Isabel's Visit (Part II: Puerto Lopez)

We arrived in Manta, but had rented a car to drive part of the Ruta del Sol to Puerto Lopez.  We were on the road for sunset and woke up the next day to lots of clouds hanging over the beach.  So we decided to spend our first day visiting Agua Blanca and Los Frailes Beach. Both are located in Parque Nacional Machalilla, meant to preserve the coast and its forests.  Agua Blanca is actually a small indigenous community that includes a few wooden dwellings, an archaeological museum and foundations from the original Manta community that lived here.  It also contains a sulfur pool and naturally exfoliating mud for a bit of a spa treatment while you visit.

Javier's attempt at blowing the conch found in the museum.   Isabel was prepared...but Javier couldn't get a sound out!

These 'candelabra cacti' (as my guidebook describes them) are located all over this part of the coast.

After the museum we took a guided tour through a dry riverbed  Here we found some horses and goats taking advantage of some small pools found in the dry forest.

On our walk we ran into many of these ceibo trees that have spines on their trunks to keep herbivores away! (I took some additional photos of these trees because they spot the hillsides and stand out because of their green bark....that allows them to photosynthesize even when they lose their leaves....I really liked these trees!)

Our walk ended at the sulfur pool where many were already swimming in the warm (but smelly) water.

Isabel decided against lathering up in the mud, but the Cabezas (some more than others) jumped at the chance for some natural exfoliating. 

In the afternoon we paid the small price of admission to walk the 3km to the coast of Los Frailes.  We had heard from friends that this is one of the most beautiful beaches in Ecuador and even with the clouds...we were not disappointed.

The beach is somewhat cove like, with two cliffs jutting into the ocean on either end, creating this intimate sandy beach. 

We got up early the next morning (to find another cloudy day) to meet the fishermen bringing their catch right up onto the beach at Puerto Lopez.  It was a really interesting scene to see fishermen, buyers, and tourists gathered around boats battling the pelicans for space.

Look at all the birds who got up early to meet the fishermen too.

As catches are brought ashore, a whole team of workers immediately begin cleaning and preparing the fish.

We think those are some wahoos on the end there!

Some big fish and big bellies down at the market.

Runners would take these tubs from boats to the permanent shacks farther up from the water.

some stingrays and eel in there too!

We were also lucky enough to see a few hammerheads brought in with the rest of the catch.

Did I mention all the birds? Cause they were fighting the runners, snatching fish from tubs as the men ran up the beach.  Also, one pooped right on Isabel's sleeve (yuck!).

After the market we readied quickly for our big trip to Isla de la Plata, sometimes lovingly referred to as The Poor Man's Galapagos.  While I wasn't thrilled about the 1.5 - 2 hour boat ride required to reach the island, we were all excited at the prospect of seeing some humpback whales that travel to the Ecuadorian coastline during this time of year to mate and give birth before heading back to colder water.

As we were approaching the island the whole boat freaked out when we spotted a mother and calf spouting water and surfacing with their backs and tails.  The boat followed them around a bit and we felt the trip was worth it already after such a sighting.

There were also some friendly sea turtles that greeted us in shallower waters (not wanting to be outdone by the visiting whales)

some waves 'hello'!

The island immediately reminded me of the Galapagos: very dry (as it was when we went) and similar vegetation. 

After a short hike up the hill we began to see a number of blue footed boobies.  Our guide informed us that they come to the island to find a partner and mate.  She explained that we would see many paired up, and building nests right into the soft dirt on the island.

candelabra cacti

partnered boobies

It was a pretty steep climb, but the view on the ridge of the island was absolutely breathtaking.

In addition to the blue footed boobies, the island was just swarming with frigate birds.  We had see many in the Galapagos, but not in this mass on a single island.

The frigates were nesting as well which allowed us to have an up close look at these birds.  Here you can see a male and female in their nest.  The male's red pouch has deflated since his attempt to attract this lucky lady, but can still be easily seen hanging under his beak.

Baby frigates are bright white (which contrasts hugely with their black parents).  We saw many frigates flying that still had white feathers on their wings and torso, but looked full grown.  These apparently were born last year and are still under the care of their parents.

grabbing some grub from mom

We also got to see some male frigates that were still working their magic to catch the eye of a lady.  Their pouches look so thin and taut when they are blown up like this.

Loooooots of boobies

We were also lucky enough to see some baby boobies.  As you can see, their nests are flat on the ground and their chicks are white, just like the frigates.  In the Galapagos we saw some adolescent boobies with white feet.  Apparently they do not turn blue until they reach sexual maturity.

Our boat had been THRILLED with the whales we saw on the way in, but our guide was hoping for some bigger breaches on our return trip.  We had fingers crossed, but were trying not to get hopes too high.  We ended up being luckier than I ever would have dared to dream.  I think this is one of those unfortunate situations where pictures just don't do the experience justice.  These whales were so big and so graceful and so close that it was really difficult to believe myself (and I was an eye witness...).

You can see a bit of the remainder of the blow (which helped us spot the whales as we were traveling) and the back of the calf swimming along next to mom.

We saw a lot of tails, but it was surprisingly difficult to get that quintessential shot (depending on their proximity and location near the boat).

This jump was by far the most unbelievable.  Javier and I had actually climbed to the roof of the boat to sit and watch. Neither of us had our camera ready (but Isabel did!) so we saw the jump and midair 360 with our naked eyes.  I really had difficulty believing what I saw, but Javier confirmed and Isabel's shot cements it.  While the photo makes him seem far off, I guarantee you that in real time he felt so close.  Almost like he was putting on a show for our boat.

While I probably won't win any photo contests with this one, it ended up being great to show you the whale's proximity to our boat (as seen in the top of my photo....)

The more we watched the more I noticed that the whales open their mouth slightly right before hitting the water's surface...who knew?

sunny whale tail

a little blurry, but shows you how ridiculously high they hopped out of the water.  (have I mentioned these creatures are huge?)  The experience was just awesome (certainly hard to top).  While I'm glad we got some photos to try to share it, I'm super happy to have seen such sights with my own eyes!

It's hard to top the whales, but Puerto Lopez also offered some pretty spectacular sunsets...

The view from our hostel roof.

just gorgeous

After such an experience, we decided we had to try to go back out the following day for some additional whale watching.  While we saw many, there were none that were breaching they way they were on the previous day.  It says something about how spoiled we are when we were slightly disappointed with humpback sightings like this one (look how close we are!).  Don't get me wrong, still cool to see, but nothing in comparison to the day prior.

We spent the rest of our last day hanging out on the beach, drinking fruity drinks until another gorgeous sunset.  (Beach soccer seems to be a very popular pastime in Ecuadorian beach towns.)

Because I've spent most of my beach days on the coast of N. Carolina I rarely see (1) sunsets on the ocean and (2) boats so close to the coast.  The combination makes the sunsets on these little Pacific beach towns truly picturesque.

For our last big dinner we headed to a spot that boasted the best paella on the beach.

It was deliciously tasty and a great way to end our stay in Puerto Lopez.

We woke up before sunrise to drive Isabel to Guayaquil for her flight back to Quito and then on to DC.  We were all very sad to say goodbye.  It had been an epic trip, complete with amazing sights and experiences.  But more than that, Javier and I have learned that it's especially difficult to say goodbye to our Ecuavisitors.  It's so wonderful to have people we love come share some of this experience and time we have in Ecuador.  We were so incredibly happy that Isabel came and now knows a bit about this wonderful place.