What if Che Guevara was a monkey?

(Wednesday-Friday, 15-17 July 2009)

Well, he would have a proper picture, or portrait, already!

Che’s immortal profile (or something vaguely resembling it) on a mototaxi, in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador

Google map: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=pt-PT&geocode=&q=%22puerto+lopez%22+ecuador&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=12.739664,28.168945&ie=UTF8&ll=-1.323735,-79.068604&spn=2.690685,5.603027&z=8

I hadn’t heard great things of Ecuador’s coast – it’s often described as shabby, a bit dodgy even perhaps, and not that pretty. It’s the people that makes it worthwhile visiting, they say.

Well, perhaps. But after visiting Puerto Lopez, I don’t feel like investigating much more of it. That region, the “ruta del sol”, is described as one of the prettiest – or less ugly… - of the all coast, a place not yet destroyed by beach resorts for the Ecuadorian middle class, and with enough natural interesting sights to justify a visit.

I found a very (very, very) dirty town, with nothing to write home about, but with a mysteriously overdeveloped tourist industry for foreigners. I guess the possibility of whale-watching just a few miles from the shore explains that…

I said no to all that, spend a day walking in the natural park by the coast – not that impressive, I’ve to admit! – and decided to move on, further inland.

I know I might be loosing the opportunity to meet great people and get to know the local culture of the coast, but mixing the worst of two worlds – dirty uninteresting towns, and overdeveloped tourist industry crowded with tour operators (oh! how I love them!) – is just too much.

I’ll take my chances on missing this one.

Views of the Parque Nacional Machalilla. Nice, but not too much to write home about, especially if bearing in mind the "beauty" of Puerto Lopez... By the way, my mobile phone "died" right here, when it fell from the cliff - I'm only reachable by email now! Next time I'll remember not to keep it right next to the bottle of water on my backpack...