DaveInSouthAmerica

Los Frailes is labeled one of the nicest beaches on the western coast of South America and is located in Machalilla National Park. The entrace is a few miles south of Puerto Lopez and costs $3 to enter the park. We took the 2.5 hour hike which was pretty cool. Tons of lookouts along the way with great views of the ocean, beaches, mountains and towns. Due to the rain and clouds we couldn´t see as much as you usually can but we could still see a lot. Once we got to the beach the rain really picked up so we weren´t there for long but it was a really nice beach and on a sunny day definitely seems like an awesome place to hang out. We took a mototaxi from the beach back out to ... read more

The Sundown hotel was a great place to stay in Canoa. It is beach front about a 25-30 minute walk up the beach to the main town of Canoa. The Hotel is run by basically an entire family who are almost always at the hotel. It is a real family atmosphere and they really take you in and make you feel comfortable. I paid for breakfast and dinner Monday through Saturday, which the family also eats with the guests of the hotel. The food was very good but a bit repetitive with a lot of eggs, bananas, rice, camarones and bread. Very convenient to just roll down the steps in the morning for breakfast! I had a 2nd floor beach front room with a balcony that was the only one on the building so it was ... read more

Over the weekend I took the bus into San Vincente and a little boat across the river to Bahia de Caraquez. They just recently finished constructing the longest bridge in Ecuador connecting Bahia and San Vincente but the boat was more fun and only cost 30 cents. Everyone raves about going to the market in Bahia but they left out the part that the markets are typically closed on Sundays so we didn't get to see the market as we hoped. From across the river in San Vincente the town of Bahia looks like it has nice tall buildings and is completely different than the other areas of Ecuador. Once we walked the streets, it was not much different at all. A lot of rundown buildings, small homes lining the streets, nice beaches and the tall ... read more

Buenas Tardes! Tuesday was an extremely long day, Alley and Justin brought me to the airport at 2:30am bag was 49lbs (perfection) and caught my flight to Miami. With an hour delay had a 6 hour layover in Miami and landed in Quito with a real bad migraine around 5:45. Freddy was waiting for me and brought me to their office to meet Maria. Maria was extremely helpful in setting up my entire trip with the buses and told me about the projects. During the Pacific Coast project I can teach English, teach sports and help maintain the trails for tourism. In the Amazon rain forest I will be helping with the ongoing construction of a house they are building. Maria, Freddy and their three children drove me to my home stay for the night. Got ... read more