Hi again friends! Here I am writing one of my final blogs. How will you survive without me? I’m not really sure, but maybe you can get by. This trip has been so unbelievable, and this last leg further emphasizes that.

We started by driving to the Quito airport, making a stop at a nature preserve along the way. Although we weren’t there for long, the views of the vegetation and tall hills above were unreal to say the least.

We hopped back in the bus before finishing our journey to Quito airport where we hopped on an evening flight to Manta. From there, it was an hour and a half drive to our final leg of the trip in Puerto Lopez.

As someone who is Jersey born and raised, the beach is kinda my thing, so this leg of the trip was right up my alley. Colin, Cale, John and I shared a room, and it was definitely my favorite housing of the entire trip – 2 floors, hammocks on the front porch, all that good beach stuff.

After a good night’s sleep, I woke up to the realization of how close the beach was to our housing. Being the beach boy I am, I immediately went by myself to stand in the ocean before we got our crazy day started. The moment was super serene and it was honestly super nice to step away from it all for just a bit.

That did not last long however, as it was time to get up on our feet again. We headed to La Parque Nacional de Machalilla for a quick hike/beach trip (yay!). Although it was extremely hot out, the nature was beautiful once again. We trekked uphill to a pavilion with a beautiful ocean view. And yes, we did of course have a photoshoot up there.

We then hiked down to La Playa Tortuga for a quick swim. When we first got there, there was a red flag on one of the beaches, meaning that we would be unable to swim at all. However, after finding La Playa Tortuga, we found that we would actually be allowed to swim. The crew, including myself, had a really fun time in the water. I even got thrown in the air and almost won a chicken fight (trust, this is impressive for me).

After a fun day at the beach, it was time to go home and explore the town of Puerto Lopez. We started off by eating at a restaurant on the beach. I had the shrimp and rice (delicious!).

Following a delicious lunch (and eventually delicious dinner), we went to another restaurant on the beach to learn how to Salsa. Instead of learning Salsa however, I just learned that I have two left feet. Despite this, it was still a super fun experience. We also got to watch the sunset that night. 🙂

After chilling on the beach, it was time to hit the hay before our final full day in Ecuador. 🙁 The trip is not over yet however, and I am so excited to see what tomorrow brings.

Bye friends!

-George