As the internship came to a close, Alexa and I teamed up one more time to head to the coast of Ecuador. The summer months for us in the U.S. were the less rainy months to visit the Amazon. Which meant the coast tended to be less favored in those months, as it would be gray and rainy.
Sure enough, most of the trip we experienced bad weather and tried to make the most of it. There were a couple stops along the coast we tried to enjoy by walking along the towns and beaches and just hanging out with each other. Many of the activities in the towns were shut down though due to the “off” season so we didn’t get to do as much as if we went during the winter months.
The last major activity in Ecuador that I felt was fun to write about was when we were staying at a surf hostel in Puerto Lopez. The surf hostel was just outside of town and one night we decided to make ourselves dinner in the kitchen and hang out on the beach there. It was a fun town to walk in and there were areas to hike to some really cool hidden beaches.
The best activity we did was head to Isla de la Plata (or some people call it Poor Man’s Galapagos). I wish I could have gone to the Galapagos Islands themselves but I was tight on money this trip, so we made the best of it by heading to this island that resembled some of what the galapagos would.
We met the boat in the harbor of Puerto Lopez and took off for a three hour boat ride into the ocean. I had never been so far off in the ocean that the coast was no longer visible and I thought that was cool but terrifying. We drove at high speeds for a while, as we were on a smaller high speed boat and bounced along these massive waves. For a bit the waves were huge and we rocked strongly back and forth. I had to stare at the horizon line in an attempt to not get sea sickness with the major up and down movement of the boat.
We were all sitting, staring at the surrounding ocean, when I heard a bunch of yelling in Spanish and then a sudden shut down of the engines. I couldn’t clearly hear what was being said as the Captain was on a second level platform. The boat had one level that sat about thirteen of us and then a very small cabin on the second level that only the captain stood, navigating and driving the boat.
The one Spanish word I was able to make out was, “la ballena”, which wasn’t helpful as I wasn’t sure what the word meant. Suddenly just to the right of the boat, a fin the size of two of me, came streaming out of the water followed by the classic y shape tail of a humpback whale. We happened upon a whole group of them (as they usually don’t travel in pods) making their way back to Alaska for the feeding season.
I grew up in Maine and I’ve seen posters before for whale watching but for some reason always assumed that it would be a boring trip, to just sit on a boat and watch whales. This was different. It was incredible, the sheer size of these mammals cannot be explained in words. I could see the barnacles that grew on their underside as they breached the water near us. Their tails coming up out of the water and splashing down as we caught the salty splatter of sea spray on our faces. You could see the glossy dark backs as they arched up and out of the water to dive back down. It was surreal to see something larger than our boats and yet powerfully swimming along in the water.
We laughed and yelled and pointed at the group as they breached, slapped their tails, and sprayed water from their blowholes. When the whales had passed to a safe enough distance, the captain started the engines back up and we continued our journey to the island.
The island itself was bigger than I expected. It stood tall in the vast nothingness of the blue ocean. The rocky cliffs of the sides jutted out harshly, where we saw a small sandy beach to land at. There was one beach we would enter from and some specific trails we would be guided down, with no wandering off to protect the island environment. The most exciting part of being on the island was seeing the Blue-Footed Boobies.
This is a species of bird, well known in the Galapagos but are only found in Ecuador and Northern Peru. Their name comes from their stark bright blue feet that stick out from the desert ground of the island. They were everywhere, and when I say everywhere, I mean it. Every turn there they were waddling around and peering at us through their funny green eyes. When we got close they would cock their head to the side and peer at you, trying to curiously determine what you are.
We were at the time where their babies had grown quite a bit but had not lost their baby feathers yet. These babies were almost the same size as the adults but looked funny as they were covered in this soft looking fluff, like you’d find inside a teddy bear. They often did not have the blue feet yet but seemed to be moving around the nest a lot more now. We did our best to give the nests plenty of space as the parents seemed to get a little riled up if we got too close by accident.
In one instance, there were two of the adult birds standing on this small beam in the middle of the trail. Everyone else was able to walk to the side of them fine. Alexa and I ended up in the back as we were laughing and taking pictures of the island’s beauty. Alexa passed just fine but as I went to walk over the beam, one of the blue-footed bobbies came running at me trying to peck me.
I jumped towards Alexa assuming the bird finally got annoyed by the people so we jogged to catch up with the group. Next thing I know, I feel a sharp little pin prick pain and turn around to find the booby had followed us down the trail and decided to peck me with its pointed gray beak. For some reason it just wanted to keep attacking me and I have no idea why but it was pretty funny as it wasn’t doing any damage, so I just tried to ignore it or shoo it away.
The rest of the trip was learning about the landscape and history. We saw other birds and some lizards before heading back to the boat. The sun was strong and it was a hot day, it would have been unbearable if not for the cool ocean breeze that blows heavily at the top ridge of the island.
Back on the boat, we were invited to do something I wasn’t expecting, we were invited to go snorkeling on one side of the island. They asked anyone if they knew how to swim and explained some rules then handed everyone snorkels and masks. The guide coming in the water asked if anyone was a strong swimmer and I raised my hand. I grew up swimming every summer in a nearby lake and for as long as I remember I’ve been in the water.
He asked me if I wanted to swim with him to the point off the side of the island as it was a bit far but we would be able to see more. I figured it would be fun, so everyone got in and I stayed to the side of our guide and we started swimming out that way. He was a bit ahead while I was enjoying the brightly colored fish. Living in Maine meant I had never seen brightly colored fish and cold water reefs like this so it was all so new and exciting. While I was admiring this zebra striped fish with a long tailing yellow fin, I was shocked by something swimming under me.
I’m not sure how loud my scream came out of the snorkel, but all I could do was float on the surface and stare as two turtles, about three or four feet in length, came swimming underneath me. I had never seen sea turtles but had always been obsessed with them. My eyes managed to mist over with the mask on and I just stayed completely still, soaking up every moment of watching them move around. They glided through the water so gently, even having as much mass and size as they did.
It was something I would never forget, seeing their beaked heads lazily look around as they made their way into deeper water. Their shells glistened as the sun filtered through the water. Their front fins would flap towards their bodies and propel them forward.
Not too long after that, the boat called us back and I had to say goodbye to this incredible reef, fishes, and two turtles that would be ingrained in my mind for years to come. This was an incredible last trip to have, before heading back to Quito and starting my next adventure in Peru.