Easter Bunny in Banos – Bus Trip To Guayaquil Ecuador

Posted on by exploramum

We wake up on Easter Sunday morning in Banos as we prepare for our bus trip to Guayaquil.

Easter Eggs

Banos

©Exploramum and Explorason – Explorason gets to find Easter eggs on Easter Sunday morning

Easter eggs are not readily sold in stores in Ecuador so ‘Easter Bunny’ has had a challenging time. Also, the fact that this single Mum has a child always present as a parent this makes it hard for me to buy anything at all in the past few weeks. Sometimes multi-tasking as a single Mama on the road has challenges.  As a prepared parent, I have had to pack all the things that we might want or need, including Easter Eggs – just in case we are not sure of finding them at our destination.

Am I now a Mama?

I have noticed my title has changed from “Mummy”, and “Mum” to “Mama”. He tells me he wants to sound Spanish.  I think it is nice anyway – and he was getting a bit old for “Mummy”.

Egg Hunt

Easter Eggs

©Exploramum and Explorason – he is so excited to have Easter Eggs, even if it is just a few

So Explorason is pretty thrilled to find eggs hidden around our hotel room. Especially as it seems the local families staying didn’t find any. So we pack up to leave Banos. We have to travel all day, so it is an early start.

Angels

bus trip to Guayaquil

©Exploramum and Explorason – this man helps us get our luggage to the bus station

Recently I have been reading a book about angels, so we pray angels can help us along the way today as I feel we are going to need some assistance as we have to change buses etc.

We head out to the street with our bags to get the bus trip to Guayaquil. Suddenly, along comes an old man with a makeshift wooden cart or wagon – it is made from an old go-kart.

So we go in and ask the owner of the hotel about him and says he will take our bags. She says we will need to tip him 50 cents.

luggage

©Exploramum and Explorason – feeling thankful for this mans strong muscles

We get a few stares as this older, but string man, heading down the road. ‘Better than my back’ which is suffering right now I think to myself (very thankfully) as we arrive at the bus station.
He offloads them with my help and I give him $2 before he disappears with a big smile and I wish I’d given him $10. My son thinks he was our first angel of today.

I buy the tickets for what I think is the connecting bus trip to Guayaquil. Next thing men are racing across the road with our bags. Before we know it we are on a bus and heading to Riobamba.

Markets

bus trip to Guayaquil

©Exploramum and Explorason – local markets line the streets

We pass many towns and it seems like markets are everywhere.

Kids On The Bus

random acts of kindness

©Exploramum and Explorason – these kids are all alone on the bus

There are only two kids on the bus all alone with no adults. They are dirty and poor looking with big eyes of maybe 5 and 8 years old. The ‘Mama love’ in me kicks in and I give them food. The little girl clutches it. She won’t eat it while I am looking but as soon as I turn away, she gobbles it down!

Random Acts Of Kindness

The past few days we have continued handing out toiletries to the poor on the street. My son gave some of his pocket money to a blind beggar. I love his caring heart!

Is He An Angel?

We get off the bus – or should I say we felt dumped at a corner in Riobamba, Ecuador. This bus, however, does not go to the station. The man in front of us on the bus has been smiling at us all the time and talks to us. He tells us in limited Spanish we must get a taxi to where the buses go past but that is a good distance from here.

We load the taxi and join him to the next area a few km away. He pays and then waits with us. We buy local food from a vendor as I can’t leave the bags and it is so delicious and healthy. I can’t believe it is so inexpensive. We wait for about 2 hours and he tells us there is a problem with our bus trip to Guayaquil.

We must get a taxi to the big bus depot as the bus will not pass here.

Then we look but he has disappeared! We wait and wait and he never comes back. He seems to have vanished. We are convinced he is an angel! So we get our own taxi to the bus depot. Thank goodness for him or we would have had no idea where to go.

Bum Steers

We get three ‘bum steers’ about where to get a bus from people we ask. We are finally told to go to the parking lot. There is a mass of people. The first bus arrives and they flock in. I miss out as I have no idea what we are to do.

Getting On A Bus

I am told 15 more minutes and another bus will come. This time we are ready for action. I run in (and get slightly pushed out the way). I dump our non-valuable packs on the first two seats while my son is outside with the bags. I realize it is the fasted is that get on the bus and when it fills up we must wait for the next one. As we have missed out before, we have to be fast and a bit assertive which is difficult when you don’t speak the language.

I then send my son in to ‘sit tight’ with the bags.

I wait to load the luggage under the bus. You have to get stickers put on your bags with numbers to collect later. In the line, I have made friends with a local lady who is unable to speak. She touches my hair and constantly smiles and sign languages to me. I offer her mandarins and she is thankful as it is just another way we feel we can assist strangers. This lady is like my silent companion.

Toilet Time

The bus stops and I have to go to the bano so it is a mad dash. I have learned that the toilet (bano) on the buses are not to be used simply because the driver does not want to clean them.
So everyone dashes off when it stops. You need to be sure to tell someone or the bus (or the bus driver as I do) or is likely to leave without you. My son has learned to say “Pare, Mama Banos”. I think it was the first thing he learned.

Winding Road

bus trip to Guayaquil

©Exploramum and Explorason – local mountain life

With me safely back in, we drive on and wind through the hills. The driver is a maniac and he is hell-bent on passing a silver bus. So for 5 hours, we drive like crazed idiots through the hills playing cat and mouse with the silver bus.

During our bus trip to Guayaquil, I have one foot on a backpack on the ground. I clutch the open window with one hand – which is also around my sleeping son. The other hand clutches a plastic bag in case I throw up as I feel so very ill.

Bus Trip to Guayaquil Viewing A Cloud Forest

bus trip to Guayaquil

©Exploramum and Explorason – Cloud forest

Gum trees line the hills but it is way different from Australia. We are in the cloud forests and it is glorious.

Dreamkapture

bus trip to Guayaquil

©Exploramum and Explorason – Explorason enjoys the refreshing pool

We arrive at Guayaquil. We have booked a fabulous hostel – Dreamkapture. It isn’t so inexpensively priced, but we love the fact that it is so clean. The staff is friendly and it has a little pool. At least my son now has something to do plus it will cool him down. All in all, it looks like a great place.

We have no air in our private room and it is so very hot here. I need a good night’s sleep.

Tomorrow we will buy our international bus tickets. Then we will explore the city. But we hit a glitch.  What is it?  Read our next article to find out.

Comments and Questions

  • Have you ever had to catch a bus or public transport with a child?
  • How did you handle it?
  • What are your tips?

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