Season of the Humpback Whales in Puerto Lopez

Posted by on Oct 10, 2014 in Blog | 0 comments

Season of the Humpback Whales in Puerto Lopez

Fisherman with Catch

On August 1 a small group headed out to coastal Ecuador on trip organized by Circle on the Square and by our very good friend Jairo Munoz who did some amazing work to make this trip run smoothly.  We flew into Manta and visited Alfaro City ( see our previous post), then we made our way south along the coast to Puerto Lopez. Puerto Lopez is a fishing village with a wide variety of places to stay, restaurants with delicious seafood, and places to buy souvenirs, as well as what is said to be the very best place on the Ecuadorian coast to take a whale watching tour.  Humpback whales are present in the coastal waters from June through August, and there are plenty of licensed companies offering tours to see whales as well as to visit and explore Isla de la Plata, aka “Poor Man’s Galapagos.”

Accomodations at Nantu Hosteria

Our group stayed at the very comfortable hosteria, Nantu, at the edge of town north of the new pier.  In March 2012 when I first visited Puerto Lopez there was no pier.  In order to board a boat one had to wade into the water and climb aboard; now with the new pier, boarding the yachts is very easy for guests and crews. We took a tour on the “Isla Tour” with two guides and a captain who looked all of 18 years old. They gave us a fabulous day which included whale watching, hiking on Isla de la Plata and becoming acquainted with the spectacular birds and other animals who live there, and near the end of the day I came back with fantastic photos which were taken for me by one of our guides.

We were able to go snorkeling and we were thrilled to see many colorful fish as well as curious sea turtles who came right up to the boat to check us out. It was a magical day in terms of being able to see and explore so many life forms unique to this particular area  of the world, and for me it was really thrilling to be out at sea since I haven’t personally spent much time there.  That night when I crawled into bed and laid still, I could still feel the sensation of the rocking of the waves  beneath me. It was an unforgettable day.The "Money " Shot of Jumping Whale

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *