Classic night style border cross into Ecuador and if I remember correctly another security stop check made this bus ride pretty hard to get comfortable. Having had such an awesome time with Andy and Ben in mancora we were determined to keep the playa pad theme alive in montanita.
Montanita is known as one of the worlds most infamous surf beaches and is a hot spot for many backpackers on the gringo trail!
Pulling over at the main road a street or so back from the town centre and beach itself we gathered our luggage and were met immediately by some Canadian dude who was certain he was the man to speak to for "everything" in montanita. His pushy arrogance was not what we were interested in at all and we were quick to band together and head toward the beach for our own accommodation research. We hadn't got as much as 15m away from the bus where we met Zac. Young guy from brissy who'd just been on our bus from mancora and looked as though he would measure up to the caper of Andy, Ben and myself. "You join the playa pad crew" I remember saying childishly. He was probably weirded out by us at first but didnt take this larger than life character to slot right in.
The beach was lined with a few sweet looking lounge bars where Zac and the retard (Ben) minded our gear. Andy and I took off on a hunt for our new seaside playa pad. A few queries with some nearby hostels and we were in doubt. But once further down the beach we saw the ultimate crib for the playas to vacate in. Some free standing beach shacks run by guys who had a small bar restaurant there on the beach also gave a good price for our stay and we returned to the boys with big smiles on our faces ! They were impressed and we were keen to make good use of our roomy facilities.
Didn't take any of us long to take a liking to Zac; he liked to party how we liked to party, told outrageous stories and LOVED!!! Smoking weed.
I went for a desperate surf that arvo. Hired a board but was just out the back groveling really, hadnt caught a wave in months. Back in to shore where the boys were already perched out the front of the pad on plastic chairs with all the party supplies.
First night out down in town we were far too early! Nothing gets kicking till fairly late. But we met a group of girls who were in the same boat; little anxious with day one syndrome, walking around in a daze for a party. Hannah , britt and Chelsea one of the boys had met before so was an easy introduction. We ended up spending most our time with these girls and they were great fun. We also ran into our two favourite dutch girls from mancora who were always good banter. Me and britt lost the plot on cocktail alley a few times ordering the most outrageous cocktails we could find on the menu and pretty much hitting full retard t-Rex mode. Cocktail alley was easily montanitas highlight. Running directly into the beach you could walk up it from late in the afternoon to all hours of the morning and have the most deliciously fresh cocktail made on the spot for no more than $3 at most. Soo tasty and hard to refuse at anytime of the day really. Pinacolada was my definite fave and the perfect Way to wash down montanitas Amazing street food.
Club scene was fun. One was completed open air with a sand bottom and another where we got to watch a proper deep house DJ set completely stacked with people.
The days consisted of siestas, swims, sun baking, drinking rum, walk into town for lunch , laying in the hammock and smoking weed with Zac. A proper holiday! We even convinced the girls to come and get there own playa pad down the beach too. Few nights playing drinking games were classic!
Me and Andy were constantly talking about going into the jungle but wanted to do it for real and not just on a p**** tour on the outskirts of the amazon. We really wanted to be in the thick of it. From our research we found that banòs, a small town famous for its action sports activities at the door step of the amazon would be perfect to plan our adventure. Me and Andy booked a bus with rosa and Laura (our Dutch girls) and planned to be arriving in the wee hours of the morning in montanita. Ben was interested in going off to climb a mountain in another town and was going to touch base in a few days.
Bring on banòs and some amazon adventures !!!