
The Ecuadorian Robbery
And The Long Trip Home
DISCLAIMER: This story gets intense at times. Nothing too crazy, but want to give you a heads up just in case.

It's another beautiful day in Quito
The sun is shining
The weather is warm
And Mount Pichincha watches over the city
She smiles today
I've been in Ecuador for almost a month now
And while I came para aprender Español (to learn Spanish)
My time here has brought me many places
From the peaks of mountains
To the depths of jungles
And all the rain forests in between
I've seen the beauty this country has to offer
Plus I've made some good friends along the way
Still though
There's one type of landscape I haven't yet experienced in Ecuador
The beach
And considering tomorrow will be my last full day here
Now's the time to go
So I call up my friend Connie
And see if she wants to take a trip
She's down
We head into town
And talk to some locals about what we're trying to do
'Queremos ir a la playa. ¿Dónde debemos ir?'
'Hay Playa Atacames. Es un viaje seis horas en autobús'
They tell us our best bet is a beach called Playa Atacames
6 hours away
By bus
Not ideal
But hey
With my time here quickly coming to an end
What better way to spend my last full day in Ecuador
Than relaxing on the beach
I'm in
I turn to Connie
She gives me the nod
She's in
With thoughts of adventure in our minds
We head to the bus station
The walk isn't far
But it is pleasant
Shops and parks line the way
And we let them guide us to our destination
When we arrive
We walk up to the ticket counter
And ask when the next bus leaves for Atacames
'Hola, vamos a Atacames. ¿Cuándo pasa el próximo autobús?'
'El siguiente sale a las ocho y el siguiente sale a la medianoche.'
We hear that the next bus leaves at 8pm
And the one after that leaves at midnight
So Connie and I talk it over
We decide to take the midnight bus
Figuring it will be cool to get there as the sun is rising
'¿Cuanto?'
'Trece'
We hand over 13 dollars and buy the tickets
'Gracias
Por favor lleguen aquí a las once y media
Con sus pasaportes
No una copia de ellos'
We're told to arrive back here by 11:30pm
With our passports
Not a copy of them
Connie and I give a thumbs up to the person behind the counter
We agree to meet back at the bus station by 11:30pm
And then go our separate ways to pack some stuff
I head home to where I'm staying
Along with a bathing suit and towel
I grab my passport
I grab some cash
And I grab my phone
For pictures
I wonder why I can't bring a copy of my passport
But if that's what the person at the bus station said
Then it must be true
Because who would be naive enough
To not trust a person
They met at a bus station...
I kill some time until 11pm rolls around
And then start my walk back to meet Connie
We both get there right around the same time
And secure our spots in line
20 minutes after arriving
We're seated on the bus
And 10 minutes after that
The bus leaves the station
Right on time
The ride is typical for Ecuador
Lots of twists
Lots of turns
And LOTS of bumps
I sleep for most of the 6 hour trip
Wanting to be rested for a long day at the beach
When I wake up
I check my phone
It says 5:30am
We're almost there
I nudge Connie to let her know
She starts getting her stuff in order
A few minutes before 6am
We pull into the Atacames bus station
::pshhhhh::
And the old bus breathes a sigh of relief
A handful of drowsy travelers gather their belongings
The doors open
And the bus empties
Connie and I walk outside
It's still dark
We walk into town
We see shops
Restaurants
Internet cafes
But none of them are open
The small beach town is still asleep
We walk to the beach
To watch the sunrise
Just like we had planned
We take off our shoes
Find a spot that's just right
And plop down in the sand
Our backs to the tired town
We sit
And we talk
We talk about our time in Ecuador
The things we saw
The things we learned
The friends we made
The sun starts to rise
And the warmth of the nostalgic conversation
Can be felt
Both inside and out
So calm
So peaceful
So relahhh
I feel something around my neck
I see an arm
It's not Connie's
I feel a sharp pain
I look down
The arm has a broken glass bottle to my neck
My Spanish leaves me
'STOP!!'
'No digas nada'
The arm tells me not to say anything
The bottle presses harder
I look over
Connie has a bottle to her neck too
We see the panic in each other's eyes
We feel the pressure of the broken glass against our necks
And we watch as hands go through our bags
The hands take what they came for
The arms loosen around our necks
And the people they're connected to run off
Still in shock
I get up
And run after them
'STOP!!
YOU CAN HAVE THE MONEY
LEAVE THE PASSPORT
PLEASE
PLEASE!!'
I sprint through the sand
Full speed
With tears starting to roll down my cheeks
They could have killed me
But they didn't
And I'll make sure they regret that
Wishful thinking though
Life isn't a Hollywood movie
And I'm not a comic book hero
No matter how fast I run
I'm not gaining on them quick enough
They enter a wooded area
And I decide to stop the pursuit
Because who would be naive enough
To follow Ecuadorian robbers
Into a wooded area...
My phone
My wallet
My passport
All gone
I run back to Connie
'Are you okay?'
'Yes, I think so'
'We need to find police'
We scamper off of the beach
Shouting for help
There's a police truck nearby
We run to it in a frenzy
They see us
And ask what happened
'¿Que pasó?'
'Algunos ladrones se llevaron nuestras cosas ¡Necesitamos ayuda!'
We tell them that some thieves had taken our stuff
And that we need help
They look at us
Then at each other
Then back at us
'Vamos'
They tell us to get in the truck
It's like a convertible
Basically an Ecuadorian Jeep Wrangler
'¿Por dónde se fueron?'
They ask which way they went
And as soon as I point towards the wooded area
The driver stomps on the gas
The acceleration presses us into our seats
As the truck speeds through the beach town
The driver turns on the siren
It's loud
The passenger turns on Spanish music
It's louder
And all four us keep our eyes peeled for any sign of the thieves
In the distance
We see someone waving their arms above their head
Indicating that they may have a clue
The driver notices
He says something to his partner in the passenger's seat
And then zooms over to the good samaritan
As we get closer
We see that the good samaritan is standing on a dock
The driver pulls onto the dock
Stops the truck
And asks if the good samaritan has seen any thieves
'¿Has visto algunos ladrones?'
'Si si si. ¡Ellos fueron allá en el agua!'
The good samaritan points to a long inlet
And tells us that the thieves went into the water over there
The driver looks towards the inlet
Then out to the open ocean
There's a lone fishing boat about 500 feet from shore
He hops out of the truck
Waves his arms
And motions for the boat to come to the dock
Connie and I look at each other
This is getting wild
The fishing boat docks
And both police officers speak with the captain
Connie and I see the captain look at us
Pause
Then nod his head
The police officers turn back towards the truck
They point at the boat
'Vamos'
And tell us to get on board
Connie and I look at each other again
Are we really going to do this?
Yeah
We get out of the truck
Walk over to the boat
And climb aboard
The captain fires up the engine
And we pull away from the dock to start our search
We enter the inlet
Our eyes scanning for any leads
Any clues
Anything
¡Veo algo!
The captain shouts that he sees something
We look over the side of the boat
And we see something floating in the water
It looks like a passport!
The captain casts a net to grab the object
He pulls it out of the water
It is a passport!
Hope
A faint glimmer of hope
I can feel my spirits rise
The captain hands me the passport
It's from the United States!
I open it up...
'Andrew Riley'
Hope
Gone
I can feel my spirits sink
I look up at the captain and shake my head
He frowns but is nice enough to continue the search
We look for another 20 minutes
No luck
The captain brings the boat back to the dock
Connie
Both police officers
And I
Hop off
'Buena suerte'
The captain wishes us good luck and heads back to his fishing post
We wave and say thank you
The police officers turn to us with a disappointed look
'Lo siento chicos
Les daremos un informe policial
Pero no hay nada mas podemos hacer'
They tell us they're sorry
And that they will provide us with a police report
But that there is nothing else they can do
So we get the reports
And head into town
I have to call my mom
And tell her what happened
But honestly
I'd rather just get robbed again
We find a phone cafe
We explain what happened and why we don't have any money
And we ask if we can please make a couple of phone calls
The owner is generous enough to say yes
I call some friends in Quito
And ask if they can wire us some money to