Tag 137: Playa de Los Frailes

The alarm clock rings. 7:30 a.m. The air in the tent is stuffy. We get dressed and pack our beach things. There is said to be the most beautiful beach in Ecuador near Puerto Lopez. The 'Playa de Los Frailes' is located in the middle of the nature reserve, is well monitored and super clean. We meet Manu and Nele at the market square and discuss how to get to the beach best. Then a taxi driver makes us the right offer. He takes us to the beach 12 kilometers away and wants to pick us up later. Perfect! The beach is actually one of the most beautiful we have seen so far. It forms a crescent moon of white sand, behind us a wall of green and in front of us the sea paints a color palette from white to turquoise to dark blue. The sun and clouds alternate, which is not so bad. Since it's still early, we have the beach almost to ourselves. We enjoy the peace and the sun. From the 'Playa de Los Frailes' you can walk through the forest to another beach. The 'Playa Turtuga'. We take advantage of the time we have and walk through the dense forest to the turtle beach. The name of the beach misleads us, we don't see any turtles. Nevertheless, it is beautiful and hardly visited because swimming is prohibited here. We are delighted to see the huge blue crabs, the clear water, and the beautiful shells we find. The detour was worth it. We walk back to the main beach, where the others are already waiting for us, and plunge into the refreshing sea. Then it's time to go back to Puerto Lopez. The taxi driver is already waiting for us. In Puerto Lopez, we say goodbye to Manu and Nele and walk back to our tent. We pack our things because tomorrow we want to continue to Canoa and have a few of those questionable burgers before we go to sleep.