Let’s go to the beach! We flew from Quito to Manta, and made our way down to Puerto Lopez, a beautiful beach town on the very west coast of Ecuador. It was such an amazing way to end the trip with everyone. Our first day there, we went to an incredible National Park beach called Machalilla. We took a hike first up to a viewing deck, and let me just say, no words or pictures can portray how magnificent the views were. I could stay there forever. We walked down to a beach, and of course with my luck, a HUGE wave crashed over my sneakers (before you hate, I was wearing them since we did a little hike!). Good thing I had a pair of flip flops in my bag! We got to swim as well; the water was so warm thank god!

The next day it was time to go find some boobies (the bird!). Me and a couple people from the group got the “I love boobies” shirt as well. We took quite a bumpy boat ride to Isla de la Plata, a magnificent Island about an hour off of the coast. We took the longest hike around the Island, but it was so worth it. We saw some blue-footed boobies, frigates, nazcas, and more. The 5mile walk was definitely a good experience, minus falling in ditches a couple times!

Nights at Puerto Lopez were super fun, I’m going to miss it! The sunsets were some of the prettiest ones I’ve ever seen, and even once it was dark, restaurants lining the beach lit up the town. One night, we all even took a salsa dancing class. I won’t include any pictures for your viewing sake; my dancing was awful!

I’m really gonna miss the time we had in Ecuador for everyone, but it’s truly an experience I will NEVER forget.