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Published: July 15th 2010
Isla de la Plata
Sign at the entrance to the island parkIt’s been a few busy days! We haven’t had a chance until now to sit down at the computer.
On Sunday, we had a wonderful day. We took a boat to the Isla de la Plata. It’s about a 1.5 hour boat ride from Puerto Lopez to an Island that has some of the same species as the Galapagos! We saw some wonderful birds including the Blue-footed boobie, the Red-footed boobie, and Frigate birds. It was quite exciting and we loved every second! We did a 5km hike around the island and saw some of the higher sections and the coast of the island. It’s not a big island but the locals are very dedicated to preserving it. It’s extremely dry for half the year and green for the other half. We saw the island in its very dry state.
It was so very odd that the birds were not interested in or scared of us. They were just off the path and hardly took note! We have never been so close to such large birds. In a word: fantastic!
After the hike, we went snorkeling. The water wasn’t the warmest but it was quite fun to swim
around! There were such beautiful fish and so many different kinds. The corals were quite deep so you couldn’t see clearly to the bottom. Kwesi also got in the water and had his first glimpse of the fish with a mask on. ;-)
We also had another special surprise on the boat ride to the island. We got to see humpback whales. Kwesi made a short video. It was a special experience. The whales migrate from the Antarctic to the ocean off Ecuador (and further north) to mate and have babies! The waters are not as deep and it discourages the sharks and other predators from attacking the young whales. They are truly a majestic sight. Hope you enjoy the short video we call “From Isla de la Plata with love”.
On Monday morning, we got up super early and started our trek to Cuenca. We did a side trip to Salinas. Salinas is the local tourist town. We called it the “Marseilles of Ecuador” or even better still the “Cancun of Ecuador”. It was quite nice with a beautiful beach! We only spent about 40 minutes there but it was fun.
The drive to Cuenca was
Isla de la Plata - Cactus
A beautiful cactus! Yes, it's very dry... long. The highway crosses the Andes and hits 4100 meters. That’s the highest we’ve ever been! Cuenca is at 2550 meters. It rained quite a bit. The highway is a bit treacherous but they are doing a wonderful job of repaving it. Actually, it looks like concrete and not asphalt. We think it will last a long time! It’s amazing to see all of the people who live in the mountains along the road. It’s hard to believe, really…
We got to Cuenca quite late, about 7:30pm. We were greeted by our host families and went “home” for dinner! We had take-away. ;-) Our family is great and we have our own room and bathroom.
Our time here is to be spent learning about the culture and we will have some talks from local experts this week. Tomorrow we have an informational talk on the history of Cuenca. Should be fun!
For the Calgarians, hope you are having fun at the Stampede!
Meghan and Kwesi
P.S. We are trying to get our short whale video uploaded... Please check back and we might have it figured out!
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Dr. Margo
non-member comment
natural habitat
Thanks for the photos of the blue footed boobies. I've seen them in zoos but never in their natural habitat -- how delightful. All those beautiful birds, and fish and whales to say nothing of vegetation, peoples, topography--what a wonderful experience. My best to all of you and to Dr. Z as well.