We knew it was coming and the time is officially here, the final blog. I am currently writing this in the Quito airport waiting for our 5 hour flight back to the states. Before I go on and talk about the past 3 days I first just want to say, what an experience! I will never forget the adventures we carried out in Ecuador, the bugs I slept with, and most importantly, the relationships I created.
Day 10 we arrived in Puerto Lopez at night and the rooms were awesome! On the front porch there were two hammocks and my room in particular had a second floor with all the beds except the queen size on the first floor. The next day we visited the only national park on the west coast of Ecuador, Machalilla. We first hiked to the top of a cliff where there was an outlook to view the beautiful coastline. We got to spot some lizards on the way to the outlook. They were pretty fast and would always bolt back into the bushes when we walked past. After some great pictures at the at the top of the cliff, we all made our way down to the beach and everyone got in the water. It was so warm! Myself and a couple of other people started body surfing the waves until my swimming trunks were filled with sand. Then we played the game “chicken”. I was on John’s shoulders to start and we took the dub. Then we lost the second round. For the third third we switched positions so I was the base and John was on my shoulders. Never underestimate the small guy because we ended up winning that round to win the whole game. After chicken we started doing basket tosses. The guys were able to launch me super high into the the air and I even managed to do some flips. After we wrapped up on the beach, we headed back to the bus where I bought yet another gift for my Mom in honor of Mother’s Day.
On Day 12 our destination was Isla De La Plata. Translated as “Island of Silver”, the island was given the name because of all the bird poop on the island shining like silver. Yes, there was A LOT of bird poop. The boat ride was around an hour long and when we arrived, we got to see some sea turtles swimming near the island. Then, we took a 4-5 mile hike around the island looking at the birds, one in particular being the blue footed boobies. My favorite. After the hike, the boat took us around the island to view some sea lions that were laying on a cliff enjoying the sun. I’ve never seen these animals in person but they were very cool to see. Then we got to snorkel. The coolest thing I saw while snorkeling was an octopus. There was not as many fish as I was hoping for but the experience was still very fun. After all these amazing adventures we headed back by boat again. That’s not all though. On our way back, we got to see a family of dolphins. They got very close to our boat and the baby dolphin would even occasionally jump out of the water and land on it’s side.
Now it’s Day 13. We spent our last day at another chocolate plantation, viewing how they make chocolate. At the end we got to buy even more chocolate, like I already don’t have enough, and then we were off to our first flight from Guayaquil to Quito. Like I said in the beginning, we are now waiting for our flight from Quito back to the United States. I am so excited to see my family but I will definitely miss Ecuador. To the group I went with, thank you for making this experience a life changing moment. To Ecuador, I will never forget the beauty you possess and the amazing people that you *foster???* And last but not least, thank you to all who have been reading my blogs and joining me on this adventure.
Next stop, the United States!
Cale
