Entonces Entiendo

Despite, or perhaps because of, the lazy paradisiacal vibe in Canoa, my boyfriend and I signed up for two hours of Spanish lessons per day with Pamela, one of the two sisters who jointly run a restaurant a few blocks from the beach.


During our first lesson Pamela was teaching us conversational skills and she had us play a game to make it more fun. The premise was that there was a magical island called Tonces and we were supposed to practice both our reflexive and regular verbs by saying what we liked to do in this mythical land. She would say things like “En Tonces, me gusta nadar con los delfins.” Then we would copy the format but change the verb and say things that we liked to do in Tonces such as, “Me gusta ire a la playa.” For homework she asked us to write five sentences about what we liked to do in Tonces.




After dinner, when we sat down to practice what we had learned, we each wrote our sentences and then read them to each other. I read mine first and Zach looked confused and asked me why I was saying so before every sentence.


Apparently En Tonces does not mean in the magical land of Tonces, but rather entonces means so, and it was a verbal tic of our teacher’s to use this as a filler word. So here I was ridiculously proud of myself for understanding everything in my first ever Spanish lesson when really I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Now it’s an inside joke and we say things like “Yeah, well, I may not have any friends here, but in Tonces I’m hot shit,” or “I don’t know if you know this, but in Tonces you can actually make a good living drinking cuba libres and eating mangoes.”

Oh the joys of learning a new language.

Canoa Tips:

Pamela and her sister Andrea run a very good restaurant called Café Flor with fresh food and an innovative menu that changes every few weeks. Spanish lessons are $6 per person per hour or $10 per hour for a couple. They both speak English and are very helpful with things like bus schedules, etc.


The Surf Shack has real coffee, good food, strong drinks, and nice young owners. It’s where all the tourists hang out and is a good place for meeting people.

The first two nights we were there (in March) we stayed at Hotel Bambu which is cute, clean, and affordable. However we were unbearably hot - like get up three times in the night to take cold showers and still couldn’t sleep hot. Wusses? Maybe, but we switched to Canoa Wonderland, a new hotel at the opposite end of the beach (right side if you are ocean gazing) with air-conditioning and a swimming pool and we were much more comfortable. We got a double for $40, including breakfast, because we stayed multiple nights. That was still out of our budget, but worth it for sweet, sweet, uninterrupted sleep. Normally it is $50 per night. The buffet breakfast is much better if you get there right when they serve it.



The only direct bus that leaves from Canoa for Quito leaves at midnight. If you prefer to travel by day the best option is to leave Canoa around 6:30am and head to San Vicente via taxi, then take a water taxi to Bahia, and then another taxi to the bus station. A bus for Quito leaves around 8 or 8:30am. These buses are nicer than the others, have air-conditioning, and drop you off at a small station near the Mariscal which is much more convenient than the South station way outside of town. They also stop at a great, cheap, roadside buffet for lunch. We ate there and didn’t get sick, however I stupidly left my backpack on the bus, and predictably my ipod was stolen. Be smarter than me and take everything with you when you eat. Although, I hear that in Tonces you can leave your backpack on the bus and people will actually stuff presents into it rather than take your shit.