A Weekend trip to Puerto Lopez to watch whales!

From July to December Humpback whales migrate along the coast of Ecuador. Recently a group of students travelled for the weekend to Puerto Lopez where they took a day trip to La Isla de la Plata. This island is commonly referred to as the "poor man's Galapagos" as it contains some of the same species that captivated and inspired Charles Darwin on his visit to the Galapagos Islands. But as Isla de la Plata is only a 40 minute boat ride from the Ecuadorian mainland it is a lot cheaper to get there.

The big plus for the weekend is that the group got to see many whales, some of them from very close upt to. Click here to watch a short video of this impressive event filmed by one of the group.

Another interesting excursion was a day trip to the village of Agua Blanca, a few kilometers inland and situated in the Machalilla National Park. The village is in a dry forest and boasts a sulphur lagoon in which visitors can swim and coat themselves with the mineral-rich mud.