Puerto Lopez

Three buses after leaving Baños we arrived in Puerto Lopez. The journey was very long but the scenery was stunning, first through the Andes then along the coast line just before the sun set. The last bus was a typical South American bus, packed full, very hot and playing very loud salsa music. There was even a live band playing at one point. Puerto Lopez is only a small town and the streets are just mud but this is what gives the basic town character.

We had been told by a man in Baños about a fisherman named Winston Churchill who ran day trips to the nearby island or fishing trips. The first person we asked knew who we meant instantly, clearly a well known man. We arranged to do the fishing trip with him a few days later as it was cheaper than the other tours and we were all keen to catch our own fish and eat it, well apart from Sam. After a day relaxing on the beach to recover from the journey and a few drinks we were ready for our fishing trip.

There were a few other people on our trip, all from Ecuador apart from one man from Spain so we were the only English speaking people there. Luckily, there was a 14 year old boy who spoke excellent English who could translate the very bad jokes that Winston told us. We politely laughed although we still don´t understand them. Most of the day was spent fishing off the boat with just a line (no rod) and later in the afternoon we went snorkling. Sam was the first to catch a fish but the rest soon caught up and Dani managed to catch four! Winston prepared the fish ready to eat but we didnt realise we would be eating them raw! They mix the fish with peppers, onions, tomato and lemon juice. Since Dani has been keen to catch her own fish and eat it since the beginning of the trip she was very excited and thought it was very tasty.

That night we decided to leave straight after the trip as it was a Saturday night and we had been told that Montañita was much better for partying =)

Montañita

As we were waiting for the bus a local guy came and asked us where we were going and offered us a lift in the back of his van, clearly more interesting we jumped in. We were told to stay in a place called Centro del Mundo where you sleep on a mattress on the floor with only a mosquito net, an idea we all liked the sound of but soon regretted once we were there. At first we thought it looked exciting, sleeping in the open attic on the beach front but the first night we didnt sleep very well on the super thin mattress that we´re sure a tramp would have turned their nose up at! But at $3.50 a night we decided it was too cheap to move anywhere else and just found an extra mattress.

Saturday was a good night out, quite busy and cocktails for only $2, Sam was in her element!!! The next few nights were a lot quieter but we met up with other people and just drank outside the bottle shop. While we were having breakfast one morning (well afternoon) we got talking to an American guy who had done a lot of travelling too, and as he and his friend knew how hard it was to live on a budget they offered to buy us dinner that night. We ended up meeting everyone at cocktail alley later on and having quite a few drinks.. all in all good times!