OUR FIRST REAL VACATION

                     OUR FIRST REAL VACATION

Hi All,  We finally did it! We enjoyed a 2 week vacation to the coast.  I had my eye on going there ever since we’ve been here, and circumstances unfolded such that it was time.  Our renter Christine has been fixing up her house, which is about a mile away, and her circumstances became such that she plans to move out sooner than expected.  We’d need her to feed the dog and cat, as well as watch the place.  All this gave us just enough time to pull it off.

Where we ( I ) really wanted to go was  a 12 hour drive from our home, and we are just too old to do those long drives anymore, so needed to break it up some.  En route  I wanted to visit the Manglares Churute Reserve (Mangrove Reserve), which is SW of the city of Guayaquil, and around half way there.  I deliberated as to which route to take, and decided to head straight west to Machala on the coast, and then head north to our hotel for the night.  My strategy was that once on the coast the highway would be a straight road, even though it was supposed to be only 15 minutes longer than the more crooked one in the mountains and down the west slope.   

We got to the hotel mid afternoon, giving us a little time to walk around the outskirts of that town.  The hotel was basic but clean.  After a decent night’s sleep we were heading north to the reserve.  I rightfully assumed the coastal flats were filled with banana plantations, which turned out to be an understatement.  Talk about mile after mile of banana trees!  

THE SCENERY WAS ONE BANANA PLANTATION AFTER ANOTHER

Nearing the reserve was a lake on our side of the road which was filled with water associated birds, so we pulled over and my camera had a workout.  It was nice that many were close in, resulting in good quality pictures.  (I decided to put most of the bird pics in a separate link, or this blog would be waaaay too long.)  After about 20 minutes we broke away, found the road to the reserve, and drove in.  The reserve turned out to be some 5 more miles to the mangroves, but there were plenty of birds to be seen prior to getting there.  But  access to the mangroves was severely limited, although there are many acres off limits to deforestation. 

After breakfast we walked the short trail and boardwalk to the water, but returned rather quickly due to the many mosquitoes.  The organic insect repellent did not phase them.  Too bad!  There were a lot of small birds in the area, so if we return we shall bring the better repellent.

THE BOARDWALK INTO THE MANGROVES

When returning to the highway, we continued north toward the city.  I had noticed that some bird reports were  a couple more miles in the direction we were headed, off to the left/west side of the road, so we exited in the appropriate place.  We drove in for some 2-3 miles and were surrounded by rice fields, and these were in varying levels of maturity.  One particular field was fairly mature and was covered with thousands of tiny moths.  We assumed they’d be laying eggs which would hatch into little caterpillars, so very possibly needing to be sprayed with some type of insecticide.  

A couple of bird stories I must include here since they were interesting.  The first is that there was a Limpkin perched close to the road in a tree. These are similar to herons and egrets, and a first for my country bird list.  On the way out he vocalized quite loudly, and this was certainly a different kind of sound I was not used to. 

LIMPKIN

Soon after we came to two shallow ponds on the left side of the road, with a house at the far side of these.  Sitting on an electric wire over the ponds was a Snail Kite.  As he stayed perched, motionless, I snapped a few pics.  Then he “kited” down to the water, snatched a snail, and returned to the wire. He was now closer allowing me to take a few more shots.  You can even see the snail between his talons.  

SNAIL KITE WITH A SNAIL

We finally struck out toward the city.   Using the Google Map App I decided to navigate around the city of Guayaquil on one major highway.  It took about an hour due to the congestion.  On a certain stretch there were 4 lanes with NO painted lines.  I really had to be on the alert here because many other drivers simply meandered along regardless of the “lanes.”  

Eventually we left the urban area, heading to the Santa Elena Peninsula where we would spend a few nights.  It was not a particularly difficult drive to figure out, and would take another 2 hours.  I was still checking the map app now and then, wanting to see how long it was to the next junction, when appearing along side the car was a cop on a motorcycle.  I had the phone in my hand just as he motioned for me to pull over.  I was caught red handed.  I could only imagine how the next few minutes would go.  

I made it clear I did not understand much Spanish while he was trying to made it clear that using the phone while driving was dangerous.  The conversation finally came around to paying a fine (bribe) of $20, which I was happy to pay, and he was happy to receive.  All things considered I think it was a win/win situation.  For such to go against my driver’s license would have been a heftier fine as well as creating some possible restrictions on renewing the car registration, or so I’m told.

We finally made it to the city of Salinas, the western most city in the country on the Santa Elena Peninsula, and found our hotel OK.  Our lodging was among the high rise hotels on a two mile stretch of beach.  However,  half mile away from the beach as well as most other parts of the end of the peninsula was shanty-town Ecuador,  a real eye sore.  

I had asked another birder if he knew anyone in Salinas who could assist me birding, and he gave me the name of Ben Haase.  Ben texted me to meet him at the “Whale Museum” the next morning, and I was looking forward to that.  That night I was tired and went to bed at 08:00.  The next thing I knew Rosie was shaking me to awaken as it was 5:45 AM.  I slept almost 10 hours straight!  

ROSIE IN THE JAWS OF A SPERM WHALE

BEN AND I DOING A SEAWATCH

I picked up Ben at the Whale Museum and we headed for the very end of the Peninsula to a place called the “La Chocolatera.”.   On the ride I learned that Ben was from the Netherlands and came to Ecuador 38 years previously.  He was the owner and curator of the museum and had also been doing seabird censusing since the early 90s.  A few years back he wrote a book titled, “Sea - and Coastal Birds of Ecuador, the Ecuasal Lakes and the Galapagos Islands.”  Well, talk about connecting with the best birding source for the area!  

We hit it off well, spending 3 hours at Chocolatera and another hour at the Ecusal Lakes.   The Ecusal Lakes are actually some 500 acres of shallow ponds which are filled with sea water, pumped from one pond to another, evaporating until ending up on the last one (s?) where there is nothing left but…….salt.  Here is a pic of a pile of the stuff.

MUCH OF THE SALT FOR ECUADOR COMES FROM HERE

Ben and I would repeat this the next day before Rosie and I set off for Ayampe to the north.  In the meantime we needed to switch hotels as the first one did not have vacancy for the next 2 nights.  We were once again along the main drag of high-rise hotels, this time a half mile further east.  Ben had been here before any of these high-rise hotels were built, and has seen many changes.  

THERE ARE OVER 100 HIGH RISE HOTELS IN SALINAS

During some other free time we’d walk the beach, feeling a little out of place among the darker skinned locals.  A few soccer and volley ball games were going on here and there on the crowded beach.  We also needed ear plugs at night due to the “music” blaring away.  

At noon on the 2nd day we were finished birding, with me seeing a Belcher’s Gull, my 1000th bird for my Ecuador bird list.  So Rosie and I packed up and headed north toward Ayampe where I had stayed for some 6 weeks about 4 years ago.  

Ayampe is a small, quiet beach town for surfers and those less attracted to the party scene.  About 45 minutes before arriving at our destination we saw a few stores with items made out of wood, Rosie seeing some wooden stools.  We would later on return here a buy 4 of them, as well as some other decorations to spruce up the interior of our house.

BAR STOOLS GOING ON AND INTO THE CAR

I had made arrangements to stay at a cabin connected with a lodge at the south end of Ayampe, a place where I had stayed in my previous time here.  The view from our cabin was splendid, looking out over the ocean.  You could always count on seeing Pelicans, Boobies and Frigatebirds soaring by, as well as Humpback Whales breaching far out.  But…….the steps getting up to the cabin were not made by some maestro mason, being uneven and inconsistent in height. We needed to rest half-way up each time we ascended these.  

THE VIEW FROM OUR CABIN

THE VIEW DURING BREAKFAST FROM THE LODGE DECK

We’d be here for a week, in which time we took daily walks on the beach, Rosie looking for rocks and shells, me looking for birds.  About 1/2 mile to the north was an estuary with a river emptying into the sea, a great place for birds.  Being the “off” season when it is cooler and cloudy, there were not many visitors and tourists here, and we really only saw the sun on our last day here at sunset.  

LEARNING TO BODY SURF?

One adventure we planned on was taking a boat trip out to Isla de la Plata.  We would leave at 08:00 and head north to the town of Puerto Lopez, pay the fare, and hop on a boat with about 20 others.  My hope was to see some pelagic birds en route.  I was a little let down as I only saw 2 species of storm petrels and some Sabine’s Gulls, the latter padding my Ecuador bird list.  At this time of year many humpback whales are in the area with their  calves, and we’d see them up close, sometimes leaping (breaching) out of the water. 

THE GREETING CENTER ON THE ISLAND

THE TAIL OF A HUMPBACK WHALE

OUR BOAT

Once on the island our guide took us up to the summit and down to the cliffs on the other side where the view was great and we could see Boobies and other birds soaring by.  My main target here was getting a pic of a Red-billed Tropicbird, and eventually I was successful.  

THE TRAIL ON THE ISLAND

JUST UP FROM THE CLIFF ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND

THE BLUE-FOOTED BOOBIES WERE NOT FEARFUL OF PEOPLE

SEA TURTLE

RED-BILLED TROPICBIRD

Once back on the boat we were taken nearby for a swim.  Rosie stayed on board but I took advantage of the opportunity and saw some tropical fish, turtles and manta rays.  At one point fish were fed with pieces of banana bread.  En route back we once again saw whales.

The aforementioned river goes back inland and is hemmed in by plenty of jungle.  And the road which parallels the river is a great place to find birds.  I had walked that road many times when here before, so it was a reunion of sorts to walk it again.  On one walk I went in the 2.5 miles to the end of the road, and then walked back in the river bed.  Being the dry season the water was never more than a foot deep.  

SUNSET

THE MOON AT 4:30 AM, JUST BEFORE WE LEFT

Late afternoon on our last day the sun finally appeared on the horizon for a nice sunset.  Otherwise we never saw it.  We were awake at 04:30 the next morning, and feeling we’d not be going back to sleep, we began packing.  I figured I could fasten the bar stools on top of the car so we’d have plenty of room inside.  We left about 6:30, heading back to the big city of Guayaquil.  This time I put in the destination of where we’d be heading, and the map app lead us through the city on a shorter route than the one we took going to the coast, saving us a half hour or so.  

Just as we were leaving the lowlands we spied a few large fruit stands, so pulled over and bought 2 watermelons, 3 pineapple, and one cantaloupe.

FRUIT STANDS

We were now heading “up” the west flank of the Andes and could finally turn off the AC.  Somewhere higher up we found a restaurant to stop and have lunch.  The view off the back porch was nice and we could see clouds rolling in.  When we left were now driving into the thick of the clouds.  Head lights on as we kept heading higher.  After maybe a half hour we came out of the clouds into some very nice scenery at around 12,000 feet.

A WALK-WAY OUT OVER THE CLIFF AT THE RESTAURANT 

I was planning on spending the night at a cabin at a high elevation so I could look for certain high elevational bird species the next morning.  When we reached the place where the cabins were I got out, walked about 100 meters, and then returned to the car.  I said to Rosie, “We ain’t stayin here.”  We were both suffering altitude sickness, and that little walk at 12,000 feet gave me a headache.  In hindsight, since we drove directly from sea level to 12K, we were not acclimated.  It is funny that I can go up Cerro Toledo near from where I live and reach over 11K and it does not bother me at all.

So we descended to the city of Cuenca, said to be where some 25,000 foreigners live, and we would see many while exploring later on.  Cuenca is around 8,400 feet elevation, and our headaches were mostly alleviated. We found a decent hotel to spend the night.  

Since we were so close to the mountains where I wanted to look for a few species I needed, I was intent on returning to where we were yesterday.  I was off by 5:45, heading back up hill.  I got to the place where I wanted to look for them by 6:30 and was not suffering with a headache.  No one was around, so I walked here and there.  In about 45 minutes I found 4 of the 5 new birds I was looking for, and was able to photograph 2 others I hoped to get pics of.  I spent at least another hour looking for the last lifer without success, so returned to Cuenca.

ONE VIEW OF THE HIGHLANDS

BLUE-MANTLED THORNBILL.  ONE OF THE BIRDS I WAS AFTER

Around noon Rosie and I took a taxi into the downtown area to meet with someone, and the results of that meeting will have to wait a while before I can share them.  Afterward we went to the supermarket to buy some “Dawn” dish detergent.  The stuff we have to buy locally to use is watered down and you need to use twice as much as normal. Then we located the restaurant we hoped to find and had lunch.  After that we walked to the central square where the largest cathedral in the country is located.  We were now tired and not super impressed, so came back to our hotel.

THE LARGEST CATHEDRAL IN ALL OF ECUADOR

Our plans were to have breakfast at the hotel and then leave for home, some 5 more hours to the south, but as we were awake

around 5:30, we decided to pack up and exit.  That was probably a good idea because even driving out of the city at 6:45 the traffic was already heavy.  But after some 30 minutes away from the city we would not see very many cars, and for the most part, the road was decent.  

We stopped in Malacatos, the town just over the hill from us to buy some groceries.  Upon leaving the super market there was a man on the side of the road yelling across the street at someone.  Something told me to keep my eye on him, and just as we approached him, he struck out to cross the street.  I laid on the horn and he stopped.  He did not even look before crossing, something which is unfortunately common here.  I could write  more about close calls while driving on this trip, but you get the idea. 

We were glad to be back home.  The vacation was rejuvenating.  We learned more about the country and made some friends.  We’d do it again, and probably will some day.