Puerto Lopez, Ecuador

The city of Puerto Lopez in Ecuador is a poor community, definitely third world. Seventy percent of the economy of Puerto Lopez falls within the fishing industry but as more and more fish are hauled from the sea, the small fisherman such as in Puerto Lopez are being asked to do with less to survive as the waters are being depleted. It was sad to see that the other option besides the fishing industry for this community is the exploitation of the whales that exist in this area. Every year during the months of June through September a pod of humpback whales migrate to the waters off Ecuador. The waters of Machalilla National Park in Manabi are breeding grounds for the whales and a growing tourism industry is taking hold. I guess I can say I supported the community by going whale watching.

Noa and I, along with some tourists form France, Spain, and Ecuador, got on a small fishing boat. We headed out to sea. About 20 min. into the ride we saw our first glance of humpback whale. It was huge, enormous, blue/black with a white mouth. The whale came out of the sea, it was perpendicular to the horizon, and made for a great view. Everyone was is awe. From there on we spent the next three hours on a whale hunt. One thing that bothered me is that when we did find a whale or two, sometimes our driver came very close to them. I know that the laws of Ecuador prohibit this, however they did it, I still don’t understand why. We saw at least 5 whales, it was a brilliant experience!

Next stop, Montanita to meet up with Shane!

Adventures in Banos Ecuador

Making my way down...

Baños, Ecuador

The cloud followed us all the way to Baños, Ecuador, a small town nestled at the foot of a volcano. Noa and I landed at The Hostel Santa Cruz and met some of the most amazing people. We spent the day resting from the long treks, washing our nasty clothes, ourselves, and resting up. We watched a movie at my favorite restaurant in the world, Casa Hood. The movie, Touching in The Void, is a documentary about two guys who attempt to peak one of the mountains in the Cordillera Blanca, which is in Peru. I was hiking in the same area where they began the hike, needless to say, WATCH THE MOVIE!

That night we met the travelers in our hostel as we sat around the campfire drinking some beers. A couple from California who are VERY green and inspirational with the way they live, a older man who had been traveling-living in South America for the past 10 years on a moter bike, Mary from Canada, Aileen a teacher from Ireland, Mike from NY, and Karen from Israel (this was actualy our 3rd time crossing paths). We were a very dynamic group and spent 4 amazing days together in Baños.

We went on a ´short hike´which turned into a very long hike. Wanting to get a great view of the volcano we hiked to a few look out points. We arrived at the first one, after trudging through mud, and the volcano was covered by clouds, booo. Mike didn´t let this discourage the group as we all hiked to the next look out point with hopes to see the volcano. As we hiked up the volcano we passed fruit farms, bizare looking plants, and mean dogs. We got a litte lost, but made it to the look out point. Sitting there for about 10 min and nothing but clouds. All of a sudden, David, yelled, there she is!!! The colouds spread and we had a great view, niccccccce! Optimism pays off! On the way down, on one of our breaks, we saw it give off a plume of smoke, crazy!

The next adventure with the group, a bike ride on a road filled with waterfals and then canyoning. The rainy and cloudy day began at 9pm as we all rode along the road stoping at various places of interest, a hudge waterfall, a bridge where Noa and Mike jumped off, and finaly we reached the river where our canyoning trip began. We got of our bikes and were covered with mud, fun! good thing we were going to be jumping in a river. We all suited up with the canyoning grear, hiked up to the top of a river with many waterfals and made our way down. We rappelled down four waterfalls, and slid down 2, no jumps! By the last waterfal we were FREZING! But all had smiles on our faces after seeing what we had accomplished!

The best time in Baños was spent at Casa Hood. We all gathered around a big table and ate the best food ever. We talked about life, I felt like I had know this bunch forever, however we had just met! What a fun time in Baños, I will never forget the people I met there. Next stop, Puerto Lopez, Ecuador.

The Quilatoa Loop

I asked a fellow traveler what the best part of Ecuador was and she told me the Quilatoa loop. Two weeks later Noa and I found ourselves exploring this loop just south of Quito, Ecuador.

Latacunga to Chiclao to Quilatoa and back to Latacunga, it may sound easy, yet at the moment this path seemed very complex. Noa and I took an overnight bus from Cuenca to Latacunga and arrived at 5am. We walked for about 12 blocks, with our packs on, to a trashy hostel. We then recouperated, we took a 5 hour nap, ditched our packs and took the necessary things with us in our day packs, and made our way to Chiclao. After curving through hills and valleys we arrived at the small, windy and cold town of Chilao. Noa and I met some English boys on the bus who were about to embark on the same adventure. We ended up getting a cabin with them and spent the next two days hiking with them as well, what a fun bunch! That day we hiked down into what Chiclao is known for, the amazing lagoon which was once a volcano. The hike down was not bad, the way up however was a killer! The lagoon was 'brilliant'as the british boys would say. It is a bright blue pool sourrounded by old valcano walls. We returned from the hike hungry as could be. That night we were served dinner by a little old lady who wore a peacock feather in her hat and had 'gold' beads coiled around her neck. After dinner we all huddled around the fire for warmth, however that may have been counteacted by the beers consumed, oops!

The next day we all woke up to a loud birds. I saw my breath as I poked my head out of my sleeping bag, burrrrrrrrrr! After we all woke up, it took the boys a while, we made our way to breakfast, onece again served by the little old lady. We asked her, as well as the other workers, if they would direct us to the Inca cave we were hoping to find. Well, no one wanted to poing us in the right direction, they all wanted to guide us there for $15, no thank you! Once again we were in for an adventure. We made our way over a hill, through a valley, found a hut used by pastors, hiked thorugh a cloud, and eventually spotted what looked like a cave, however there was no path there. We made our own. Hiking through long thick grass, brush, and bumpy terrane we arrived to what we hope to be the Inca cave.

Returning from the cold taxing hike, we made our way into the cabin for a warm glass of tea, YUMMM. It was time for Noa and I to move on, Quilatoa was our next stop.

We arrived, via the back of a truck, to a small welcoming village. It was somewhat warm, the sun was shining, and we ended up in a wonderful hostel. With time to spare, Noa and I went on another hike. We passed a cemetary and made our way to the bottom of a valley, what a spectacular view. As we arrived to the bottom we say a group of girls leading a group of sheep, fields of flowers above, and lovely rays of sunshine. Noa and I took advantage of this beauty and took a nap!

Day two in Quilatoa...
We woke up to an amazing breakfast served by the hostel, eggs, toast, yougurt, granola, fruit, juice, coffee, and then some, wow! Good thing we got a good heary breakfast, we had a 7hr, hike through the cloud forest ahead of us. We bagan the hike wondering when we would arrive to the cloud, and ended the hike wondering when it would leave us! The hike was bizare, we saw sights ulike anything I had ever seen. We found the cloud forest, or sould I say it found us. We could only see 2m infront of us. We ended up approaching a a wierd shape, which ended up beign a group of 7 cows, wierd! The cloud began to rain on us, every inch of life had drops of rain on it, including us. We ended up getting lost, but found our way, however, we didn't make it out of the cloud!

Cuenca, Ecuador

After abreath of fresh air in Vilcabamba we made our way to Cuenca, famous for El Parque Nacional de las Cajas.

We arrived late at night had a wonderful dinner, after spending the majority of the day on the bus a good dinner is critical and a beer. At the hostel, we ran into some friends from Switzerland and Germany whom we spent a great deal of time with in Huaraz, Peru. The next day we went to the park. Little did we know the elevation of the park was at 3,000M, what did that mean, COLD and RAIN! Five other travelers were headed the same way so we all hiked accross the park todether. Let me tell you Noa and I must be bad luck. Out of 7 people none of us could find our way around the park, even with a map in hand! The park was great, clouds sourrounded us along with a mist, which eventually turned into a rain. The ground was boggy, everytime I took a step I sank in a little, good thing for water proof boots! By the end of the day we were FREEEEEZING! To make our way back to Cuenca we had to catch a bus that was susposed to pass by every hour, well who knew when it would come. Noa and I began to walk down the highway with our thumb out in the fridged air. After about 15 min of walking a nice Jeep pulled off the road and offered us a lift. We got in and were escorted down from the high land back to our hostel by a very nice man named Patrik. After an intensive day of hiking, we went out to eat with the crew. That night, we endulged in 'CUI' a traditional food of the regions. What is cui you may ask, well guinea pig! It was nice, very juicy, salty and tender!

Ecuador and the 'hikes'

I woke up this morning itching my ancle which is filled mosquito bites, thank goodness for itch cream!

For the past two weeks I have been making my way around Ecuador to the places I missed last year. Noa, my travel buddie from Israel, and I crossed into Ecuador with no problems, and ended up in a small, bizzare town called Vilcabamba. We arrived late, at 12am, and there was NOTHING open, this is wierd seeing how most families have dinner around 9/10pm. We spent our time in Vilcamamba hiking around, three days of fresh air, one has to love the sent of flowers and plants all around!

Hike one, to Mt. Mondongo. Noa and I made our way to the begining of the hike and accidently passed the enterance, oops, yet eventually found it. From the ENTRANCE we made our way up the mountain wich would peak at 2,500M, so a nice 4 hr hike, right? Well, we got to a cross situated at the top of what seemed to be the top. We broke out our chololate and celebrated, oops! We then realized there was another cross atop aonther mountain so we continued on. The path to the next mountain was not so great, it was actually pretty dangerous. One wrong step, and adios! slowely but shurely was our slogan as we climbed on all fours to reach the top! The view was great we could see for miles and miles, fields of crops, the city, and the river!

Hike two, through the ecological forest. Vilcabamba is know as the ecological center of Ecuador. The flor and fauna is at its best and researchers from all around the world come here to take advantage of it. Some time ago, a group of researchers labled all of the plants, trees, flowers, and whatever else there was to find. Noa and I hiked by the river and the old river walls, and guess what, yep we got turned around, hu? Eventually We made our way back to our amazing hostel, it had hot tubs and a steam room, niceeeeeeee, and relaxed!

Hike three, a quest to find a waterfall in the national park...
Most of the people traveling in South America tend to travel North or South on the'gringo trail'. With that said, it is not uncommon to run into the same people more than once. Noa and I ran into a friend from Huaraz, Inon, and we all went on the 6hr. hike together. We stroleld through town, then through the surrounding family farms and eventually arrived to the national park. The map we had, it was an OK map, indicated we would cross three gates, walk about 20 min inbetween them, arrive at a corn field, and then 40 min further we would see the waterfall, not to mention run into a troll and answer his riddle, right? Well sounds easy.We ended up doing exactly so, there were tons of paths so it was hard to choose what one to follow. Well, with our luck, we didn't find the waterfall, but we had lunch, tomato and avocado sandwiches on what Noa and I call the best bread in Ecuador, by the raging river and enjoyed that.

Ecuador and the 'Nube