Yesterday we arrived back to Canoa, today marks three months from the earth quake. These are my thoughts and observations so far.
We drove from Quito and hit the coast at Perenales, one of the towns/small city worst affected by the earthquake. You would never know you are in the same place as you were just over three months ago. It use to be full of tall buildings a bustling place of business and now it is a small town with very few buildings at all. We then travelled South down the coast to Canoa. The road is still being fixed and you can see the immense damage the earthquake caused all along the route. There are many camps set up and tents in place of destroyed homes.
We then arrived in Canoa, what use to be a small town is now half its size. Finding our hostel was tricky for a minute as all our usual land marks were gone. The restaurant that Dominica was trapped under is a distant memory with a few bricks still remaining in its place. A whole street of restaurants and houses has just disappeared and in its place empty lots. But the rubble is cleared and if you did not know what happened it may even look normal to you.
We checked in and then realised we needed to send something to Peru (Thai visa stuff) so we headed to Bahia, 14km's away, the nearest 'city'. From a distance it does not look bad, loads of tall buildings still stand. But once you get there, you see the total devastation. Most buildings are just waiting to come down. When looking for a post office or delivery service people just laughed at us and said there is noting left here. Eventually a cab driver said we could follow him in our car and took us to a small room in a broken building that now operates as a marriage place/license place/post office and probably a million other functions. Here you could see just how devastating the earthquake was and still is.
But the thing that has struck me the most is how incredible the human spirit is. In that small office young couples were getting married, getting their drivers license and people were laughing and chatting and celebrating, life has gone on. Back in Canoa the beach bars still had people at night, playing music together and singing, children are still playing football everywhere, shops have been made out of bamboo, there is even a spa outside of our hostel in a tent. The tourism has changed, the remaining hostels and hotels have some guests, they are the doctors, vets, volunteers, that are here to help. We had long chats to the owners of our hostel, now friends for life, the experience having bonded us. The volunteers are helping the industry but of course they need more tourism to come back. And people should.
Besides the obvious structural changes in Canoa nothing else has changed. The beach is still beautiful, the food being served in restaurants is fantastic and the people are more beautiful than ever. It is a place not to be missed out on travels.
I will miss this place loads when we leave Ecuador and for now will enjoy our small honeymoon here trying to help a bit where we can.
We drove from Quito and hit the coast at Perenales, one of the towns/small city worst affected by the earthquake. You would never know you are in the same place as you were just over three months ago. It use to be full of tall buildings a bustling place of business and now it is a small town with very few buildings at all. We then travelled South down the coast to Canoa. The road is still being fixed and you can see the immense damage the earthquake caused all along the route. There are many camps set up and tents in place of destroyed homes.
We then arrived in Canoa, what use to be a small town is now half its size. Finding our hostel was tricky for a minute as all our usual land marks were gone. The restaurant that Dominica was trapped under is a distant memory with a few bricks still remaining in its place. A whole street of restaurants and houses has just disappeared and in its place empty lots. But the rubble is cleared and if you did not know what happened it may even look normal to you.
We checked in and then realised we needed to send something to Peru (Thai visa stuff) so we headed to Bahia, 14km's away, the nearest 'city'. From a distance it does not look bad, loads of tall buildings still stand. But once you get there, you see the total devastation. Most buildings are just waiting to come down. When looking for a post office or delivery service people just laughed at us and said there is noting left here. Eventually a cab driver said we could follow him in our car and took us to a small room in a broken building that now operates as a marriage place/license place/post office and probably a million other functions. Here you could see just how devastating the earthquake was and still is.
But the thing that has struck me the most is how incredible the human spirit is. In that small office young couples were getting married, getting their drivers license and people were laughing and chatting and celebrating, life has gone on. Back in Canoa the beach bars still had people at night, playing music together and singing, children are still playing football everywhere, shops have been made out of bamboo, there is even a spa outside of our hostel in a tent. The tourism has changed, the remaining hostels and hotels have some guests, they are the doctors, vets, volunteers, that are here to help. We had long chats to the owners of our hostel, now friends for life, the experience having bonded us. The volunteers are helping the industry but of course they need more tourism to come back. And people should.
Besides the obvious structural changes in Canoa nothing else has changed. The beach is still beautiful, the food being served in restaurants is fantastic and the people are more beautiful than ever. It is a place not to be missed out on travels.
I will miss this place loads when we leave Ecuador and for now will enjoy our small honeymoon here trying to help a bit where we can.
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