So 60 hours of Spanish lessons, 10 hours spent attempting to be a surfista,4 hours salsa dancing, 1 Isla de la Plata trip, BBQ's, beach parties and way too many cocktails on cocktail ally to remember later….

And I'm about to set sail on my further meanderings around South America.

Montanita has been amazing…maybe not in terms of productivity….after many hours spent studying Espanola I can still only(barely) speak in present tense and still resort to my (now very excellent) spanglish. Also I think I may just take up body boarding instead of surfing as I'm found to be excellent at paddling and catching the waves(with a little help from Isidro) but can I stand up….can I eck!(note, must get my northernisims out of my system here as they are just met with no further response than a blank face and a what/que here!)

And so despite my lack of progress in the areas that I'd made my decision to come to Montanita for, it's been immense!

Unless you're deprived of any kind of personality or a fun hater(thanks Pablo) you'd be hard pushed not to make many friends and have mucho fun., it's basically a hippie retreat with backpackers and surfers thrown in living harmoniously in a gringo loving bamboo heaven.

It's a very relaxed pace of life here and it's very easy to look back and think "what the hell have I done in the 3 and a half weeks I've been here?" as I have found the days just melt and merge into one big pina colada, caipirina, mohito haze. So apologies to my friends and family who would like an actual account of what I've been up to as the above synopsis is about all I can muster.

Top Tips for those planning to dirft into Montanita. Stay away from the hostels on the main strip, they are cheep but no consolation if you would like to sleep at some point during your stay. Eat at Wipe Out everything is amazing(I've been here 6 times in 2 weeks)And PorQueNo? Is a must if you need Pizza. Also if you like red wine…its very expense and of limited selection. However, if you like an alcoholic fruity juice in a carton do try Clos - Cab Sauvignon(sold everywhere)$5..it does the trick!

And so to my next destinations Gauyaquil, Cuenca and Vilcbamba…..