Puerto Lopez
After our experiences in Riobamba we decided to change our plans, have a break from the mountains and the bad weather and head to the coast. We decided to go to the small town of Puerto Lopez, about half way up the coast of Ecuador. Our first day here we went on a day trip to Isla del Plata. It took all morning to reach the island as on the way we stopped several times to see humpback whales. At this time of year a lot of whales migrate to the area for breeding. We saw a group of them that came really close to the boat and spent a while swimming around the area where we were. For a while we also were near a mother and a very young calf that were swimming together. Despite only being about 1 month old the calf was huge and incredible to watch as it was playing and kept jumping completely out of the water. When we arrived at the island we had lunch on the boat and sat watching turtles swimming around us. Then we went for a walk across the island where we saw many species of birds nesting, including blue footed boobies and albatrosses. The final part of the day was snorkelling at a coral reef by the island. This was another really good experience with so many different types of fish to see, and it has been something I have missed doing since I left Australia. We finished off a very good day with a good seafood dinner and bottle of wine on the beach. The only problem with the day was that it made me really want to go to the Galapagos, but at the moment that’s just far to expensive for me. An excuse for another trip.
The following day we went to Agua Blanca, a small village a bit further up the coast, where we had a nice walk in the cloud forest and a swim in a natural pool which is apparently supposed to be very good for you, but it just stank of sulphur. The village itself was also very nice, with a small archaeology museum and local people selling crafts.
The next day we decided to go to the surfing town of Montanita. Unfortunately our bad luck with the weather in Ecuador continued. When we arrived the tide was out and there were no waves for surfing, but we were promised it would be better in the afternoon. After looking round the town we went to sit on the beach for a bit. Then it started raining, we tried to stay for a bit but soon gave up and went for lunch instead. In the afternoon the weather got worse and the waves didn´t look any better, so we gave up with our plans of surfing and went back to Puerto Lopez.
After a good few days at the coast we decided to head back in land and got the bus to Latacunga.
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