nelly was so brave she even did one hanging upside down! I would definitely do it again. So much fun.
     We had so much fun just hanging out at home, as well.  One day we did surf lessons out on our beach here in Punta Carnero. It is $20 per person for a one hour lesson.  We each had our own instructor.  It was a great experience.  Again, I was determined, but never quite got up on both feet.  Both Matt and Nelly were able to stand up, at least for a short time.   The next day I think we were all a little sore. Nelly was lucky, though because I had helped Matt set up a 2 hour massage at our house for her with our friend, Janis who is a very experienced massage therepist.
    The weekend ended with a fun Cinco de Mayo party at Sin, a bar in Salinas.  Matt and Nelly got to meet a lot of our friends.  On Monday, Nelly and I went to the mud bath in San Vicente.  Was that ever an experience. We hired a taxi to take us there and wait to bring us back.  It is $2.00 to get into the mud bath and mineral baths.  For $3.00 you can get vapors (like a steam bath with eucalyptus, etc...) and for $5.00 you can get either a mud massage or an aloe vera massage. Nelly went with the mud massage and I got the aloe vera.  If you have any inhibitions, you might want to skip the massage part. It is topless and they don't avoid any areas.  Surprisingly it was not as weird as it sounds.  Pretty much you are rubbed with either aloe vera or mud from head to toe.  The mud bath was quite interesting.  I had to shower off the aloe vera first, then rub mud all over and let it dry.  Then another shower so we could go in the mineral baths.  The whole thing is pretty rustic, but we had a good time.  I would definitely go again.
     Today we said our goodbyes to Matt and Nelly.  It was so awesome to have them here and we will miss them terribly.  We look forward to our next visitor, our friend Lynne, who comes the end of June.  And all the new people we will meet as we open our bed and breakfast.  At least we have now experienced some things that we will recommend.