Puerto Lopez, Ecuador

In an effort to not fall too far behind I thought I'd catch up on a few of my stops. I took the bus from Santa Marianita with a couple others from the hostel to Puerto Lopez, the blasting of reggae tone serenaded us all the was down the Ruta Del Sol. We had to go inland a bit and change buses to our surprise in a town called Jipijapa (Pronounced: Hippy-Hoppa). The bus just kicked us off and we waited for another. Thats were I tired my first street empanada.

We eventually made it to Puerto Lopez hopped in a tuk-tuk and made it to our hostel.
When we arrived the owner told us that there was a snake in on of the rooms and she wasn't going in there until someone got it out. A man without a machete and a large shirt.... Wait without a shirt and a large machete came and killed the snake we then continued out to the side lot where the snake was burnt ceremoniously to warn other snakes from coming back.

Puerto Lopez is a smaller fishing town that attracts mostly tourists in their winter for the humpback whales and also for people wanting to so to Isla de la plata ( aka the poor mans Galapagos). I originally didn't plan to go but peer pressure presided and the next day we went.

In the early morning both days I was there I got up to see the fisherman bring in their catch the the market. It was quite the show of various fish, shark, and people crowding on the beach. Behind them were little stalls that cooked fresh dishes of fish and rice and plantains all with a cup of coffee for $3 and thats what I had for breakfast.

Isla De La Plata is an hours boat ride from Puerto Lopez and contains many of the bird species found on Galapagos including the infamous Finches, Blue Footed Boobies, Albatross and Fragatas. What the island does have that Galapagos doesn't is the worlds smallest species of Hummingbird. We hiked the island and learned a lot from the guide about the animals the boobies and their mating habits which we got to saw, afterwards we were able to see sea turtles, Rays and go snorkeling off the island in the reefs it was really nice with lots of colorful fish.

I spent the next day just walking around town it was a bit rainy and perfect for just exploring town and spending sometime catching up on my writing and reading.Read more