Tsafiki Hosteria Las Tunas

... that or any other number of fried chicken outlets... and bought our ticket to the coast...

We arrived in this muddy, dusty, tumbleweed town and found a hostel... and decided to go on a trip to the Isla de la Plata... we knew it was out of season for whales, but thought the day trip sounded fun anyway, snorkelling and exporing the island... so we booked it for the next day... the cash point (the one and only) wasnt working and we had very ...

14th September 2009

Hostal Sol Inn, Puerto lopez, Ecuador (16 usd)

Warmer than out at sea

Today we went whale watching and very fortunately for us, we saw some. The Humpback Whale comes from Antarctica to the coast of Ecuador to mate and the spectacle is witnessed by many people between June and September. It's the end of the season, so, our boat wasn't full, there were only 6 of us, 2 from France and 2 from Holland and us. It was a ...

... I pointed out the other two behind us. My camera ran out of battery here unfortunately but Lucy´s was okay so will again steal her pics. We then got to see an albetos chick, extremely cute, also very rare, starting to not believe him now! Then a trip back down through thousands of soaring tropical birds and millions of boobies back to the beach.

We then went snorkelling with giant turtles and tropical fish, as you do! The turtles were ...

... yesterday was seeing whales on the ride here. We had stopped for a 5 minute break when a couple of guys in a truck pointed out to sea saying 'Ballenas' and sure enough, there were 2 of them, just visible, bopping around in the ocean. We watched, fascinated, for a while, amazed that we could even see their water spouts. We saw them flip a couple of times, but no detail, they were too far away. We're still going to do a whale watching trip so that, hopefully, we can ...

... cool with little shacks along the beach selling drinks and snacks - it looked much nicer than during the day though I am sure its a ery nice place in the summer when its not so overcast and rainy.

We had an awesome breakfast (apple cinnamon pancakes!!) and then took 4 buses, a ferry and a tuktuk (with a stop to buy a "panama" hat in Montechristi) to get to the next place up the coast

We drove from our camping spot in a remote village and the climates and landscapes changed from desert to lush jungle within 5 miles of eachother. Its amazing the biodiversity and climate diversity you find here in Ecuador - and all the variations of birds and wildlife that go along with them...

It was pretty much a rainy cloudy kind of day and we didnt much feel like being on ...

... have lounge chairs on the sand and start bonfires at night. The people are friendly and it’s all in all just a nice little town.

We got on the boat with a group of other tourists and we wound up being a group of ten total. The small boat bobbed and bounced over the large waves of the Pacific. I held onto the edge wondering when we’d hit a wave bigger than the boat and how long Eric & Andy were going to last on this thing without motion sickness tablets. The ride ...

... almuerzo (lunch), due to it being very cheap. Essentially this conists of a three course set menu: soup to start, followed by your choice of usually chicken, fish, or seafood, followed by some kind of desert (raning from fruit to a biscuit). One place particularly sticks in my mind as the best of the bunch, but was also one of the most random place I´ve eaten in. Essentially this eatery was some old bloke´s front room. You walk in and there are tables and chairs set up. Take a ...

... the waves and surfaced several miles away) and head for the island. Isla del Plata is also known as the Poor Man's Galapagos, and here, we divide into two groups with naturalists to tour the island. This time of year, the island is dry, shrubby, and inhabited mostly by birds. First up, we see the famed blue-footed boobie. Now, I was pretty excited about these guys who are pretty much just seagull sized birds but with blue feet. The feet come free ...

The rainy season is beginning to wind down.  Of 20 watermelon plants only 9 are surviving.  First I was blaming my failure on the ants.  With a little observation I discovered the culprit!  Big green iguanas.  They just love the buds of anything.  Since I had decided to turn my orchard an agro-turism type of place in the future, I am torn.  What is best?  To have iguanas, or watermelons and all the other fruits?  Anyone out there w this kind of situation?