Lashing rain, thunder and lightning has descended on Quito this afternoon, as I retreat to the comfort of the kitchen and an internet connection
We were blessed with a beautiful trip to the coast this last weekend, taking a night bus from Quito to Puerto Lopez, some 10 hours away.
Puerto Lopez is both a thriving fishing centre and a big draw for tourists looking for sunshine, sea and sand. The town itself feels low key, yet active: open backed trucks pass by laden with fruit, fresh fish - and ice, to be taken to the shore for the mornings catch. Presidential campaign slogans decorate street walls, the loudspeakers from the town's church greet the evening air, as others gather under a tent pinned up across the street for the summer's main bingo event.
The coast is thriving with life: small crabs dozen in numbers scamper across the sand, diving into their burrows as humans step close, some sort of sea mollusc buries itself into the sand at low tide. In the early morning, fisherman return with their catch: the fish are quickly de-scaled and taken into the town to be served for lunch. The fisherman tend to their nets as tourists take to the sea - for the hope of whale sitings and a visit to 'the island of silver', so named for its reflective (and at the time tempting) appearance from the 'guano' of the rare bird species that covers its cliff tops.
We were indeed blessed to see the wildlife up close: Whales with their powerful fins and tails smashing he ocean's surface, with pairs dancing in and out of the water in courtship. The arid island itself is home to rare and unusual species, that makes one think of Darwin's trip to the Galapagos: birghtly blue footed birds gargle to remove salt from their pallets, and stand in pairs posing for photos (the male emits a high pitched eek, and the female bellows back with a strong warble). There may be a danger of the island becoming over-used by tourists with dozens of boats speeding back and forth each day. However, for the moment at least, both the wildlife on land and below the sea's surface don't bat an eyelid at the visitors
Further up the coast we visited a village built around sulphur pools - the smell of egg very strong to the nostrils. The people here appear cut off from neighbours - the journey to the nearest town is nearly an hour away, but they are not without their amenities: a school and satellite dishes. A piped system suspended by wires carries the sulphur rich water to irrigated plots of land, and one of the pools is dedicated to laundry, with the locals praising its detergent properties.
Plants and produce grow in abundance around the pool: as we enjoyed a tour through a banana plantation - experiencing first hand how amazingly strong banana leaves are when bound as rope.
The coast of Ecuador has a relaxing feel yet is a hype of activity: both for humans and the wildlife. As hundreds of birds nest down for the night on a string of electric wires, the beach becomes alive with late evening volleyball and dancing in between the deckchairs and hammocks. Whilst we board the night bus to Quito, taking the motion of the sea waves with us as we sleep
Tom
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