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Published: December 4th 2008
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A great section of the beach
Beautiful un trashed section to the North. Well I need to keep this entry short, I have to catch a bus to Papallacta to soak in some hotsprings just outside of Quito, I know this trip is sounds aweful but such is the way of the traveller.
Puerto Lopez was absolutely perfect, I made a concerted plan to do as little as possible when I arrived and with much effort I pulled it off. I had few goals, the first was I wanted fresh coconut juice, I wandered the little town for a for a bit and felt a little challenged because unlike JipiJapa (say that right and it's pretty funny) where the bus stopped on ethe way to Pto. Lopez where there were tons of people selling it, I couldn't find a vendor for most of my searching. Luckily, right along the beach I saw "coco" crudely painted on a post outside a door partially opened. I peered inside to see a woman lounging in a hamack over a pile of coconuts, I asked for "coco jugo" in crude spanish, she yelled at a women who appeared from the back with a knife and whapped off the top of a young coconut, placed staw in the
hole; magically providing Fresh coconut juice.
The rest of my afternoon was spent eating fresh fish for all my meals, lounging on beach, exploring the beach, reading on the beach, staring at the ocean on the beach, generally doing as little as possible on the beach. My plan was executed perfectly.
The next day I joined a tour of Isle de la Plata. Appropriately named the poor man's Galapagos. I thought the day trip was wonderful. On the way to the island we say giant manta (or sting) rays jumping out of the water, they looked enormous. The island was far enough away where you saw very little of the coast, making it seem quaintly isolated. I did join a Spanish tour opposed to the English one I requested, but I really didn´t care. There was a fun group of kids from Belgium, Germany and Holland who did any translating I need. The island was small and quiet. We hiking for a while and eventually saw Blue-Footed Boobies just nesting along the trail. Everyone ran up took tons of pictures amazed at the fact that the birds just laid there whistling at us but not moving or attacking.
We saw a pair with chicks and another with eggs, all the while snapping off tons of pictures. Well, if you make it to the Isle de la Plata, rest assure, that you will have ample opportunity to get pictures, we finally reached their main nesting area and saw so many I can't explain. They were everwhere. We hike further to see a native sea bird who's name I need to look up. They again were so numerous and did not seem to care that we were walking righ tup to them taking pictures.
I had this great idea of getting all the pictures taken and hosting a slide show at my house of hours and hours and hours of pictures of bird, I must have taken 60 just on my own. It would be a special torture to put my friends and family though. The rest of the hike took us over cliffs that looked out over the ocean, truly beautiful. The weather was great, though a bit hot. We eventually got back on the boat where the guides through watermellon rhines in the water and these great sea turtles popped up to enjoy the meal, my camera
failed to get the best shots of them but it was really amazing to see. We then went snorkling in phenomenally clear and confortable water swimming through schools of little and kind of big ocean fish.
After the tour I met up with a group of Germans (there are so many German's in Ecuador) for more sea food and a few beers followed by a few more.
I took a long 12 hour bus ride to Quito yesterday and following the advice of my hostel's owner, a transplant from New York, I rode a "direct" bus which was quiet, few people, fewer stops and without question the most enjoyable bus experience anywhere, particularly Ecuador. One of the guys convinced my to get a dollars worth of pastries at a stop. Whew, I consummed a heavy greasy bag of jelly filled rolls, cakes and other baked goods, it was sickeningly delicious!
So I didn't keep this short, ooops. I am meeting up with some American's I met in Cuenca tonight, oh how close I am to ending this spectacular vacation...so sad.
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Mom
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Toughing it out, huh?
What a way to end your fabulous trip! I'm up for the whole picture show! Love you and talk to you soon!