Tuesday 20 March 2012
I woke up to the sound of rain and started packing up to be able to leave very soon after breakfast. I had breakfast and went back to the hotel to say goodbye to Ramona and Dan, who were unsure whether to go to Canoa or Mindo before setting off to Quito for their onward journey to New York and Iceland.

I got a taxi to take me to the bus terminal and was lucky enough to catch a bus parked along the street, which was about to take off to Portoviejo. Briefly, I had to get a bus to Portoviejo, change to another bus to Jijipapa and then from Jijipapa, get a bus to Puerto Lopez.

I arrived at Puerto Lopez at 3 pm and got a motor taxi (a motorbike tricycle taxi, similar to a Thai tuk tuk but you face the front) to a hostel. Although I knew the one I had decided on was only a few blocks away, I didn't have my bearings and it was a hot day, and I couldn't be bothered. I asked him to wait while I checked out the available accommodation: I got a private double room, although I could have got a dorm which would effectively have been private as I would probably not have shared but it's nice to spread out a bit.

After a little exploration of the town, which is larger than Canoa, I immediately set about booking a tour to the Isla de la Plata (bearing in mind the failure of Bahia) and got one booked for the next day starting at 9:30 am, to include a 2 hour walk to see blue-footed boobies, lunch, national park fee and snorkelling.

Dinner was at a nice Italian restaurant recommended in the guidebook and I decided to check out the breakfast options. Whilst out walking, I bumped into a guy who had been at the hostel in Canoa with the intense Canadian medic. I also got chatting to an elderly French Canadian guy, Leo, on the beach front, including his friend, Winston Churchill (!!) Winston then tried to matchmake me with his Ecuadorian friend, who is a salsa teacher, but I managed to gracefully (I think!) slide out of that. I got a couple of breakfast recommendations from Leo and I said I might see him at the American breakfast place Thursday, as I was hoping to leave for Guayaquil then and such a large breakfast of waffles with fake maple syrup) would be good as I wouldn't be eating very much for lunch, whilst travelling.