We don’t actually know how to survive a tsunami, but we were at a restaurant in Olón when the Tsunami siren went off. We did. Not understand what was being said, except the word ‘tsunami’. We asked our waiter, and he said the announcement said to clear the beach and the town and head to higher ground. The restaurant closed before our food came out. We were hungry and looking forward to the burgers and pizza we ordered.
As we walked out of the city, we were able to find slices of pizza to tide us over. Our friends back at our hotel evacuated, following the evacuation route signs. Friends in Montañita (the next town over) said their waiter said to clear the beach, but they got to eat lunch. We headed to Montañita because we had to go there anyway to pick up a birthday cake we ordered for a group birthday party that night.
While we decided what to do about the cake (leave it, sit there and eat it, or take it to the evacuation point), another announcement broadcasted saying that the threat was over. No tsunami was going to hit the coast. Our party was back on!
Before we knew there was no tsunami threat, Henry was worried about his technology back at the hotel. Michael worried about our passports, money, and credit cards. We were only going to grab lunch, so we had nothing with us except my phone and some cash. We are lucky there was no tsunami.
It was a good exercise to see how we respond to a crisis. The adults kept their cool, which helped the boys keep theirs.
Later that night we celebrated all of the birthdays that would happen at the beach. We had a fire on the beach and ate cake and snacks. It was an exciting day in Ecuador.
