I
woke up early to change hostels. Spondylus is good and very comfortable but I
am moving to stay in the same place as Sarah and Kathrin and I get a private
room on the beach for the same price.

After
moving I met up with Sarah and Kathrin and had some fruit salad for breakfast.
I also saw Kristin on the beach so went to say hi to her. We were going to go
horse riding later that morning so invited Kristin and Mya to join.

After
sitting and chatting for a while the horses arrived. We jumped on and got going
down the beach. We made our way to Las Tunas before heading up into the
mountains and forest. Here we were met by heat, humidity and mosquitoes! They
were all over us. We trotted around the forest for a while before getting into
an open area and finally a mosquito free area after being bitted numerous
times. Here we continued to climb the mountain which gave us amazing views of
the little pueblos (villages) below. On our ride we also saw many mariposa
(butterfly) of varying colours and sizes.

We
eventually started making our way dawn and back into Ayampe where we went to
have a swim and a beer to cool off. After a few swims in the warm water we
decided it was time for an ice cream and also needed to get some food for
dinner. Ayampe is really small and only has two little tiendas so we went into
Puerto Lopez (a bigger town about 20 minutes North) to the supermarket.

As
we came over the hill I saw the size of the town and immediately loved Ayampe
even more. It wasn’t that big but I am really enjoying these small villages.
What was nice was that it wasn't very touristic and there were lots of locals around.
After the girls bought a few gifts for friends back home we headed to get a
shake. When we sat down and ordered we realised we were actually rather hungry
so I had some civiche. It was very different to Peruvian civiche but it was
still tasty.

It
was now time to go get some food to cook for dinner so we headed to the
supermarket to get some cash at the ATM and get some goodies for tortillas for
dinner. After the shopping was done we headed to another store to get the fresh
produce. With bags in hand we headed to the road to catch the bus back to
Ayampe. For some reason it took forever and we eventually caught it after
waiting about 45 minutes.

Once
on the bus we got to Ayampe just after dark and made our way to the hostel.
Here we put the food in the kitchen and decided to chill for a while before
cooking. I took the opportunity to have a much needed shower before joining the
girls in their room for a photo sharing session.

After much convincing (as they were feeling lazy
and ready for a nap) we made our way to the kitchen to get dinner going. It was
quick and easy with lots of chopping. Sami (the hostel owner from Lebanon)
joined us for dinner and some Spanish conversation. 

After
dinner we chatted for a while before calling it a night and heading to bed.