At the island’s quay, young men on tricycle rickshaws offer rides up the one-kilometer dirt road to the beach end of town. There are no cars in Muisne, bikes and horses being the popular form of transport. Under bright stars and a big moon, the beach is wide and long with great rollers crashing on the sand in front of a scattering of beach bars and inexpensive hostels. Muisne makes no pretenses at being an upmarket resort, and is just about off the beaten track from
Quito.
Places to sleep. The hostales at the dock end of town are very basic, but water shortages affect rich and poor on Muisne. Most hotels can arrange tours of the nearby mangroves.
Places to eat. All the hotels boast good seafood and vegetarian dishes, but there's also good pizza and pasta to be enjoyed.
Getting there. To get to Muisne Island itself, you have to take a short hop on a boat from the settlement called
El Relleno [
or Nuevo Muisne] [
US$1.00*].
Bus [
All buses stop on the mainland]
Frequent bus service to
Esmeraldas, with
La Costenita &
Transportes del Pacifico [
about 3 hours], ticket value around US$1.80
*. Once in
Esmeraldas you can take any long distance connections.
Boat
There is a frequent Canoe service between the mainland and the island, and cost around US$0.30
*. Also other boats going
Chamanga-
Cojimies and Muisne-
Cojimies [
21/2 hours], ticket value around US$10
* per person, which can be bought at the dock.
You can also hire boats going south through one of the fishermen, but they're far more expensive. The seas can be very rough early in the year, so be prepared to hold on tight and waterproof your gear.
*The prices are approximately
| |Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton||| |
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