The Musings of Matt Hayes: Cliffs, Caves, and Cameras

Canoa is a pretty small town but there are still some adventures to be had. I heard about a couple sea side caves to the north of town when I had just got here but my first attempt to get there was shut down by the large tide changes.

On Wednesday I met two cousins, Mari and Siri, from Norway whose birthdays are two days apart. After celebrating Siri’s birthday on Wednesday night we decided to make an attempt at the caves on Friday for Mari’s celebration. Our planning consisted of asking around for directions which were vague at best (go north, around a cove, over a cliff, and then down) and getting some people to guess at the tide charts Thursday night. That seemed sufficient to me.

Low tide was estimated around 9am so we met at 8 for breakfast at a local gringo hangout. After some food we started walking out of town along the beach. As we passed the last hostel a stray dog, whom we quickly dubbed Rufus, started following us. I don’t know why it got named Rufus since it was a girl but Siri and Mari liked it and I don’t think the dog would have responded better to a girl’s name so I let it go. The tide was low as we casually walked around the rock buttress that had stopped my progress the first time. We continued around the cove where Rufus was briefly chased by some other dogs and then stared up at a really steep hill. There was supposed to be a “trail” going up but the recent rain must have destroyed it because no such thing existed. We met some local travelling artisans also staring up at the hill wondering what to do and since no one had any better ideas I started picking my way along a drainage the ran across the hillside. The clay mud was sliding with every step we took and my flip flops were more detrimental than good so I took them off. The drainage led us to the left side of the hill where we had to scramble up a very steep face for 3 meters before it leveled out a tiny bit following a second drainage. My flip flops were completely worthless at this point so I left them and opted to climb barefoot. I’m not gonna lie, my fear of heights was kicking in but Siri and Rufus were charging up the mountain like rockstars so Mari and I had no choice but to follow. At the top of the drainage we had to boost Rufus up and over some exposed roots and tree limbs which were covered in termites she could continue the walk with us.

Next was a brief trek through the jungle. Fallen trees, vines, termites, biting ants, and spiders were only some of the fun to be had as we picked our way along the top of a flaky sand/clay cliff that dropped 45 meters into the ocean. I was reconsidering the benefits of leaving my sandals on the hillside as we found a horse trail. Mari was convinced the hoof prints were actually that of a large human-eating beast but luckily I was able to convince her otherwise and the journey continued. After a bit more time in the jungle we caught up with the two locals in a clearing overlooking the ocean, a large field we had to cross, and the caves we were searching for. We scrambled down another steep run off and walked across a field with mud squishing up between our toes. I felt a little silly as we watched the two locals go to the exact same place walking along a road instead of through waist high grass but at least it got us to the same place.

As soon as we got to the beach I hopped in the water, happy to wash all the bugs, seed pods, and spider webs off. We waded in a little deeper, picking our way around the rocks sporadically dispersed under the water, and then making our way into the cavern. Bats were sleeping about 7 meters above us, stirring if we talked too loud, with many more of their brethren further towards the back. To be honest there wasn’t much to see in the cave but it felt triumphant to have reached our destination.

Once we exited the first cave I decided to attempt a swim to the second one which was separated from us by about 30-40 meters. No one wanted to go with me so I set out alone, fighting the current and ducking under waves as they rolled in. It should be noted here that I am a terrible swimmer. About 75% of the way there I gave up and let myself get pulled back to the beach where we played with Rufus, attempted cartwheels, and climbed on some rocks before we started the hike back.

It was pretty much the same as the way there except for an extra steep part that Siri found as an alternative way down the cliff. Rufus followed us the whole way, Mari’s camera survived in one piece, and Siri and I even got our flip flops back.

In other news I was an extra in an Ecuadorian indy film. I was standing outside a gringo bar when some kids I had partied with during Carnival asked me if I wanted to drink free beer and get paid to be in a movie with the only catch being we would shoot until 3am. I’ll try anything twice so I agreed and we headed over to a loosely organized set. Around 6am we were finally released, given $7 and a sandwich and thanked for our time, sans (or “sin”) any free beer. Oh well, it was a new experience and in about a year you’ll be able to see my haggard mug in “Tenemos Que Hablar.” Check it out.

And finally, some pictures -