I had spent four days on the beach in Montenita. The weather was crap, overcast everyday. There was little rain however which i was thankful for and i spent the days on the beach reading and the like. I had been traveling solo for a week and it was time to start thinking about returning to Quito for my flight to Lima. I decided to make one more stop on my way up the coast and i am really happy that i did. I came to a stop of a dusty, dingy, dirty, Town called Puerto Lopez. The only attraction, the sole reason why anyone stops here is to visit Ila de Plata, the silver island. Its also dubbed the poor mans Galapagos. I, being a poor man, listened intently as a tour guide told me of the adventures that awaited me an hour by boat into the Pacific. To say that i wasn't looking forward to that one hour boat ride would be an understatement. i had gotten sick on an 8th grade whale watch and felt sick the whole day and never saw one whale. I took solace in the fact that i had in my possession motion sickness pills with caffeine. After listening intently, i decided to walk more than half a block from the bus station before making any more decisions. i had been accosted as soon i stepped of the bus. He was nice enough but with rain threatening i cared more for a dry place to put my bags as i did a five dollar discount he so eagerly offered if i would just sign up right now. it was raining by the time i found the Sol Inn Hostel. it suited me fine and i set out again to find another agency in which to get a price range. I ended up booking with a company right on the beach.
the day was chalk full of really neat stuff. The boat was as rocky and fast as any i had been on and i was thanking the gods i had taken the pills early enough in the morning to allow me to enjoy the roller coaster that was the sea. When the island came within sight the motors slowed and we ran into, hopefully harmlessly, over a hundred dolphins. this picture does it no justice, it was the most our guide had seen all year. it was really neat to see them for the first time. Dolphins!
The best and funnest birds i have ever seen are the blue footed boobies. you can only tell the male from the female by the difference in the eyes. Birds!
red breasted something er other. i forgot.
These guys below were all sitting on eggs or new born's or protecting there offspring. pretty cool.
the walk around the island took about three hours and after seeing so many birds in one place, i don't need to look up for quite sometime. we boarded the boat had a sack lunch on the deck, including fresh pineapple, yeah boy! we went snorkeling off the coast for 20 minutes. When i first heard that we would only have 20 minutes to snorkel i was disappointed. but after being in the freezing cold Pacific for about 15 minutes i was ready to come back to the boat but i forced myself to stay in. the biodiversity of the reefs were really fantastic. After we dried off we were off, heading back to the coast but not before we saw some of these bad boys. It was in the peak of the humpback whale mating and migration season and we followed one for a good part of 30 minutes. I got some great pics and some good video. i finally saw a whale. whales!
It was one great day for under 40 bucks. Thats a lot of money even if it was a whole day packed full of interesting things to do and so i retreated to Quito where i knew i could live well below my budget for about a week. when i got off the bus in Quito i walked into my hostel and ran into Darrel. A great bloke from Ireland that i had coincidentally meet in Banos. He and i had rented a dunebuggie, driven it for 15 minutes and returned to the rental agency after it couldn't make it up the first hill. Well the owner hadn't been to quick to appease our pleas for either our money back or a new buggie. The words flowing from the owners mouth seemed to be getting louder and angrier whilst also gaining speed. I felt a sting on my face and heard a slapping nose followed after. it took me a second to realize that i had just be struck in the face with an open handed slap. i still didn't learn however and persisted to know why i was just hit when we were the ones getting screwed. He darted off for a second and came back with a wrench which he swung over his head and then kicked me in the shins. Darrel had been the voice of reason and might just have saved me from getting my head bashed in when he urged our retreat. Needless to say i was happy to see the chap again and for the last four days we be chillin. But tonight, tonight i fly to Peru, Lima and descend down another rabbit hole, at least the langugue will be the same and i will be just as bad at it. Ecuador was pretty great, greater than i had thought or hoped. I spent exactly one month here and i plan on doing the same in Peru. Ecuador was a first for many things, whales, guinea pig and assaults, its been fun.
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