Isla de la Plata

Colleen and I went to Puerto Lopez this week. We left on Sunday and took an overnight bus. After a really bumpy bus ride we arrived in Puerto Lopez at five in the morning. After napping for a while Colleen and I ventured out to fine food. Because it was a Monday and not high tourist season, everything was closed. Eventually we found a taximoto to take us to a restaurant and he had to convince the owners to put out a table for us.
Later on that afternoon we went to Las Friales beach which was absolutely beautiful and empty. Since Las Frailes is part of a national park so there are no stands or bars or anything where people can see things, it’s just beach goers and not many at that since its 10km away from Puerto Lopez. The beach is only open until four o’clock so we weren’t able to stay there long.
For dinner we ate at this amazing Italian restaurant called Bellitaliana, it was the best Italian food I have ever had. The restaurant is owned by an Italian woman and each night that we were there she was there. I’m not sure if she cooked or anything but she told us about the special dishes for each night. I only tried one dish- spaghetti Italiana (spaghetti with olive oil, basil, tomato and mushrooms) simple, but it was amazing.
Tuesday morning we took a boat ride to Isla de la Plata also known as the poor man’s Galapagos. It usually has all the same animals as the Galapagos but it wasn’t the right season to see sea lions or whales. But we got to take a short hike around the island and see blue footed boobies and magnificent frigates. Then afterwards we went snorkeling around the island. It was my first time snorkeling, I’m not really a fan of the actual snorkel and mask, because they make me feel claustrophobic but I like being able to see the coral and the fish. I saw some really cool bright blue fish and swam through
a whole bunch of schools of fish.
The tour of Isla de la Plata took the entire day and afterwards we had dinner and went to a little shack on beach to have drinks. Apparently this is how all the guides get their business because as we were about to leave they hounded us and tried to get us to go paragliding or snorkeling or whatever but we made tons of “friends” that night.
Wednesday morning we slept in and then went to Agua Blanca for the afternoon. Agua Blanca is a different park run by a community; it has a sulfur pool and ruins. We took a hike around the area but didn’t get a chance to see the ruins because they were closed or something. I was slightly disappointed about that but its not like they are world famous or anything so I don’t think I missed much. Since Agua Blanca didn’t take that long we went back to the beach and I hung out in a hammock all afternoon while Colleen went swimming. That evening we met up with Matt and Lizzy who had just arrived from hiking the Kilatoa trail. We went for Italian again for dinner then Colleen and I played cuarenta with some of the guides that live in Puerto Lopez in one of the shacks on the beach. It was nothing special but still a good time.
Thursday was our last day in Puerto Lopez and we went back to the beach and then took the evening bus back to Quito.