Puerto Lopez

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We left Cuenca by plane for Guayaquil, a short 30 minute flight and after arriving at the airport we changed into shorts and headed to the near by bus terminal.  This bus terminal was huge and as large as most airport terminals we had visited. There were 112 gates on three levels.

One level on one side of this huge terminal.

This was the start of one of the most stressful days so far. We were looking for the bus that would take us to Puerto Lopez and I had read that a bus from the Jipijapa bus line would take us there. We finally found their counter and at 9:30 purchased our ticket. The bus left at 9:40 from gate 80 but when we arrive there was no bus. It had left!! Vince went down to the ticket counter and gave the guy that sold us the ticket shit and after a while he got the ticket changed to 11:10. After a wait we were on the bus and off on the long six hour trip to Puerto Lopez. When stopped in Jipijapa the sky opened up and then the rain started to come into the bus through the windows and the roof. Just another South American adventure that one learns to deal with somehow. Eventually we arrived at Puerto Lopez and reached our destination Hosteria Mandala.

Puerto Lopez isn’t one of my favorite spots. It is a dusty, smelly fishing village. Yes it has a beach, a very big beach over 3 km long but the fineness if the sand makes it a very dirty beach along with all the garbage that washes up on shore. They do clean the beach once a week but it still is dirty and they only clean part of it. However our Hosteria made up for these deficiencies.

Entrance to Hosteria Mandala.

The gardens are lovely and full of tropical plants. This is the path to the cabins which all have names of various sea life. Ours was “Penguino”.

This unusual Hibiscus caught my eye.

Yes, I like flowers.

The positioning of these two blossoms was interesting.

The beach.

Our first evening we were treated to a beautiful Pacific sunset.

Sunset through the palms.

The last few seconds and the sun rapidly dropped from sight.

On Sunday Ecuadorians flock to this beach by the bus loads. There were at least 15 busses parked along the streets.

There were two games of organized soccer going and several other pick-up games going along the beach.

Puerto Lopez is a fishing village.

The beach was a beehive of activity as the daily catch was unloaded.

Washing the boat and mending the nets.

Low tide repairs and a new paint job.

The proud owner.

The man in the middle lower part of the image in the white shirt was preaching. I’m not sure if the birds were the congregation or the choir.

This man along with others was digging in the rocks for………

This….?

The whole family playing in the mud.

Main Street Puerto Lopez.

On Monday we took a trip to Isla de la Plata which is an island 40 miles off the coast of Ecuador and is sometimes called the “mini Galapagos” The boat trip was about an hour out, but the homeward bound trip took an hour and a half due to the 2-3 meter swells. We saw some interesting birds and although it was very hot I did enjoy the trip.  However Vince was under the weather today and didn’t enjoy it as much as I did.

Entrance to Isla de la Plata. The island is about 5km long and 2km wide.

Blue Footed Boobie, Mother and chick.

The feet don’t start turning blue until they reach two years of age. The bluer the feet the older the bird.

Frigate bird pair. The male only has the bright red throat during courting.

Nazca boobie.

Blue footed boobie in flight.

Colourful fish.

Our stay here is coming to an end and we leave tomorrow morning for Bahia de Caraquez.

Just two more stops and then home but still more to see and do.

Take care

Regards

Wayne

All images used on this page are the property of and Copyright © 2011 Wayne Parks, and as such, may not be used in any way without the express written consent of Wayne Parks.

2 thoughts on “Puerto Lopez

  1. Was that a sea cucumber the chap was digging for’ it
    looked revolting to me.
    You can bring a couple of the hibiscus plants for your sister and me, if you please. 🙂
    Take care, see you soon.

  2. That purple thing reminds of something else, but I won’t post it here. The images of the sunset were just spectacular.

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