Puerto Lopez

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Our Arrival

We arrived from Manta at 12:10pm. There were no waiting mototaxis so we walked out of the terminal and started walking towards town. There we caught a mototaxi into the centro for $1 for both of us. The town centre is about 4km from the bus terminal.



Where We Stayed

Hotel Albatros - on Montalvo and Lascano. $16 for a double room with TV, bathroom, kitchen and wifi. Bathroom had lukewarm water.



What We Did

Went on a whale watching tour - $35 for two people plus $1 each port tax. We booked through one of the touts on the main road. Advertised price was $25 each and left at 2pm but they soon went down to $20. We went up at quarter to 2 and booked a tour for $35 for two. They drove us on the mototaxi to our hotel to pick up our camera and the to the port. The tout kept asking for his money however we were uneasy about paying until we had our name on the list on a clipboard that 2 people had. It all turned out fine anyway. They gave us lifejackets and there were free toilets. We got on the boat about 2:15pm and left about 2:30pm. We saw heaps of whales and a baby all doing lots of jumps and splashes. The whales were so close to the boats it was amazing. After the whale watching there was the opportunity for about 15 mins snorkelling (watch the jellyfish) and we got a snack of cake, sprite and watermelon.



Where We Ate

On the seafront we got lunch for $3 for fish soup and fried fish.

There is a Tia supermarket on the main street and to the left (as you face out of town). Also there is a shop next door that sells $1.25 large bottles of beer with a 25cent per bottle deposit.

Opposite is a bakery that sells croissants 2 for 25 cents.



Where We Went Next

We wanted to go to Montanita. As the bus terminal is so far out of town and the buses came through the town we tried to flag one down as it was passing. It seems there is some rule that buses can't actually stop in the town centre however we walked about 5mins to the edge (south) of town and the bus waited for us to catch up.

We caught the bus at 11:20am, it cost $2.50 and arrived in Montanity at 12:20pm.

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