Blogs from Puerto López, West, Ecuador, South America - page 8

After leaving Montanita we took a bus an hour north up the coast to the port town of Puerto Lopez. Supposedly its is called the “Acapulco” of Ecuador but even though I have never been to Acapulco, I don’t think they are at all similar. The town was dirty and noisy and busy with traffic. We walked down toward the beach to find a hostel right across the street from the beach. The town was not very nice and the hostels were more expensive for not getting very much. The beach was pretty and big but very dirty and always smells like fish from all the fishing boats there. Also there was no night life but we were happy to take it easy for a couple days after a crazy weekend and not much sleep for ... read more

Ecuador ist eines der Laender der Welt, in dem man den unterschiedlichsten Landschaften auf engstem Raum begegnet. So lassen wir uns nach unseren abenteuerreichen Erlebnissen in den Anden und im Dschungel fuer eine Woche an der Pazifikueste nieder, um ein wenig Sonne zu tanken und am Strand zu chillen. Nachdem wir unser Vorhaben am Montag woertlich nehmen und wir gemuetliche Stunden am Strand dieses schoenen Fischerdorfes verbringen, geht es am naechsten Tag auf einen Bootsausflug zur Isla de la Plata, die nicht umsonst auch "Klein-Galápagos" genannt wird. Zu unserem Glueck sind wir genau zur richtigen Zeit an der Pazifikkueste, denn momentan ist hier Buckelwal-Saison und so kommen wir auf der Fahrt zur Isla in den Genuss diese riesigen Tiere einmal von Nahem zu sehen! Sie spruehen Fontaenen, tauchen auf und springen sogar neben unserem Boot aus ... read more

Peurto Lopez has a picturesque setting, golden sands, turquoise waters and lots of whales 20 minutes out to sea by fast boat. Its only a 30 minute flight from Quito and then a 2 hour bus journey from Manta and its well worth a visit. I went for three days and crammed in a lot including seeing whales for the first time which was an amazing experience, visitng the National park nearby ( Playa Los Frailes beach) and staying at the Hosteria Mandala and eating lots. The whale watching was a highlight and the main reason gringos come to PL between June and September when the whales are travelling up the Pacific coast from the Antartic to give birth to their calves in warmer waters. They literally jump out of the air to do an acrobatic ... read more

The past week was one of the better Peace Corps weeks that I have had. I spoke with my counterpart, Bolívar, about the amount of work that I have been doing and that I am not really performing the role of PC volunteer. My experience the last few months has been more like an employee of CODEAMA. I also told him that Sue and I have worked very hard during our first year of service and that we have not had many opportunities to see Ecuador. He agreed with me and said we could work on the work thing. During the week I went out to the FRATES communities again to give a presentation to the kids in Vencedores. I had planned it with the teacher out there, however, the teacher failed to show up for ... read more

Puerto Lopez is a small, beautiful fishing village on the coast of Ecuador and I have to say our visit their has been one of the highlights of our trip. However, getting to Puerto Lopez from Cuenca was VERY long. First we traveled to Guayaquil, then onto Puerto Lopez. A bus company called Jipijapa have a few direct buses to Puerto Lopez from Guayaquil each day.... but be warned.... they are C.R.A.Z.Y :-) After a full day of traveling we arrived to Hosteria Mandala at around 8pm via a motorcycle taxi (another memorable experience!). The Hosteria was beautiful and the owners gave us a wonderful welcome (along with their 4 lovely dogs!). The Hosteria is made up of a main house compete with restaurant, reading area, board games, etc. Individual cabins/lodges are dispersed throughout the gorgeous, ... read more