Mancora advice: fly into ecuador or lima/airline experience?

[maigueri]

Hi Jaime:

I´ve been in ecuador 2 weeks ago. ¿do you know my last impression of your country? In the airport a policeman took me and make me to go with him, "antidrugs control" he asked me losts of thinks like how much money i had, how much i earned, bla bla, after 30 min trying to intimidate me, i said him that i was going to loose my flight ,and he let me know that with some "interest" from my part i could go at that moment, as i didn´t pay him anything he put me on a scaner, and said that i had balls in my stomach ¿do you know what it means?

So please don´t say i´ve not been in ecuador i go to mancora twice per year and sometimes y have to choose guayaquil.

Secondly you are ecuatorian and probaly honest, but i think u don´t see SOME ecuatorian people with "gringos" and foreigners, they are always treating to cheat them, and most of foreign people who have been there think that.
I´m sorry but that´s the truth, and if u know some honest agency i´m sure this woman will be very gratefull with that info


Regarding my lines aboutthe coup, CNN said "coup" and that´s what i wrote, now that you explain it, you look right and the media were wrong, but please don´t say "if u don´t know don´t write". I write what i think or i know and if i´m wrong i´ll be pleased to correct myself.

By the way, "the balls" were chicken and rice, and i almost loose my flight.

[littlekitegirl]

So...

I've spent much of my day doing even more research.

It seems (at least for october), the only airlines going to Piura (or Tumbes) is LAN. That would be fine, but they charge WAY more for foreigners than for local peruvian residents. Even if one was able to book the lower rate (from a travel agent, or the LAN Peru website), you'll get dinged $178 at the airport (each way).

So, its cheap to fly to Lima from Guayaqil, but very expensive to fly from Lima to Piura. Here's some more info on this (and there are lots more websites out there backing this up). I think it was possible to get around this until last Spring or so: http://www.livinginperu.com/blogs/features/891

Bus from Lima would be possible... but doesn't fit into our tight time-frame. I do have on good word there will be another airlines operating this route as of october 29th (a few weeks too late for us).

So, I'm now researching into a taxi for guayaquil - piura. I do have one quote (from a recommended source), but its also crazy expensive (like $300 one way - total $600). Ouch!

[maigueri]

If it helps u:

Two weeksago I took the bus from guayaquil to Mancora, and i had no problems, i think that paying 600$ is too much for that.

In fact most of coments said that taxis are dangerous in the frontier (not your case, i guess)

I used the company "Ormeño" and it was really ok, if i´d do it again, i´ll do the same, neither taxi nor expensive flights.

Good luck!

[Arubakitesurfing]

I travel 4 times a year to Peru from Aruba my suggestion,
from Lima with Bus cama (sleeing chairs) 30$ to mancora 24 hrs(cheapest)staight or
split in 2 nights to pacasmayo and then to mancora is the best one travel at night and surf all day.
Pacasmayo is also very good for waves and kitesurf
from guayaquil is also fast but if your more than one traveller its ok if alone its too expensive.
from guayaquil to mancora 10 hours 250$ taxi one way.
taking a national flight from lima with star peru round trip cost 220 $ per person and 100$ for boards.(both ways)also crazy travel time at 430 am .
make shure you go to lobitos an hour away from mancora ,this is by far the best spot for wind and waves. need experience though.
check in at hotel lobitos with walter and christiaan.

[marina]

I just spoke to my friend who returned from Peru about two weeks ago. They flew into GYE and because there were five of them and they had booked everything through Skip at Perukitecamp, they didn't have to take the bus BUT they did talk to several people about it as they were already planning their next trip down there:-)

He said that nobody had any complaints at all about either bus from GYE or LIMA. if you take bus from GYE, you just make sure you take the nicer evening bus that goes straight to Mancora with two stops versus the daytime buses that apparantly make many stops.

He also mentioned however that a friend they met down there is still stuck there as he had a flight from Ecuador to Brazil which is on indefinite hold due. Why I have no idea.

[VOMKB]

Although English is not my first language, I think I speak and write it well enough to make myself clear. Your last post was a bit hard to understand, but will attempt to reply to it and hope to not mischaracterize any of your statements.


My reply is very clear and directed to your statement:

I think the best way is booking from internet.

I wouldn´t trust from any peruvian or ecuatorian agency.

My reply was and still is the following:

You are obviously not from Ecuador, so for you to suggest that Ecuadorian travel agencies are somehow not trustworthy is pure bull. No business of any kind survives anywhere by being untrustworthy. Please don't offer advise for something you know nothing about.

However, if you know of any particular untrustworthy Ecuadorian agencies, please feel free to name it/them.

Hi Jaime:

I´ve been in ecuador 2 weeks ago. ¿do you know my last impression of your country? In the airport a policeman took me and make me to go with him, "antidrugs control" he asked me losts of thinks like how much money i had, how much i earned, bla bla, after 30 min trying to intimidate me, i said him that i was going to loose my flight ,and he let me know that with some "interest" from my part i could go at that moment, as i didn´t pay him anything he put me on a scaner, and said that i had balls in my stomach ¿do you know what it means?

So please don´t say i´ve not been in ecuador i go to mancora twice per year and sometimes y have to choose guayaquil.

Let me explain how things work. The FAA grades airports in South America. A bad grade means among a few things, that the airlines, especially national ones, will have a hard getting routes to fly to the US. One of the aspects being graded is safety. If a "drug mule" gets on an airplane and flies to an international destination, the airport will see that its grade is affected. The airport in Guayaquil is managed by a company called Corporación America. As a business, a low grade means that the company will or may lose revenue. It also means that the Government may lose revenue as there is a tax that travelers have to pay when leaving the country. It also means that the immigration and narcotics police have to be on the look-out for possible passengers that may be "drug mules." There is a profile that they look for and a red flag may be your country of origin, the country you may be coming from, your behavior or a combination of the previous factors. No narcotics cop at the airport will be looking for a bribe, knowing that if somebody transporting drugs gets on a plane and is caught at the arriving airport, that he/she will lose his/her job, lose his/her pension, and very likely face legal proceedings.

I have heard that it is a bit intimidating when they question you. Their "tactic" is to make you nervous because if you may be carrying capsules in your stomach, those capsules have a time that they can be in there until the acids in the stomach dissolve the capsules. They know that, so their goal is to make you think that you are running out of time and confess. You are probably an honest guy, but if you fit the profile, then that's what happens.

As you can see, having arrived in Guayaquil once or twice a year, does not really mean you know everything there is to know about the city, the country, or how things work here.

Secondly you are ecuatorian and probaly honest, but i think u don´t see SOME ecuatorian people with "gringos" and foreigners, they are always treating to cheat them, and most of foreign people who have been there think that.
I´m sorry but that´s the truth, and if u know some honest agency i´m sure this woman will be very gratefull with that info

I am not too clear what you mean, but if you are trying to say that there are Ecuadorians that try to swindle foreigners, I would say that is not an Ecuadorian thing, as that happens in every country.

Regarding my lines aboutthe coup, CNN said "coup" and that´s what i wrote, now that you explain it, you look right and the media were wrong, but please don´t say "if u don´t know don´t write". I write what i think or i know and if i´m wrong i´ll be pleased to correct myself.

My reference about not writing what you know nothing about is explained in my first paragraph. There is nothing wrong with giving an opinion, but in the case of travel agencies statement, when you generalize and pass that as advise, then it is clear to me that you don't know what you are talking about.

By the way, "the balls" were chicken and rice, and i almost loose my flight.

Maybe the chicken was too big, so at least you were well fed before boarding the plane since now a days airlines seem to have shrunk the meals. Finally, would you care to share where you are from?

Jaime

[VOMKB]

Marina,

Your friend may be stuck in Guayaquil because when the airport was closed on Thursday, all the flights out of Guayaquil were canceled. I have heard that there are passengers from 4+ flights stuck in the city and airlines and travel agents are trying to help get those passengers on flights to their destinations. This is what I heard, so I don't know for a fact that is the case.

Jaime

[marina]

RE: bus from GYE to Mancora
Just got the below email from a friend of a friend who just returned from mancora via GYE last week...

If I went back to Mancora, I would definitely take the bus from GYE to Mancora. I read all the horror stories, but I feel that those are very isolated incidents and probably exaggerated. Our biggest fear was the taxi ride from GYE to CIFA then where the bus dropped us off in Mancora as we were getting in very late. After begin there and seeing everything, I would not hesitate to take the bus. There are two buses that CIFA uses, a first class bus and a regular Grey Hound style bus. The first class bus is the one you want if possible. It is cheap ($18USD) and you get your own reclining seat. The Border was easy for us as the guy barely even looked at us. When you get off in Mancora, just get one of the moto taxis to take you to your hotel. It should only cost you 2soles.