The drive to the coast took us south-west of Quito through amazing cloud forest into Santo Domingo where we spent a night. Road blockades have yet to materialized so we were not interrupted in our travel plans. Having been contacted by my facebook friend, fellow Canadian and artist, Barbara, we visited her lovely house on the coast in San Clemente. It is a very sleepy fishing village north of Manta. It was great to meet someone who live in Ecuador for several years and established relationships with local people. The pace of life of the coastal village was a welcome feeling after dealing with traffic and blockades around Quito. Thank you, Barbara, for your wonderful hospitality!

We continued on to Puerto Lopez a gateway to Machalilla National Park. Preserving isolated beaches, coral formations, two offshore islands, tropical dry forest, coastal cloud forest, archaeological sites and 200 sq km of ocean, Ecuador's only coastal national park is a marvelous and unique destination.
The tropical dry forest seen here used to stretch along much of the Pacific Coast of Central and South America, but it has been whacked nearly into extinction. Plants in the park include cacti, various figs and the giant kapok tree.

The barren, sun-charred Isla de la Plata was the focus of our visit to the area. We joined a local tour company which took us on to the island. The boat ride was about an hour away from the Porto Lopez where we sighted numerous humpback whales. The tour included hiking the trail where we saw some its inhabitants, Blue-footed Booby and Magnificent Frigatebird.

The Porto Lopez is a lively beach town with its malacon, numerous small restaurants and never-ending Ecuadorian music. The locals have a habit of blasting loud speakers at around 4 am so it make for interesting sleeping patterns…

Notes from the Field: The Coast.