The plane was a baby one, two seats either side of the aisle, and so the boarding did not take long and we took off right on time. The flight to Guayaquil took literally 20 minutes, by the time we'd levelled out it was time to start descending into the airport. On the way down it looked like all the area around Guayaquil was flooded and we figured maybe they'd had a bunch of rain and the river had overflowed; turns out they grow lots of rice and also have a load of shrimp farms close to the city.
When we got off the plane we headed straight out of the airport as we only had carry on bags and our driver was waiting for us. This was the first time I've arrived at an airport and had a person waiting for me with my name on a sign, I felt special! The guys name was Roberto, he was from Guayaquil, and he was going to be driving us to Puerto Lopez in his lovely air conditioned van. The drive took about 3 and 1/2 hours and we only stopped one time. The drive wasn't too bad (I think having air conditioning helped a lot) and it was cool to see the changing landscape as we drove from the city west towards the coast and then north along the ocean. Guayaquil is a huge city off about 3 million people, we saw a little of it as we were leaving but not much. The further away from the city we got the fewer houses we saw, but those that we did see we made of something that looked like bamboo and they were small and boxy looking. They actually looked like even the slightest wind would knock them over but I think they were built to keep the inhabitants cool as it's really hot and muggy. Roberto gave us a running commentary as he drove and also gave us some history off the areas we were passing through. After we started going north along the coast we passed through a bunch of small towns that didn't look like anywhere I wanted to stop, they were really poor looking. They did have huge speed bumps on the way into and out of each town that we almost had to come to a standstill to get over, and throughout the towns there were ropes across the road to keep the traffic speed down also.
Just before we got to our destination we had to climb up and over a mountain as Puerto Lopez was on the other side; it was a long pull and Roberto even had to turn off the AC till we started going down the other side. Thankfully soon after we arrived in Puerto Lopez, a little fishing town right on the ocean. We were taken straight to our hotel, Hosteria Mandala, which was a beautiful place to stay; it's really lovely, at the very far end of the town so there's no traffic, and the beach is about 20 yards from the front door. We arrived a little after 1 in the afternoon and our room wasn't ready so we sat on the balcony looking out over the ocean and ate lunch. When our room was ready (we are in the fragata room) were we taken to it and it turned out that all the hotel rooms were individual cabanas that were set amongst a tropical flower garden. The cabana was small but comfy with cool wooden furnishings and our own private hammock outside the door. We also had our own little welcoming party in the bathroom, a gecko.
We got unpacked and then decided to walk into the town proper and take a look
around. The road alongside the beach isn't paved but there are a number of cafes and stores selling all kinds of things along it. We walked the entire length of it, which wasn't too far but it was super hot and super muggy (the humidity here is about 90%), until we came to the part of the beach where all the fishing unloading takes place. As we were getting closer to where all the boats were moored we could see hundreds of huge birds swarming over the beach and the ocean (Lec's idea of heaven?), but it wasn't until we got closer that we realized that the boats were unloading and the birds were looking for there free meal. The men (and boys) were bringing the boats or pangas onto the beach and then loading the fish by the handful into crates that were then carried by other men to the waiting trucks and unloaded. The men with the crates had sticks that they stuck above the crates to deter the birds but let me tell you they didn't work. The birds which were mostly frigates just took whatever they wanted, they were swooping down at the men (maybe this is Lec's idea of heaven, giant swooping birds) and taking big mouthfuls of fish out off the crates. We stood and watched for a while as it was a pretty efficiently run operation where everyone had a job to do including the young kids who were sorting the shrimp and squid from the fish. It was hard to stand and watch too long though as the smell was unbelievable, very, very fishy, so we walked back into town and had a little wander around the streets.
When we'd had enough we hailed a taxi, which here isn't a car but a motorbike with a seat behind it called a moto. The driver tried to take us for a ride in more ways than one by telling us that the fair was $1, but Mike had asked at the hotel and we knew the ride was only supposed to be $0.50; they do like to try and take the Gringos for every penny here. Mike just told him it was too much, he laughed and told us it was $0.50 so in we got and off he went.
We went and sat on the beach for a little while and watched the sunset. While we were down there we were greeted by the hotel security, 4 giant dogs who when we arrived didn't even open their eyes - we did arrive during siesta time I guess. the just barked at us and then went back to lying on the beach; I wouldn't want to try and break into the hotel and find those four staring at me.
We had dinner at the hotel around 8, they make really good pasta, before heading off to bed. Another first for me tonight, sleeping under a mosquito net; I hope I don't wake up tomorrow and find that the white net curtain is black with mozzies.
Mike: Man its hot!!!!!! No Moto cab driver is going to take this Gringo!
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