Getting to Puerto Lopez

Hey...so I've got a few blogs to do as I've been writing in a diary as my computer has been out of action for the last few days and I’m playing catch up now.

I've arrived in Puerto Lopez on the Pacific coast of Ecuador now and really wanted to share the experience of getting here with you guys.
So since taking off from Quito bound for Manta (& Mantarayas!) everything has been one amazing experience after another!
As we flew over the Andes I saw a blanket of clouds as far as the eye could see; or at least as far as I could see from my small porthole-esque window. The cotton wool blanket was, however, punctuated by towering snow-capped peaks, running like a string of jagged pearls marking the backbone of Ecuador and South America.
As we landed in Manta I soon realized that there was no one there to meet me (later finding out that the driver had had quite a nasty car accident, which I hope was not on the way to collect me) and had to barter for my transport to Puerto Lopez (which was interesting being that I barely speak a word of Spanish).

The drive itself, which took a little over an hour, meandered through patches of desert & scrub and on into jungle. It was unbelievable and really made me wish I'd have taken Ornithology at university so many different birds and struggled to keep them in my head. A brief summary of some of the birds I saw were as follows; Sea Eagles amongst the many raptor species here, 2 species of vulture, bout 3 species or varieties of humming bird, frigate birds and boobies (tehehehe...yes it is a type of bird and yes it makes me laugh everytime!). Though as we skirted from coast into mountains to jungle and back to coast the one thing that really stuck me about the wildlife I saw of Ecuador on this first experience of it was the vultures. They really seem to be the crows of this country. They fly around circling, like a scene from some appalling spaghetti western starring Clint Eastwood, and are very conspicuous in both the sky and the townships I travelled through. My case in point is as we were driving along the road past a small fishing village and a child was having to fight these birds off as they clamored for the fish that I assume he was taking home; the poor kid my heart really went out to him as the crows (vultures) were bigger than him. He did a damn fine job of getting rid of them though, even punched one in the head...I like to think he won and managed to get the fish home safe from these Roc-ish monsters. However I’ve digressed; as the scrub yellows and browns gave way to the rich greens of the banana jungles and ultimately Machalilla National Park and my destination.

Puerto Lopez in a small fishing township (though is relatively large for the area) that has a large quantity of shops and restaurants servicing the tourists that visit the area to whale watch during the season and it will be my home for the next six weeks (I won’t talk too much about PL at the moment as I will talk more about it in a later blog once I’ve got to know a bit more about the place first).

After more confusion with my utter & complete lack of Spanish I eventually found my room & met the guys that will be my guides for the next week until everyone else gets here; Jun Manuel, Fernando and Pablo (once again I’ll talk more about these guys in a later blog).
Well thats my trip from Quito to Manta to Puerto Lopez, hope you enjoyed hearing about it. I do have more blogs written, but I have to transcribe them onto my computer so I can upload them. Keep your eye out dear reader...that is if anyone is actually reading this ;)
Anyway I’m gonna go get some work done...missing everyone & I hope your all well...drop a comment on here, email me or get in touch through Crapbook.

Chao mi amigos