From Montañita we left to Puerto Lopez!

Once again we didn't know where we were heading so we just hoped on the bus and got dropped off at Puerto Lopez!

We didn't have any expectations for it but let me tell you it was way better than Salinas and Montañita! This smaller town had way less tourists, beaches were empty, plenty of restaurants to choose from, a lot more locals, and we got a hostel with a ton of hammocks to just lay and do nothing!





During the day the beach restaurants looked very tame:

But at night they turned on the neon lights, and it was party time... a low key not too crazy party!


Both Anna and I laughed at the people gathered at the beach to exercise, it was like a macho show off! The guys shirtless doing pull ups, push ups, headstands, and kinds of acrobatics to catch people's attention.




Doesn't it look like a nice little beach town?

Anna's ceviche du jour!

The highlight of Puerto Lopez was hands down the day trip to Playa los frailes.
From Puerto Lopez we each paid a dollar for a pick up truck taxi that left us right in front of the gate of Frailes beach. At the gate there was a lady from tourism asking for the passport and to fill out our info and making sure we knew the rules (such as bring all your garbage out, no tuna cans allowed etc.)

Did you know that all national parks are entirely free of charge for Ecuadorians and tourists alike? The former president of Ecuador made them all free in order to promote tourism! Awesome!


After entering the national park people have two options: Go straight to the beach or go on a  two hour hike through the wilderness to get to the beach!

We took the scenic route!


Most of the hike was through very dry vegetation but the viewpoints were worth the heat!
The first stop was at the viewpoint "Islote sucre" where one we could see a little island in the middle of clear blue water!



The second stop was a beach full of tiny crabs!

Doesn't it look amazing?

The crabs would run around like crazy once they felt somebody walking by!

The third stop was at "la tortuguita" (little turtle) not because you could see turtles but because of the shape of the rock in it.
In all the beaches along the path people are not allowed to swim due to the tide and the strong currents so 1. it wasn't crowded and 2. it was perfect for pictures!

Sooo pretty!!!

As we walked through the dry path we found a lot of cacti. My favourite thing was finding the ones with beautiful flowers.

Anna taking it all in!

As we were walking I saw a hut on top of the highest hill and as a joke I said to Anna "our next stop is all the way up there" thinking it wasn't going to be part of the path but it totally was. One could for sure totally skip it but I thought that the view from way up high was going to be spectacular!

With almost no water I decided to power through the huge hill, sweating like a pig, and as red as a tomato but I made and the view was so so so pretty!!!!!

Should I? or Should I not?

My first sight of Frailes beach

And then I finally made it to Frailes beach!!!

A day after Frailes beach we decided to leave Puerto Lopez and head towards Manta, yet another beach town, and the final one of Ecuador!!!

The way to Manta wasn't in a straightforward line by the coast, instead the bus went inland (taking forever) and stopping at different towns.

What life is like in Ecuador!

Pick up truck ride!

We had planned to go to Mindo after Manta so at the end we decided to stay in a town inland called Montecristi and then take a bus to Manta for a quick visit.

Montecristi is in the Manabi province, the most famous place for sombreros de Paja Toquilla!

As we got closer to Montecriti we started seeing a lot of shops on the side of the street selling hats... maybe this time I would get my hat!

A small town square with indigenous statue and some street food!

When we finally got to Montecristi I was ready to buy myself a hat! First we went to check out the town but there wasn't much more than a town square and lots and lots and lots of hats shops.

Eloy Alfaro, one of the most important men in Ecuador!

By then we were still carrying our backpacks in hopes to get a hostel but we looked and looked and we couldn't find any. I was determined to get myself a hat so I left Anna sitting on a bench with my backpack and went on a hat hunt!

I remembered everything that Andres told me about a good hat and all the things I needed to look for. I went to a couple of stores and asked all the questions and went back and forth... so many choices for a girl who has trouble deciding!

At the end I couldn't do it on my own so I went back to then bench and found Anna and asked her to come help me out pick out a hat!

Too many choices!

And here I am finally with my hat!

With hat in head I was happy so we kept walking and finally found a place to stay, nothing fancy but would do for one night.

We then headed to Manta!



Manta looked a lot like Salinas but with a bigger beach! There really wasn't anything special about it compared to the other towns we had visited.

People swimming in sitting water! yikes!

We did have a fun walk on the beach people watching, looking at all the street vendors and just dipping our toes in the water!

Cold coconut for $2!

This lady was selling quail eggs!!!

Foot massage anyone?

Viche, a soup with seafood and peanuts!

After about 10 days in the coast it was time to leave!!! Next stop: Mindo!