Hi everyone,

We have just back after our week at the beach so thought I would update the blog. This is Vicki by the way, Katie has been hogging the blog for far too long. You will probably notice the spelling and grammer is not quite as good this time lol!

When we arrived in Guayaquil last weekend we only spent 1 real day exploring. Its an okay city but not somewhere we would come back to. They have a nice waterfront area, which has recently been improved and a really cool local market. We also walked through a small park that had loads of Iguanas just strolling around. Apart from that there isn't much to write about unfortunately but it was a good place to stop before continuing onto the coast.

On Tuesday we got a bus to Puerto Lopez, fortunately there were no mountainous roads so we could relax a little more. Puerto Lopez is a traditional Ecuadorian coastal town, quite hectic, a little rough around the edges but it has a beautiful beach plus it's very chilled out. On the first day we just explored and walked along the lovely beach. There were so many birds down by the waterfront especailly where all the fishing boats were. There were loads of vultures, pelicans and frigate birds, all waiting for scraps from the days catch.

We went to Machilla National Park on the second day, which was made up of tropical dry forest and as its the dry season now, the vegetation was very brown so not that interesting but there were loads of skinks and lizards. The walk incorporated several lovely beaches and then finished up on a beatiful undisturbed beach with only 6 other people on it. We were so hot and sweaty we literally ran straight into the sea.....well we did have to stop and wait for Katie to lather the sun cream on!! The sea was beautiful, warm and had lots of big waves. I was in my element, it was my perfect day. We could have spent all day there but it was stupidly hot and we were getting burnt so we headed back to Puerto Lopez on a "Tuk Tuk". Later that afternoon we did notice how burnt we were which wasn't great, the Ecuadorian sun is really powerful. We slapped on the aftersun and chilled out for the rest of the day looking like 2 burnt Brits abroad!!

The following day we planned to visit Isla de la Plata on a boat trip, which is the only coastal National Park in Ecuador. We were told there was a small chance we could see whales but it was unlikely as its the end of their mating season and they had moved on. Much too our surprise in the distance we saw a humpback whale slap its huge fin on the sea. The boat sped over towards the whales path and a few minutes later the whale jumped out of the water. It was truely amazing, so huge and just awesome. I may have welled up and had a secret cry, I was just overwhelmed. We followed the whales, keeping our distance but still quite close for about half an hour and they were slapping there fins and coming up for air constantly. It was fricking AMAZING. After the whales disappeared we came across a pod of about 20 dolphins, which were jumping out of the water. When we got to the island we went on an hours walk looking at all the nesting blue footed booby's - and no thats not a mistake. Funny looking birds with very bright blue feet which are really unique. Once we got back to the boat we were greeted by 6 green turtles and a manta ray jumping out of the water. We couldn't believe our luck, considering we paid 3 times less than we did in Canada and we didn't see b***** all then! We finished off the trip by spending an hour snorkelling and saw some lovely corals and beautiful fish. This was the best boat trip I have been on and we were so lucky to see whales. That night we thought we would treat ourselves to a nice fish meal and a few drinks. We headed to a bar on the sea front where Boris works, an Ecuadorian guy who kinda lives at our hostel. He was cool, although wanted us to sit with him right next to the speakers while he dj'd- we have since lost our hearing......only joking! We ended up staying longer than expected and had salsa lessons from him lol.

We went to Montanita on Saturday, which is another coastal town , though only for the day so we could surf. It was a brightly coloured little place but totally made for the tourists. Loads of bars, clubs, western food places and was very busy. The beach was nice and we hired a body board and took to the sea. The waves were awesome and there were loads of really good surfers about. This was Katies first time body boarding and she did really well and loved it. I was loving it and could have stayed in the sea all day. But we didn't as again we were burning - bloody sun! We spent the rest of the day there but was glad to get back to Puerto Lopez in the evening. We were supposed to have a smoothie and relax in hammocks but instead Boris spotted us and we spent the evening in the bar drinking cocktails and dancing to salsa.

It was an awesome 5 days in Puerto lopez and we were really sad to leave but we had to get the bus back to Guayaquil in order to fly to Peru on Monday.

Really sad to Leave Ecuador, its an awesome country and one I recommend everyone visits.

I hope you're all well and miss you all of course.

Us xx