Ecuador Blog

This morning we hit up our favorite spot for breakfast. It was the usual fruit crepes for me. They have a huge flat screen tv and they let us choose what to watch, yesterday it was Pink Floyd, today it is a Bob Marley tribute concert. Nothing wakes us up in the morning like hi def tv in the middle of a third world country. We hit the bus for our hour and a half ride north up the coast toward Puerto Lopez. It is a very scenic drive right along the ocean the whole way. It would give hwy 1 a run for it´s money I´m sure. Once we arrive we ask about going to Isla de la Plata. That is a boat ride of about an hour out to see to an island-national park. We missed the boat. It only leaves once a day at 9 a.m. But we can go to another island like half an hour away, so we do. Our captain Antonio gives us life jackets and we board his boat, the Sea Wolfe and head out. Along the way we have fishing lines in the ocean and get a bite, but it gets away. That would be all we hear or see of fishing the rest of the day until later when we catch a rock. The first spot we stop at is for snorkeling. The water is warm and cold depending on which current you find yourself in off the coast of a decent sized island with a little beach and towering cliffs. The scenery below the surface is amazing. Many different kinds of tropical fish and coral reefs. Bright blue fish, a la Dorie from Finding Nemo. Bright yellow fish. Stripped fish, black fish, even a Puffer Fish! That was probably my favorite. Before we embarked on our journey we got an underwater camera from the pharmacy for 10 bucks hopefully the pics turn out! Once we´re home in the states we´ll develop them so check in for that later! We snorkel in 3 or 4 different places seeing many fish and coral reefs, bright purple starfish, sea urchins, you name it. It was pretty awesome, totally worth the 25 bucks we spent for a day on Antonios boat just the three of us and Antonio and his helper. There is so much to say about what we saw snorkeling! But I´ll cut off here. Ride home, sleepy after swimming all day. Dinner and a movie, oceans 12 up in the room. Today was south american beauty at it´s best. Good times.