Puerto Lopez, Ecuador
Thursday, March 3
Today was a fun adventure day. Andi hired the same driver that picked us up from the airport in Guayaquil last Saturday to take us to a beach city north of Ayampe today. Puerto Lopez is a town on the coast with around 16,000 people. It’s known for its fishing industry and for whale watching in the month of December.
Yoder, our driver, picked us up in Ayampe around 9:30am and we drove about 30 minutes north to Puerto Lopez. Already it felt good to be adventuring! After being sick earlier in the week, Andi and I have been in a bit of a funk.
Andi asked Yoder if there was a fish market happening in Puerto Lopez today. He said yes, but looked a bit puzzled as to why we’d want to go there. A few minutes later, our taxi pulled up to the pier where we discovered a hubbub of activity happening. It was so cool! There were boats beached all over the sand with fishermen working to clean them and dozens of fish stands selling the fresh catch of the day.
Sometimes I think it’s easy to forget that common, everyday activities are actually really cool & unique experiences to someone visiting the area. Andi and I could have stood and watched the action unfolding around us at the pier all morning. So much activity was happening in every direction.
There were also a few food vendors selling encebollado (fish soup) and platters of fresh fish, rice and plantains with customers bellied up to small plastic tables having breakfast.
Watching this woman work her knife to filet these fish with precision was incredible. She worked so smooth and effortlessly handling these giant fish. The piece of stone on her right side was a knife sharpener and after every cut she’d reach over and sharpen her blade.
After the fish market, we walked a few blocks over to one of the main streets in Puerto Lopez. Andi wanted to find a morning snack, and Yoder suggested one of his favorites that can only be purchased in the coastal providence of Manabi (which is the area of Ecuador we’re in). He had two specific stands we visited to find these treats — Rosquitas and fresh mozzarella cheese.
Rosquitas reminded me of pretzels — they were a crunchy bread cracker shaped into a circle. We each broke bite-size pieces of cheese off the block and ate it with Rosquitas. It was good! Crackers and cheese on the go. Andi also bought a bottle of coconut juice from a vendor selling it on the street.
Next, we hopped in Yoder’s taxi and he drove us to an ancestral community about 15 minutes east of Puerto Lopez called Agua Blanca. This land was once home to cultural tribes living on the coast of Ecuador, followed by the Incas, the Spanish and now today’s inhabitants.
Our first stop was the Agua Blanca Museum to learn more about the ancestral history. Our museum tour guide explained the significance of the artifacts on display & Yoder kindly translated the information to us in English. The most interesting part were the funeral urns — giant clay pots discovered on the property containing the dead. One area outside the museum showed the archeological artifacts still underground.
Stone chairs thought to be for the bosses of the tribes were also uncovered in the dirt. Tory and Aden each took turns sitting in a “jefe chair” replica.
On display in the museum were small replicas of structures and boats used during those times. The base of the sailboats were made from a type of lightweight tree harvested in the tropical forest. We each took turns holding a tree trunk which almost felt like a fake it was so lightweight.
Next, we hiked along a path through the tropical forest to reach the Agua Blanca lagoon. Yoder said a few years ago this area was completely dry and brown due to lack of rain. Now, the trees flourished in green. There were beautiful, large cactus trees growing here as well as banana trees. We saw a man zip by on his motorcycle carrying three huge bundles of bananas. How the locals are able to balance such big loads on their bikes is a true skill!
The jungle path was a bit muddy from the overnight rain. Eventually, we came to a small river and the tour guide instructed us to take off our shoes to cross. I wish he hadn’t just told us on the museum tour that there were viper snakes in this area of Ecuador! The bottom of the creek was squishy with mud.
On the other side of the river, we reached a large, round surfer lagoon. What is it with ancestral communities in Ecuador and water attractions? The Agua Blanca lagoon reminded Andi and I of some of the natural pools we saw during our visit to the Amazon Rainforest.
A few other groups of visitors were swimming in the lagoon with mud smeared all over their bodies. Aden was game to try it & put mud all over his face, arms and legs. A strong stench of rotten eggs filled the air from the natural springs feeding the lagoon. What was more interesting was the gray color of the water — I assume from the color of the mud.
Andi, Aden and Tory swam in the lagoon for 20 minutes or so while I watched from the side. I didn’t feel like wearing a wet swimming suit for the remainder of the afternoon so I opted not to get wet even though the cool water would have been refreshing.
After swimming, we walked back to the taxi parked at the museum. It was already 1:00pm and Yoder suggested one of his favorite restaurants in the area called Delpin Magico (Dolphin Magic) in the nearby town of Salango. The five of us seated ourselves on the outdoor top deck. Yoder said this restaurant has the best seafood on the coast of Ecuador. Andi and I both took Yoder’s suggestion to try the grouper in a coconut sauce. Aden wanted shrimp of course, but Andi must’ve ordered incorrectly because he actually got breaded calamari. I was proud of Aden though — he didn’t make a big deal about the mis-order and politely ate his meal (even though the seafood was a little chewy).
The coconut grouper was excellent though, as was the restaurant service. You know a restaurant is good when it’s completely packed at 2:00pm on a Thursday.
We’d wanted to visit Los Frailes beach in the nearby Machalilla National Park, but access gates closed at 3:00pm. Our day with Yoder flew by too quickly! Andi and I decided we’d come back to Los Frailes tomorrow on our drive up the coast to Manta.
On our way back to Ayampe, Yoder stopped at the Mirador Salango. No hiking required to see this gorgeous view — we were able to drive the car all the way up to the top. From the overlook, we had a great view of the ocean in Machalilla National Park and surrounding beaches.
We really enjoyed our day visiting Puerto Lopez and Agua Blanca. It felt good to adventure again & see somewhere new.
Back in Ayampe, the four of us visited the beach for one last sunset. Andi purchased drinks from the Ayampe Social Club so we were able to sit underneath one of their beach cabanas. It was lightly raining, but still a beautiful evening on the beach.
For dinner, we decided to go back to the Tierra Madre food court to get something to-go. While we waited for our food there, we met another couple from western Wisconsin of all places! It was fun to chat with them for a bit about their travels through Ecuador.
Tomorrow, we’ll say good-bye to Ayampe and travel north to Manta for one night before heading inland to the capital city of Quito. Our time on the coast is nearing an end. Tory says she’s more than ready to get back to cooler temps in the Highlands.
