Our trip is going better. We are in Montanita now, a little surfer town on the coast of Ecuador that caters a bit more to foreigners (some people here actually speak English). We are really close to the Equator so it's really hot and the sun feels very intense. Despite wearing a lot of sunscreen Beth and I both managed to burn a little today, so we'll have to be more careful. It´s great to finally escape the rain and finally be able to wear shorts and sandals. Our days pretty much consist of sleeping, eating, reading, playing ukulele, laying in the sun for a few hours, wondering around, eating some more, then sleeping again. It´s a welcome change. We plan to stay here for a few more days and then go to Puerto Lopez, a bigger coastal town where well stay for a day before taking an overnight bus back to Quito from where we'll fly home on the 27th. Last night we stayed in a hotel overlooking the beach. We thought it was great until we woke up this morning to discover that we had both been eaten alive (me more than Beth) by what we think may have been bed bugs! It's hard to tell since there were big gaps at the floor and ceiling where bugs could have gotten in, but the strange clustering and appearance make us suspicious. I must have over 20 bites just on one arm and have been trying really hard not to complain about the itching today. Hopefully the new hotel we moved to will fix the problem. At least everything here is cheap - well except the internet - but it´s a small town with only a few internet places so that´s expected. The highlight of today was eating the most delicious banana honey pancake I´ve ever had, served by a cool guy from Wisconsin who answered some questions we had such as ¨how do we get back to Quito?¨and ¨what exactly is cerviche?¨