Paint the Town

Paint the Town is a Plein Air even in St. Petersburg Florida. Even thought is not a trip (it is only 30 minutes away), it is interesting discovering places around our area and painting in them.

Today the place was Fort de Soto, yes there is a real fort, with real cannons. Interesting site seeing place.

But my interest is the beach area, the casuarinas flank the beach and create beautiful patterns of light and shadow over the white sand. There are also sand dunes, small ones.

Today the beach got packed by 10 am. The water was calm and transparent, turquoise green...

Ayampe

We stopped in Montanita a fishermen town, that is frequently visited by europeans and americans due to its pristine beaches, hippie individuals and night parties. Not my kind of town, but the see food is delicious so we decided to stop for brunch and had ceviche.

We headed to Sanlango were we stopped at the town and visit a archeological museum. The picture of my sons shows the Salango Island, it is protected as natural habitat. Puerto Lopez, is only 20 minutes away from Ayampe We had booked a trip to see the humpback whales the next day from Pto Lopez so we wanted to make sure we had the correct directions.

To reach to Puerto Lopez we climb the second arm of the mountain chain and here is a pictures from the very top.

We returned to Ayampe and I was able to make a couple of studies of the big rock formations, they are call the La roca del ahorcado, the hangmen rock. In ancient times they used to hang pirates in that island.

The place we stayed in Ayampe is called las tortugas here is the link if you ever visit the place.

http://www.latortuga.com.ec/

Some pictures of the place, very rustic,with all the amenities and surrounded by breathtaking beauty. The owner and administrator treated us like kings and the seefood was excellent.

Punta Carnero

The following day, I woke up early and headed to the Punta Carnero hotel. It is low season so it was empty. I was allowed to paint from the swimming pool terrace. Incredible views. Too bad it was overcast though.

We headed towards Ayampe that day, we stayed in some cabins next to the beach. The s

un came out and I was able to make some studies later in the day.

The Route of the Sun

We decided to take a 4 day trip to the northen coast of Ecuador.
Stopping through Punta Carnero I had the opportunity of painting the clifts and rock formations. We also went to a fishermen town call Anconcito

I had a big crowd of kids surrounding me while painting, they were curious but harmless. I was afraid they will take off with my brushes but none of them touch anything. They simply have never seen anybody painting that way.

Las Peñas

Las Peñas is a site of the city of Guayaquil, where the city started around 1600 hundreds. The area has been conserved as of the last big fire in the early 1800 hundreds. The site originally had a fort against pirate attacks. Now is quaint area of the city. We climbed the 434 steps to the top. There is a chapel and light house.

The Morgan

The Morgan is a pirate ship that gives a ride around the River Guayas. We decide to do this trip for sunset. We had an overcast day but the ride was nice and the city looked beautiful at night.

I was able to do a small sketch of a war ship docked near by.

Guayaquil and the turn of the century preservation work

We visited today a preservation park call Parque Historico. The purpose of the park is to preserve samples of fauna and flora of the area and to also preserve samples of architecture of the turn of the 19 century. The park is located next to the river, across the city. The tide was really low when I tood the pictures

There are samples of several wood structures that have been taken from the original places at the city and placed at the museum. Their interior have been refurbished as they were originally.

We visit the zoo, and then went painting. We enjoy a small lunch of tropical fruits and cheese turnovers with sugar. Yum!!