Puerto Lopez

For our last days on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, we booked a treehouse in Puerto Lopez. The actual tourist and party place in Ecuador is Montañita, which is located slightly further south than Puerto Lopez. However, since the party there is supposed to go on all night and we wanted it to be a bit quieter, we chose Puerto Lopez. But it was also very quiet there, or rather, it was absolutely dead. But that is understandable, as the place does not seem very inviting. The beach was full of stones and the water was very rough and not really beautiful. There are also many lined-up beach bars, but they were either closed or not visited. The main time to visit is apparently between July and September, when you can watch the passing whales.

We spent our days mainly in the surrounding area. One day we went to Montañita where there was a lot more going on. It's a bit like Ballermann there. Every few minutes a beach vendor comes by, music is always playing somewhere, and you can have cocktails brought directly to your lounge chair. By the way, those were the best cocktails we have ever had. In addition, you can get ceviche everywhere at small stands, which of course we also enjoyed. We really enjoyed the afternoon, but our decision for Puerto Lopez was really good, because when you walk through the streets passing all the restaurants and bars, you can immediately tell that it's not so quiet there in the evenings.

On two other days, we took the bus to Los Frailes beach, which is considered the most beautiful beach on the Ecuadorian mainland. And rightfully so. The beach was really beautiful. There is also a small hiking trail that took us past a few more small beaches and a viewpoint. In the midday sun, it was quite sweaty, but then we could cool off in the sea.

Although there was not much going on in the town, we had a few nice days in Puerto Lopez and were able to enjoy the sun and the warm weather again.

That's it for Ecuador. After almost two months, we went from Puerto Lopez to Guayaquil and from there the next day by plane to Bolivia. We really liked Ecuador, even a bit better than Colombia. It is quieter and more relaxed than Colombia and has a lot to offer in terms of landscapes, and the distances are much shorter, so you don't have to fly within the country and there are no super long bus rides. In the end, it was a good decision to stay longer than the planned two weeks, but that was also due to the situation in Peru.