Blogs from Puerto López, West, Ecuador, South America - page 2

ALL BUSES ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL Puerto Lopez Bus to Guayaquil Bus Station Transfer to Guayaquil International Airport Place: My room in Alcazaba in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador. Activity: Purchase a ticket to fly to Buenos Aires I bought my airline ticket to Buenos Aires this morning. I wasn’t sure what day I would travel but as I perused the web sites I learned that the cheapest day to fly was tomorrow, so I sat down at the computer at nine a.m. to purchase a ticket. I didn't confirmation until noon. I looked at many ticket sites and chose the cheapest most direct route…twice. A message would come on the screen saying I had made a wise choice and once I filled in all the required information and my payment plans a message would come up saying ... read more

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS My first day in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador and it’s my birthday. I looked up the translation for birthday on my telephone and practiced it all day. I walked out the door of my hotel and looked down at the ocean in the distance. I figured all I had to do was walk down this dirt road in front of my hostel, turn right at the main road and I would eventually run into the waterfront. I could check out a few dive stores and set up three days of diving. I started walking, and was surprised to see that Puerto Lopez has trikes like the Philippines. They are basically a refitted motorcycle with a cab over it. The driver is in front and there is a rickshaw type seat in the back for passengers. ... read more

It's hard to believe that it's been over two months since I published my last blog! I hope that my faithful readers haven't been too worried about me. I've been busy busy busy, working at the beach hotel once again and the weeks have just slipped away. As a result I have a LOT of photos in this entry, some throwback pix from my January travels to Esmeraldas with Sue (thanks for finally sending them to me!) and other images compliments of my photographer friend, Colin who has been visiting from Ohio. There's no way my narration will touch on so many pix, so please scroll down at the end to enjoy them all! It seems like my time at home is so limited --I had only a couple of weeks this last stretch in Banos, ... read more

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 ... read more

This is my 12th or 13thstint as substitute manager at Hosteria Mandala and this job continues to delight and challenge me every day -- never a dull moment - surprises around every corner! Even though it's supposedly low season, the hotel was completely full for my first three weeks back. Once they've arrived, many of the guests decide they want to stay longer than they originally reserved. Sometimes they have to switch rooms to make it work, so I shuffle incoming reservations and move folks around, the giant hand-drawn reservation sheets becoming a jigsaw puzzle with me struggling to make the pieces fit! It's the second time I've been sharing the job, which means my mornings have been free and I've taken full advantage of them! The first two weeks I had to make three trips ... read more