Waking up to the sound of the ocean is always a great way to start your day. Then two minutes later it was accompanied by Spanish dancing music as Donya and I prepared ourselves for the day. The hotel we stayed at was super cool because it was like a maze to get to each hotel room. Every room had two hammocks on the front porch and was surrounded by vegetation and flowers. At the hotel had a this weird cornmeal like dumpling for breakfast with an ocean side view. 

We took a short bus ride to the national park Machalilla. There we did a hike up to an out look to see the beaches and watch the birds. Naturally everyone had to do a photo shoot but it don’t think it was anyone’s best because we were all covered in sweat and sunburn. Then we walked back down to turtle beach on the right side of the park. Sadly, no turtles were spotted but we got to climb some rocks and saw tons of crabs crawling on the rocks. The current was too strong on that side of the park so we got back onto the trial and went to the other side where the current wasn’t as strong. There we chased the hundreds of craps in efforts to catch one. When I got into the water to cool off, I was surprised because the water was so warm. Still refreshing enough but it was the warmest sea water I have been in. Because of it, I stayed in for hours without having to come out to warm up. In those hours the guys participating in some friendly banter of chicken fights, wrestling, and basket tosses. We were getting pretty good at the basket toss that Cale was able to do a flip off of it. 

Back at the hotel I washed off the salt water and walked the street looking dinner. We picked a restaurant in the sand with a great look of the ocean. There I tried a specific kind of shrimp that was only in Ecuador. It was good like any other shrimp but what made it different was the size of it and then size of it’s antenna. While eating we had a young guy come up to our table and give a sales pitch asking us to come to his beginners learn how to salsa lesson. So, a hour and half later we learning to salsa. There seems to be a common theme of getting sweaty and washing off a lot because afterwards I went for a night swim. 

Started my morning again with the dumpling. I think I’m gonna miss it. Then took a boat from the pier down the street for a hour long boat ride into the ocean to head to the national park and nature preserve Island Isla De La Plata. In English it means silver island and it gets its name because when the sun hits the bird poop covered rocks it looks like silver. There we did a four mile hike up, down, and around the island and saw Blue Footed Boobies and Frigate birds. Followed up by snorkeling where I got to see sea turtles, puffer fish, a octopus, and many other pretty fish. Oh, and I got stung by a jelly fish. On the ride back, dolphins were following and swimming next to us for about five minutes. Once we got back onto land the group was gonna take the bus back but John, Collin and I didn’t wanna wait and took a one of those three wheeled cabs and paid 50 cent each for the ride.  

Then finished the night off with another restaurant on the beach while the sun set. They had a large speaker that you could connect to so we got to play our music while eating and watching the sunset. Very much a “vibe”. One last time, I had to go night swimming. 

As a result of all the swimming, I woke up the next morning with an ear infection. Still didn’t stop me from getting the dumpling one last time. On the bud again to visit a farm where they grew cacao and made chocolate there. There I got to harvest the cacao fruit and eat the sweet flesh. I also got to rub this leave together that when squeezed it produced a red dye/paint. 

Then it was off to a smaller airport to fly to the capital. In Quito I got KFC and then 20 minutes later sat down to get s stake. I wanted to live large one last time in Ecuador. When waiting at the last gate I saw everyone tired and drained but mostly sad. Then I became sad as I realized it was over. Boarding the plane we were on for like 30 minutes until the plane took off and in those 30 minutes it was hot on the plane. I then also realized that I no longer noticed the heat after being in it for two weeks. 

In Atlanta everyone went their separate ways with no formal goodbye. It was sad. Luckily me and my Philly group stuck together to see the Coca Cola museum in Atlanta during our eight hour layover. Now I am writing on the plane, while everyone is asleep, knowing that the trip is fully over.