Canoa Chilling Febr 17 2018

Spent the last week relaxing after Carnival and sorting out getting my motorcycle into a good mechanic. Thanks, to Luis,(my Spanish Teacher) and his fathernlaw who arranged and took the moto for repairs, I have it back as of yesterday afternoon.

Last evening after dinner at the Canoa Beach Hotel with Julia,Chris,James and the hotels owner Greg and 2 patrons, John and Tony we returned to Sundown to wish Katheryn & Graham ( Scotland/England residency)  well on their travels as they were leaving in the morning....Tuesday Tom (Colorado) left for Salinas Ecuador.......this fall he is headed for Egypt with his daughter who is teaching in Korea.

 Tom

 Graham/Katheryn 

 James will depart tomorrow for the Galapagos Isl and continue his journey south to Machu Picchu where he will meet up with his son & daughter

Julia compiled a list of email addresses last night so Tom if you are reading this, I will add your name and email the list out to all.

My Spanish lessons ended last week...though I have a lot of memorizing to do and pronunciation to work on.....thanks Luis for tolerating a slow learner......  

Today we visited Isle Corazon Park, a mangrove island in the Chone River just outside of Bahia Caraques.

At one time this area was all mangrove swamp and teeming with bird and aquatic life. The mangroves have a thick root network and blocked the silt from filling the estuary of Bahia/San Vicente. The estuary was 15 metres deep with Bahia a major port centre feeding the entire region. Shrimp farmers bought up the area and cut the swamps down creating large holding pools to raise shrimp for both domestic and export. This uncontrolled use of a natures filter system led to the estuary filling in and now the average depth at high tide is 3 metres.....the shipping port was no longer, having moved south to Guayaquil. A local family manages to acquire a large Island in the estuary and replanted it with thousands of seedlings restoring some of what was loss. The Island is home to many birds that feed on a variety of  aquatic creatures. This is a lone man's attempt to restore a balance with nature and to fund his endeavor opened the Island to eco tourism with a boat and Isl tours for a small fee. 

 Mangrove Root System sprouting.......

 One of many Shrimp pools along the estuary.

 

Picked up my bike Friday afternoon....entire bottom 1/2 of engine replaced including casing/bearings etc.......after talking with Toby at Around the Block, I took his advise and it is now back to a 250cc engine.

It is unbelievable to me that parts and Labour were under $ 140.00........braking it in with 20/50 regular motorcycle oil for the 1st 100k...then switching to Synthetic Oil,

 

 

The boys (old Boys) will miss the 2 pretty Senoritas who also departed today.

The girls are Ecuadorian & Argentinian ....... sorry that we may have appeared stand offish .... just figured you would not be comfortable with the age difference.

Deseandoles lo mejor en sus viajes.