64 Island Tour

64 island tour

2018-09-27 8:19 AM

1.At the City Center hotel in Victoria waiting for pool to open

An epic first day of birthday trip yesterday cramming a cidery tour ,Pool rum party 2 happy hour pub crawls and a critter happy hour in the smoking

Sea Cider Cidery offered up a delcious flight of new ciders which we greedily

Devoured before purchasing some Witches Broom and Berry jack ciders 

Area behind hotel. Not a bad smoking area replete with benches and palm trees

Numerous bar denzions  joined us for lively conversation as we puffed on a YRomeo Y Juliette and enjoyed a scrumtious butter Scotch noted Courversie Cognac

.A short drive brought us to our Victoria digs The City centre hotel a newly renovated

1961 Landmark. The room exceeded our expectations and the pool bar area wowed us

I couldn’t wait to get in the 85 degree water .

Let the holiday begin. Bacardi 4 year aged rum servedIn hotel logoed plastic cups 

 got the party started. It was hard to let go so we arrived lateFor lunch at the Vista 

and had to settle for Elk sLiders and grilledsquid happy hour bitesInstead of saffron

  

mussels and ahi tacos we had planned. The view was great and the snacks Delicious. Not to be shortchanged we stopped at an old haunt Bartholemews at the Now Double tree Hilton formerly The Executive. I had to have  bar and addethe old'prawn Ceasar"My former hangover staple at this Establishment in years past. They raised the bar and and added a mussel to this creation. Some dry ribs filled up our second course.Leaving Barts to go up the hill to our parking spot. The pain hit me. My problematic ankle Bit hard  forcjing me to limp back to my car. This was probably the worst its ever been in 7 months. Not going to let it spoil the fun. Cigar and Cognac time . WINNING

   

2018-09-29 8:15 AM  day 3

At Ocean Front Suites an underwhelming Cowichan Bay which has definetly

Seen  better days. Duncan Farmers market and Zinatta Winery bistro ahead

Birthday boy indulged a little yesterday with much poolside Rums and oyster

Blowout at Victoria Ferris Bar and Grill .  Happy hour "buck a shuck ' oysters

In the half shell started the baccanalia. It was sad they had to charge for condiments For the oysters to make up for inflation. Also some on the mollusks on our plate wereA little on the small side. Upstairs we continued with humbolt squid and oysters done 6 ways with a very pricey pinot noir ( food was great wine OK)

We loved The Capital City Centre Hotel great room friendly staff and

Over the top pool andpatio bar area. Palm trees  85 Degree water and hot sun

Little Mexico in 'Victoria . We'll be back

Duncan farmers market
This place was the real deal not a craft show with a few food vendors. Wineries and distilleriesSampling their wares at 9 in the morning. A great Reggae band playing in the backgroundWe easily dropped over a $100 dollars on various goodies.

( We didnt really buy any vegetables just wine

 Then a great lunch at Zannata wineries

Sadly one of the wineries Godfrey Bremill had lost its owner and was now closed. This was always an interesting stop on the island wine tour and the  owner always had lots to say. Another winery, The Blue Grouse had changed ownership and unfortunately the stunning white wines formerly produced by the now retired owner were now lacklustre.

NICE VIEW THOUGH

 

The spanking new building and events room did not make up for the wineuality going down. At least the big money that purchased this enterprise certainly paid the founder a handsome fee'
For his 25 year stewardship of this winery. Back to the lunch at Zannatas. Great table overlooking a TuscanStyle garden.

 Pinot noir and coffee marinated beef ribs with Beet and apple salad backed up by the wineries

Own pinot noir. 

An overcast sky protect

 us from a still very hot sun.

THE COWICHAN BAY OCEAN FRONT SUITES

Answers from Hotel Managers not to give Hotel guests

GUEST-"The room is shabby nothing like your web pictures"

MANAGER "yes were going through renovations The pictures are our

Executive suites .I will let the owner know about the bait and switch'

GUEST- "The room is sparsely furnished it looks like furniture is missing

MANAGER-" I guess they are trying to do a minimalist decor.

GUEST RETORT- I would say its more like  early Canadian poverty

GUEST- "The furniture is chipped and walls are scratched'

MANAGER- Yes

GUEST-  Your website mentioned well equipped kitchen , our unit was lacking

               basic amenities. Dishrack  cutting board  large frying pan etc.

MANAGER- "You wouldn’t believe how some of our guests steal things

                        you just have to ask for stuff if you need it at the front desk

GUEST. " We notified staff that we would be back by 100pm today Why is our

                room not cleaned?"

MANAGER-" We are short staffed and 2 people called in sick, We had to

                   do a major clean-up of 2 rooms where people threw up

GUEST TO CLEANING STAFF. " I guess you guys are really busy today

 and weren't able to get to our rooms

CLEANING STAFF- " Yes we are short staffed and 2 people called in sick

GUEST-"The appliances in our room are ancient and don’t look like the ones

                on your web site"

MANAGER- " Oh the old appliances work much better than the new ones "

GUEST- "One of the couch cushions has a rip

MANAGER- "Our maintenance crew is Backed up with work"

GUEST- "The wall is scratched and has a chunk missing out'

MANAGER- ""Our maintenance crew is Backed up with work"

THE VIEW FROM

THE ROOM WAS 

GREAT

Back at the ranch after a great last day on the island. Brunch at The Cow rest on top of the Cowichan Ocean front suites helped redeem the hiccup of the bad room. A delicious smoked steel head bennyAnd bacon ceasar started off a full day of wine and cider tasting. We had booked a late ferry back

And were determined to fill up the day with one of our favourite pastimes.

DANGER MAN

I mentioned in my first blog I would save the story of the drive to Casa WF from the Manta airport for later. I was actually still traumatized by the experience for a few days after arriving in San Jancito and needed time to process the ordeal.             

 First...... driving at night in third world country after a brutal fight itinery from 'Canada....WTF was I thinking. Marty's driving instuctions for the 'easy' 45 minute commute from the Manta airport was fucking useless against the lack of road signs and demonic Ecuadorian drivers. Honking horns and blinding high beams made it impossible to see and signs or landmarks on the road leaving the airport. Of course I made some wrong turns and got lost. 2 hours of driving back and forth looking for the right way had reduced me to a nervous wreck. I was waiting for the police to pull me over and put me out of my misery. As desperation set in I started flagging cabs and showed them my driving map prepared by Marty at Casa WF. No English down here is spoken and I started pulling over into gas stations and and nobody could figure out what I wanted or what I should do

Finally I stopped at a late night restaurant and a couple of locals who spoke a little broken English said they knew how to get me out of my predicament they would drive and I would follow.  After a few drinks of course, The big dude wanted to ride in my car while the other guy drove. I had enough sense to steer him away from my car and told them I would follow them alone They started  to go drive away and as I realized they were definitely going in the wrong direction I pulled a you turn and bolted hoping they wouldnt turn around to follow their prey.  After a few miles with my pedal to the medal I thanked my guardian angel and started to consider my dwindling options.  It was getting late and dark and stuff was shutting down.  This was getting very nasty and I realized I was possibly in a very dangerous situation and should just grab a hotel and regroup the next way .  I stopped along the road where several cabs were parked and asked if there were any hotels around. These guys had finished their shift and were drinking houch at a friends house. One of the drivers after looking at my route instruction in English said he knew exactly where Casa WF was and reluctantly agreed to lead me there  . It was a long drive through some very back roads and I started to get paranoid about an ambush. I kept my eyes out for any other vehicles approaching. Finally after about an hour we arrived down a series of gravel roads to my destination. I thanked my guardian angel again and awarded my savior taxi driver with a $ 10 tip which he could not believe I was giving him. Muchos gracias mi amiago.                                

  This fucking nightmare should never have happened . The owners of Casa WF knew my itinery and should have strongly recommended or insisted I be picked up at the airport and rented my car the next day. They made it seem like it was an easy place to find( not ) and the driving instructions were not precise enough for someone who didnt know the area let alone for a gringo driving at night after a brutal flight itinery. I put this blot behind me for the rest of the trip And fucking Ecuadorian  drivers suck as I was to be reminded throughout my trip  

.

.

 

Jurassic Park

HYUNDAISAURUS

CRANEOSUARUS

The first day at Casa WFour quiet beachfront villa  was invaded by an herd of massive earthmoving creatures. The Ecuadorian powers that be had decided to build a breakwater of boulders to protect the shoreline from from tide erosion. Of course there was no notice given to the owners Marty and Jim or the hapless B&B guests ( me ).  I tried to grin and bare it for the first week but by the end of my stay the noise and dust had made me a very unhappy camper. We named each beast as it appeared at our site and Marty the owner jokingly said the place was turning into a veritable Jurassic park. Yeah dude ...this was my beach holiday and I got invaded by a bunch of dinosaurs Ha...Ha....Ha. Expected to be compted at the end of my stay. Did not happen

KAMATSURAPTOR

Manta

My little rental car let me check out 6 towns close by

Adios Ecuador

My trip in Ecuador was coming to a close. I was off to the Manta airport today to catch a flight to Houston . But  I had final day of beaching and relaxing before making the 45 minute drive. My flight wasn't untill 8:30 pm so I would have some time to look around Manta too.                                                                                  

Tuna Capital

Manta is a bustling port city and also a major centre for tuna processing. It is also a hub for cruise boats and tourists.

I heard about the Restaurant called Martinica from Marty and also seen it out in my Lonley Planet guideI went to the Avis counter at the airport and got directions to check this place out.My rental car wasnt due back untill 7pm so I could see a little bit of Manta   

I ordered tuna tatsika and sangria followed by a swordfish fillet in coconut sauce They were both tasty but am getting tired of the rice and fried plantain side dishes that accompany every meal in Ecuador

This is where the Manta Airport terminal was before the earthquake last year. Passengers were now processessed through makeshift tents before departing to Quito

It is time to board for Quito and then a lovely red eye to Houston I had no idea what lied ahead of me 

to be continued

ECUADOR 4

Montecristi

Montecristi about a 45 minute drive from San Jancito is where Panama hats are made and and I had to get one. I went to a small shop out of the tourist area where I had read the best ones were made. The finer the weave the better the hat. The first one I tried on was a perfect fit and I negotiated a price  

with the lady of the shop. These hats are not cheap and you get what you pay for         

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn-cTgL6ie0

click above to view video

For lunch I had chosen an Italian restaurant rated highly in Lonley Planet travel guide

Trattoria de Gabriele was perched on a hillside with an excellent view of Montecristi . The  interior and grounds had the ambiance of a Tuscan Villa 

I ordered a mixed seafood lasagna which was ok

The wine which was not priced on the menu

was $6.50 per glass Lunch came to $ 40 with tip

This place was definitely a little pricey but worth                                                            the view and the ambience. Today would be an expensive outing

   

Next door to this picturesque restaurant was a house less inviting

Welcome to my Casa

click to watch Welcome to my Casa the Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji7Zq5gLCng  

I guess the occupants of this Villa are afraid of the dangerous Italian Restaurant patrons

           

• SAN CLEMENTE

3 miles from Casa wf  this fishing town and Gringo enclave was a welcome change from the reclusiveness of San Jancito. My hosts Marty and Jim warned me of the "Gaggle of Gringos' that lived there. 

Along the malecon was a local surfing beach, I pulled over to check out the action and catch a sunset    

click to watch video tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn-cTgL6ie0

                                                                                                                 

i

After a week of rice and seafood  I started to get a craving for a good steak which was no a regular item on most Ecuadorian restaurant menus. I cruised around San Clemetente looking for a regular steakhouse and finally on the outskirts of town the smells of a barbecue a drew me to the place I was looking for ( menu partially in English) The t-bone steak looked damn good

It wasnt long before another  gringo walked in looking to ffulfill his carnivourous  cravings

Marshal had been in Ecuador for 8 years escaping a hectic life in California and coming here to get his health back , He claimed he dropped 50lbs  in the first 2 years and got rid of a nasty.drinking habit, He was a home builder near LA and realized he would never afford a beach property in California

 Marshal invited me to come and see his castle on the beach  

He lived in the top suite

 His wife and servants  lived on the main floor. He gave me the tour and as we were checking out the master bedroom  wife Gabriela returned home and greeted us in the bedroom As Marshall filled me with all the details of his life she reclined suggestively on the bed . He had earlier explained to me that his was an open marriage and in fact he was heading off to Thailand by himself for some adventure in a few months

Check out the spoiled cat 

Gabriela also like dogs and had adopted many to Marshals 

dismay

Lunch was prepared by Christian and Maria ( House servants )

 Delicious prawns and cerveiche

Christian joined us for lunch and sat closely to Gabriela 

I think he had more duties than just cleaning and cooking

 After lunch Marshal took me to see his lot that might be for sale. I realized that I had just attended an Ecuadorian time share meet complete with meal and bait. Now it was time for the sales pitch

Ugly sucker eh  He wanted to subdivide this puppy and allow me to have a piece of paradise  for $30,000 there were better ocean lots for sale in  San Jancito


There's always some gringo from California trying to be a land developer in his adopted country 

 

Canoa

CANOA

This surfing mecca was hit hard by the earthquake that hit last year

The beaches were deserted when I was there

Lots of new construction going on

San Clemete