January 9

Today we woke up, packed our bags, and boarded a different bus than usual. Our normal bus guy, Freddy, had left at 4am for Manta. What is just a 30 minute plane ride, is an 8 hour bus ride. Apparently the very first Ecuador trip they made the bus ride, and it was horrible. So instead our bus driver makes the ride, and we all fly to meet him. What a deal, huh?

Anyway, before going to the airport we stopped at a blanket factory. We walked through and saw all the machines that make blankets (and tablecloths, and bedspreads, and throws, and place mats, etc). They import the raw materials, which start off as this really strong fiber.






Then they do stuff to it to make it weak. And that’s probably bad terminology…it starts off as something you can’t rip apart, and becomes a fluffy fiber that breaks apart like cotton balls. So they make it soft. Then after they’ve got all this fiber, they turn it into thread. Then they put the threads together to make thicker thread.









Then they dye it. Then they weave it.













Then they sell it. And they don’t export it to the U.S. cause there’s such a big market for it here. We got to go across the street to the store and buy some. I picked up a throw blanket, and some placemat/napkin sets. We also are having LSU blankets made (purple and gold plaid). We showed the owner the purple and the gold colors we wanted, and what size blanket, and I think we’re probably getting them for like, $5.

Then we got back on the bus and rode to the airport. Airports in Ecuador are way less ridiculous than airports in the U.S., they let you bring your bottle of water.


The plane ride seriously was only 30 minutes, and we landed in Manta. But then we had a 2 hour drive to Puerto Lopez.

At at gas station I got a Magnum. These reminde me of the summer I was 10, and my family went to Europe, and we had a Magnum in probably every city we stayed. The outside was such a thick chocolate, any American ice cream bar paled in comparison.




We stopped in the city of Montecristi. This is where they make Panama hats. They’re called Panama hats because they were given as gifts to the people who built the Panama canal, but they’re actually made in Ecuador. The cheap ones take about a week to make. The expensive ones can take a month.






There’s a pretty church in town


with a huge mosaic on it


we stopped in some other shops, and bought jewelry


dude, check out my hat


apparently you can roll the hats up, so you get a box to keep them in


check out my computer screen going wonky


Puerto Lopez










our bus got all muddy on the ride across the country


I wrote “vamos tigres” (geaux tigers). The thing on the left means something like “partiers only” and the right…well, you can read the right.


dogs are still everywhere


peanuts…are toasted or something, because they were crunchy


We’re staying at an eco-friendly “hotel” about 10 minutes outside of town. It’s sorta Swiss Family Robinson. We have open air cabins, hammocks (and beds), and the guys all have ecological toilets (you pour sawdust in them after you use them, and the compost is used for the surrounding flower beds and what not). There are also signs suggesting we reuse our towels (but if we put them in the hamper they’ll wash them) and signs saying they won’t change our sheets if we leave said sign on our beds. So it’s our choice if we want to be completely eco-friendly, but there is some amount of guilt tripping. We freaked out a little bit when we first got here, because it was a bit more rustic than we were expecting. We haven’t had any air conditioned hotels yet, but we also haven’t exactly been sleeping outside in the jungle. There’s mosquito netting to cover the beds. Luckily there’s a fan, so I don’t think we’ll be TOO hot, but I’m already hot natured enough as it is. It’s just odd being out of the mountains now, because the weather is very hot and humid, and we’ve spent most of this trip in jeans, occasionally needing long sleeves. But we are excited to be at a beach.



this one is multi-storied…but most of us just have single story huts (that are not as nice)


the view is pretty great though






first the ocean touched on my feet


then it attacked my legs


Dinner was pretty good too.


The soup was cream based, I think onion of some sort. The main dish was fish, with a seafood sauce containing shrimp and calamari. I’m not a shrimp fan, and I really only like calamari fried (I have texture issues) so I scraped the solid bits off, and ate the fish and sauce. The rice was plain, but it was cooked perfectly (too often we’ve had it overcooked).


and one of the first cats I’ve seen showed up for dinner!


I fed it fish


it got mad when I stopped

Dessert appeared to be some type of flan and was quite nice.


I’ve also been drinking Caprienas, that drink I had at new years. It’s limes and sugar and some local liquor


Then people sat around and played cards (an Ecuadorian game I don’t know the name of).


Our tour guides salsa’d with their significant others.


I headed to our tropical hut to catch up on some of this journaling, a little picture editing, and then some shut eye. It’s a beach day tomorrow and I want to soak up as much of it as I can.