Today, Kary and I planned to go to Isla Santay. Isla Santay is a small island surrounded by the Guayas River. It is about 2.2 square kilometers of vegetation. It primarily used for recreation where people can bike, run or walk and has trails made up of modern boardwalks. It's a nice way to spend the morning or afternoon with families or friends while enjoying the peace and quiet of nature because it is far away removed from the hustle and bustle of the city.
I skipped breakfast in morning and met up with Kary to make our way to Isla Santay. Along the way, I picked up some street food snacks and some candy on the bus for the trip.
The bus ride was a little challenging as we hopped on a few buses to get to one of the bridges which would take us to Isla Santay.
There are three main ways to get to the island. One was to take a lancha (boat) from Malecon 2000 which only operated on the weekends and holidays and there are two bridges that connect the mainland and Isla Santay. We chose to go to the southern part of Guayaquil where a 1km bridge connected the mainland to Isla Santay. At the entrance of the bridge, we rented bikes so we can bike around the island.
We stopped at the other side of the bridge to get a mango granazado (an ice cone with sweet sugar toppings like mango or other fruit flavours).
Biking on the boardwalks was pretty fun riding around completely surrounded by nature. There was not many people along the trails but we saw a lot of birds, roots and trees and the occasional runner and families walking the trails.
There are two trails. One that led you to the other bridge which took you to another part of the mainland called Durán. The other led you to the a village where about 50 families lived in cabins. The city legislated the approval for indigenous families to live on the island based on ancestral and their indigenous status. (Ecoaldea is a spanish word meaning 'eco village').
In the village, there were mini trails which were viewing areas. We tried to go to one, but were ambushed by an army of mosquito. We made a quick retreat skipping those views.
Next to the village, there is a boat launching area. This is where you would arrive if you came from Malecon 2000.
Also in the village was an educational cabin where you could learn about the island and its inhabitants which included crocodiles! We skipped the education and went directly to the crocodile farm.
Before we left, we stopped by the restaurant where we stopped by to have lunch.
On the way back, this is where my bike failed miserable on me. As I was riding the pedal broke off! After a short WTF moment, Kary pointed out that I had cut my leg. When the pedal broke off, I had cut my left calf of my leg on the sharp metal on the crank of the bike where it had broken off. It was really deep cut - maybe 1cm in depth, and I could see white meat. The odd thing was that there was barely any blood! I found out later that the metal must have been so sharp that it did not cause my wound to bleed. So great, with noone around and about 30 minutes from the where we needed to return the bikes I had to walk my broken bike.
On the bridge, we passed by a group of medical students from the University of Guayaquil and asked if they had any bandages and alchohol to help tend to my wound. As luck would have it, they did. I felt pampered when these nurses all made an effort to help me and I feel a deep gratitude to all of them for helping me. They disinfected my wound and bandaged it up. I don't know if it was because I was Canadian or if they had a chance to help someone but their energy level was very high. When we were leaving, they wanted to take a group picture of me and of course, I obliged. What an awesome group of humans! These guys made friends with me for life!
On the way home, we stopped by to get something to eat close to my house at around 4PM. It was late in the afternoon, but we were still able to get almuerzo (lunch) which included soup, chicken, beans and rice.
We also stopped by a pharmacy where Kary made a call to Graciela, my home stay mom. Graciela was a doctor and after asking some questions, she was able to prescribe medicine and equipment which I will need to heal. Graciela checked up on me later to make sure the wound was not infected.
Weekend before Galapagos
It was already Friday, and I had a ticket to fly to Galapagos on Monday. I decided to lay low for the next 2 days and concentrated on healing my wound. I spent the time doing my laundry, writing in my blog and emails, and going to the mall to shop and eat until I left for the Galapagos Islands on Monday.
It was another beautiful day on Sunday, and I felt rested up and healed as much as I could to continue my adventures in the Galapagos Islands!
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