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After two weeks of the course and being confined to Kamala and the occasional excursion in to Montanita or Manglaralto, this weekend Sarah, Kristen and I decided it was time to get out of Kamala for a bit! Sarah has a couple of friends in Puerto Lopez who run a Whale Watching tour type thing - it seemed like the perfect excuse!
It's whale watching season in Ecuador at the moment so you can see them quite easily, apparently people have even seen them off the coast here at Kamala ... I'm yet to be that lucky though.
Puerto Lopez is a great wee town, nice friendly vibe and definitely not as crazy as Montanita! It's still quite touristy, especially given the season I guess but - still maintains a more authentic feel. I found it hilarious this town had a whole lot of tuk-tuk type things that were all over Asia as a mode of transport, basically just up and down the town's main street. The roads are dirt, the people just wander all over them, the houses are right next to the beach and everyone is very friendly and helpful!
The whale watching was incredible, massive humpback whales fully breaching (I think it's called), jumping and dancing up around us not 10feet from the boat! Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a single shot! Firstly, they are fast! And, my camera too slow! But mainly, it was outrageously rough! I don't think I've ever been on a boat that rough before, I am sure if it was in New Zealand that the tour would've been cancelled! There were some very sick people aboard and it was all I could do to try cling on and stay on board up top whilst watching the whales ... picture taking took second place to staying on board! Totally worth it though, the whales were amazing.
As Puerto Lopez is a tiny town which mainly just lines the beach there are some great beach side/on the beach bars. The bar itself is effectively on the footpath you could say and then they've just set up an open-sided thatched roof with little tables and beach chairs up in the sand of the beach - so cute! And, Ecuador certainly knows how to make a good Mojito!
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Susan Hola! I'm so glad that you guys are having a great time! And that you have found great mojitos! Who would have thought you'd have to go all the way to Ecuador to find them?!