So time for another change of scenery and no sooner had I returned from the jungle it was time to board another overnight bus for the ten hour journey to the coast. My destination was Puerto Lopez on the west coast of Ecuador...and then a few kilometres further down the road to a purpose-built ecological resort called Alandaluz.This week there were a few more of us from the school - well three students and two teachers anyway! The hotel itself was really nice, set in beautiful grounds and right on the beach. Being eco-friendly meant that there was limited supplies of things such as water; for example the toilet in our cabin was simply a hole in the ground where you were provided with wood shavings to drop down after you?d finished!

But the first day was just about getting some rest after the bus ride, exploring our surroundings and then having some spanish lessons in the afternoon. It was just a shame that the sun wasn?t out to greet us when we arrived. The journey in the bus was pretty bumpy and it was diffiuclt to get any sleep so a few hours rest in our cabin was definitely my first priority.

The next day, after my lesson in the morning, I jumped on a local bus and headed south to a small town called Montanita, where it was rumoured there were some good surfing waves. We got ripped off on the bus because we are tourists. Normally the ride would cost $1.50 but we were told we had to pay $2 or get off and wait for the next bus! That?s certainly one bad thing about South America - they don?t really seem to appreciate the tourists and are more than happy to take as much money as they possible can from them, be it in a taxi, an entrance fee, on a bus...But anyway once I arrived the town was pretty small so it wasn?t too hard to find my way to the beach and there were a few surfers seeking waves. The weather wasn?t the best, a bit overcast but I decided to brave the waves myself and rented a board. The waves weren?t too big so I managed to catch a few but the main problem was avoiding the jellyfish in the water. There were literally hundreds of them and I got stung about four times. It?s pretty painful and for the next couple of days I had big red sting marks on my legs.

More sightseeing followed the next day as we had a class on the move. In the morning I visited a place called Agua Blanca, which is basically a community in a ntional park that is protected becuase it is what?s known as a "dry forest". In reality this means a lot of dust and trees that look dead (!) but I was assured that this is normal and they really are surviving in this barron land. We took a moto taxi to get there which was a very bunpy experience. The roads are full of pot holes and when the road runs out you?re on a track on dust - it was like Cambodia all over again! But after a brief talk from a local guide in a kind of museum about the community and how it was founded etc (most of which if I?m honest I actually didn?t understand becuase the guide mumbled so badly, and trying to understand mumbled spanish is particularly difficult!) we headed off for a walk through the forest. The guide pointed out various birds, trees and other animals etc on the way - I even saw what I think is now the biggest leaf I?ve ever seen, beating the previous record set in Australia. It was taller than me and belonged to a banana tree I think! But then we finished the walk by a lagoon of sulphur water which we were assured was good for the skin. I was convinced enough to get in for a dip, more top cool off than anything as although the sun wasn?t out it was pretty warm.

After lunch the comfortable moto taxi returned to take us to another beach, supposedly one of the most picturesque in Ecuador, called Los Frieles. Again this is a national park, so from the gate we walked for about an hour, passing other bays until we reached Los Frieles. There were some great views and this was definitely the nicest part of the coast I´d seen so far.

The journey home was a little more complicated as half way there we discovered there were no more buses from Puerto Lopez back to our resort. Apparently they had all been hired by a group of locals and had gone to Quito for some kind of rally or protest. So it was back to the trusty pick up truck...we all piled into the back much to the delight of the driver who was making a fortune from the whole situation. But for us it cost no more than getting the bus, the ride was just slightly more windy and a little damp as it started to rain!

The final day we went on a full day trip to Isla de la Plata. This was by far the highlight of the week, although when we woke up to pouring rain we did wonder what we were letting ourselves in for. But once on board the boat and heading out to sea the weather cleared and for a while I´m sure I saw some blue sky! From June to September is "whale season" in Ecuador as the humpback whales travel north in search of warmer waters to breed. We were there right at the beginning of the season but were lucky enough to see two humpback whales who decided to put on a show for us and jump around - or as it is technically known, breaching. It was really amazing...I have seen whales in the wild before in Australia, but never have I seen them breaching. A huge 10m whale makes a real splash when it´s having fun and we were pretty close to the action...I´m not sure I´d have wanted to be much closer!

On the island itself we did a three hour walk around in search of wildlife. We saw some birds called "blue boobies" which are really special - they have bright blue feet! We also saw nasca boobies with chicks, a couple of albatroses, tiger sharks in the sea, as hermit crab and stunning rugged coastline. On the way back we had the option to snorkel but the water was pretty cold so I contented myself with fish-spotting from the boat. The water was very clear and fairly shallow so it was easy to see a lot without getting wet.

Once back in Puerto Lopez we had a shower in the boat owner´s house (random I know, but we had stored our bags there during the day and he offered so we accepted). But it was the strangest house in the world. From the outside it looked modern but inside it was almost like it wasn´t finished - bare stone walls and floors, no furniture only a single chair and a television in a huge lounge for example. We made a rapid exit and went back to town to wait for our bus back to Quito - another 10 hours to enjoy!

Overall I´m glad I went to the coast to see another part of the country but it wasn´t as good as I had expected. The jungle was much more interesting and compared to other places I´ve visited so far it was a bit of a disappointment. Ecuador probably compares quite well with Cambodia in terms of level of development or westerisation, but Cambodia´s coast was much prettier and more tropical than here.