Manta/ Puerto Lopez

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Manta, Ecuador

We took a 9 hr $6 coach journey out of Quito to a place called Manta on the recomendation of a barman..Karl by the way was supposed to be hiking round Ecuador for 6 weeks but we convinced him that was a rubbish holiday and convinced him to come drinking with us instead so along he came.

The coac hjourney wasn´t too bad at all really, full of locals going on their holiday´s. Driving through the mountains on terrible roads was an experince but just added to the adventure..Stopped off at a localvillage for lunch (grilled banana and fish of course, strange but not bad) and got approached by all the kids probably wondering what planet these really white,hairy men were from...

Arrived in Manta and immediately none of us liked it, not sure what it was about the place but all decided within 10 minutes of getting therewe were leaving the next day.

After reading where we should go next, this place seemed exactly what we all wanted, so we hired a car and drove further down the coast..Amazing beaches and blistering sun all the way.

When we arrived it was just as we wanted, just a dead relaxed nothing little town with an awesome beach.

We stayed in a little beach hut with a great hammock and spent the day´s snorkelling and the nights drinking ice cold beer with the locals listening to this great crazy music they listen too, can´t quite explain what it´s like but you´ll have to trust me it is honestly really good stuff...Cheapest beer yet as well at 40 cents!!

Nearby is a national park called Macalila, you have to pay $12 for a 5 day pass to just get on this beach but it was worth it as all agreed it was the most special place ány of us had seen and there was only us 3 there!! Loads of coral there too so snorkelling was good, had a bit of a scare though when I swam out probably a bit too far on my own and then got cramp in my foot, struggled to get back but made it no worries in the end.

After a few days in Peurto Lopez we decided to move on, partly due to these 2 birds (fat disgusting, yank pigs) had moved in next door to our hut and partly due to the fact that Gower had somehow pulled the sink off the wall in the bathroom, so we got the hell out of there..

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