Los Piqueros Patas Azules (The Blue Footed Boobies)

This is the view from the hostel, Los Piqueros Patas Azules, our home for 10 blissful, sunny days. Each sunset was better than the last and every day brought new experiences and discoveries. We spent a lot of time reading, lounging in hammocks and working on our tans but we also had the opportunity to see more than a few incredible things at the coast.

About ten minutes north of the hostel is Puerto Lopez, home of an artesanal fish market. Though it was gruesome, it was incredible to see how a good proportion of Ecuador's population makes their living. At the fish market women were surprisingly well represented. As the men brought fish, sharks, and crustaceans ashore the women helped by scaling and gutting anything that was small enough to put on the table top. 

   



An action shot of a fisherman beheading a tiger shark.
:(

Twice during our stay at Los Piqueros we were lucky enough to see green sea turtles nesting. So as not to disturb the moms-to-be I didn’t take any pictures but the experience was breathtaking. 

With Jaime, the resident mammalogist, we were able to go batting three of the nine nights we were at the coast. We even caught two pregnant bats and could feel their young kicking inside of them - incredible! Most of the bats that we caught were nectarivorous and had adorable long tongues that eagerly lapped up sugar water from our medicine dropper.

We also had the opportunity to travel to Montanita, a self-proclaimed surfer town. The vibe was certainly relaxed and the views were breathtaking. If I knew how to surf, I would definitely find myself in Montanita again.

Isla de la Plata (Island of Silver) off the coast as seen from Machallila State Park.

One morning, at breakfast, our Ecuadorian pops Jaime asked if anyone wanted to accompany him on an adventure. Since our plans for the day only included enjoying the beach Brandon, Eliz, and I happily agreed. Jaime didn't tell us much about where we were going or how we would get there just that the final destination was called La Playa Dorado - the golden beach ... intriguing, right? So we started off down the beach across the (by then well known) rocky outcrop where we had done the majority of our projects that week. 

Me enjoying the view from the rocky outcrop :)

Just past the familiar outcrop was a cave that was only passable at low tide. Jaime's timing being perfect as it is we passed through safely and emerged on the other side expecting the golden beach. Three sheer cliffs like the ones shown below (along with my gracious models Brandon and Eliz) and we finally made it to the golden beach. The sand was perfect and the waves were frighteningly strong. All of the rock climbing was absolutely worth it. Although, with the tide quickly rising, the trip back was errrm invigorating (?) to say the least.

All in all I had a fantastic time at the coast! The Pacific is wonderful and warm but the Atlantic will always hold a special place in my heart and I am sincerely looking forward to enjoying the beach with friends and family at home this summer :)