I've traveled to 15 or 16 countries so far but have never met the First Family until now. It happened in Ecuador and was a nice surprise for me.

I boarded the city bus just a few blocks from my hostel . The bus stops are elevated and always very crowded with locals. The people use the public transportation here and it is very efficient. 

My aim is to go to a port city that will require an overnight bus ride. First, I need to take the city bus for a 45 minute trip to the main bus depot. The station looks more like an airport to me than a bus station. It has levels and wings and loading docks.

While waiting for the overnight bus, a lady sits next to me with a small child. The child is sleeping and the woman lays the baby next to me and disappears. The same thing happened in Laos to me. The woman doesn't say anything, just leaves the baby sleeping and disappears for awhile. Parents in America would never do this, but it seems to be the standard in many of these countries. Maybe I just look totally innocent and trustworthy!

The next morning early I reach my destination and get a taxi to where I will stay about 20 miles from the city of Puerto Lopez . Puerto Lopez is a fishing village on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. There are about 16,000 residents and there are restaurants and bars dotting the bay here. I will travel outside of Puerto Lopez for about 20 or 30 minutes to stay in a small village away from the touristy Puerto Lopez.

The hostel is composed of bamboo and straw huts. There is a swimming pool and nice common area to relax in. It is situated right on the beach and at night as you sleep, the ocean waves can be heard in the distance. It's an interesting and beautifully landscaped grounds. The owner is a man from Australia. He came here 15 years ago and camped in a tent on this empty lot. He was living a hippie lifestyle then. Later, he bought the property and built the hostel little by little.

I stayed for several days and the temperature never changed much. It was cool and cloudy most of the time.

One of the first things I saw when I entered the grounds of the hostel, was a bunch of bananas that were as tall as I am, almost . I asked one of the workers what a bunch like that would cost and she said 2 or 3 dollars for the whole thing! Bananas are grown locally here and they come very cheap. I found the same in Quito, where I could buy a bunch for 20 cents.

The small village only had dirt roads running between the simple houses. The photos say Puerto Lopez, but they are actually of this little village 20 minutes form there, I just forgot the name of the village when labeling the photos!

One day, as I was walking around, I saw a procession. They were carrying a statue representing something religious. Most people are Catholic here. There was a small band and the group would stop at different houses to give a blessing, I think.

The people staying at the hostel were very friendly and easy to get to know. While here I met the first family I have met on my trip that is backpacking the world. 

They are a family of 5, with 3 young children . They will travel for one year and are from France. The mother is a teacher in France and home schools the children as they travel. I had heard of families that backpack around the world, but I had never met one until now.

I had a good time talking with the parents the few days I stayed here. Both parents spoke good English, but the children did not speak English. Nevertheless, I got to know the children and played games with them some. 

Each day we walked the beach and looked for small, colored pebbles that the ocean tide had washed in overnight. Then, we would pick out the prettiest ones we wanted to keep and trade with each other. Each of us could only keep a few, as rocks are too heavy to carry around while backpacking!

The family left a day before I did and I missed the talks and fun we had. The kids were so cute, each with their own backpacks just the size for them.

NEXT: Sibling Rivalry Ends in Murder!