Signboard at Hosteria Mandala showing direction and distance to cities around the world
Whale carving on front gate of Hosteria Mandala in Puerto Lopez
Our little corner of Frailes Beach - About 20 people there
Luis is shopping for juice mangos - something I had never heard of - delicious!
Here's a family in a little town we passed through with a hammock under the houseWe started off the day with our only beach day the whole trip. We used our Ecuador National Park pass purchased on the Isla de la Plata trip for admission to the beach area. Frailes means The Friars (after the missionary priests) although it’s not clear to me why! The day was a bit of a fooler as there was quite overcast in the morning through noon. Most of us enjoyed refreshing swims and Luis and I walked to the top of a hill at the right side of Frailes Beach to see the beach from an observatory tower. The other side of that hill was another long beach, this one with black sand. We walked from the tower and went a little way on the black sand beach before returning to the others.
Everyone enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches fruit and snacks that we purchased yesterday evening in town. By the time lunch was over the sun was out with a vengeance. Connie and I suffered quite a sun burn as both of us tried a spray suntan lotion. You could see where we sprayed properly and the areas we missed got toasted. I guess some practice is needed or just stick with the lotions. By the scheduled 2:00 departure time I was ready to hit the road. Overdid the sun a bit I reckon.
About an hour into our scheduled 6 hour transfer to Santo Domingo our bus seemed to be suffering some sort of transmission troubles. We were only able to crawl upwards on the inclines. Luckily, we were pretty close to the highest point to that time and did much better on the down slopes. We were able to get the bus into a little town called Jipi Japi (pronounced “hippy happy”) nice name! We were guided to a local mechanic who eventually replaced a hose and a clamp to get us on our way an hour later. We were pretty luck for this to happen close to a town. I shudder to think what might have happened later on in the trip.
So, we were back on the road and eventually to the “area” around our next stop – Kashama Lodge. I say the area because the directions to the place were not very exact (to say the least). This place is kind of in the jungle and the address given didn’t help much. Eventually after several phone calls and double tracking we eventually arrived (gratefully) at around 10:00. So, the 6 hour trip became 8 (although the mechanical difficulties couldn’t have been expected). My premise that Ecuadorian time differers from ours held true. Everything seems to take s little longer that expected. The place looks pretty spectacular in the dark and the staff was waiting to prepare us our dinner at the late hour. Tomorrow is rafting in the morning and an afternoon to relax around their magnificent pools. I asked and they told me (unfortunately) no internet access in the jungle. So, I’ll write up the journals each day and post when I get the time. Adios, until later……..
Everyone enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches fruit and snacks that we purchased yesterday evening in town. By the time lunch was over the sun was out with a vengeance. Connie and I suffered quite a sun burn as both of us tried a spray suntan lotion. You could see where we sprayed properly and the areas we missed got toasted. I guess some practice is needed or just stick with the lotions. By the scheduled 2:00 departure time I was ready to hit the road. Overdid the sun a bit I reckon.
About an hour into our scheduled 6 hour transfer to Santo Domingo our bus seemed to be suffering some sort of transmission troubles. We were only able to crawl upwards on the inclines. Luckily, we were pretty close to the highest point to that time and did much better on the down slopes. We were able to get the bus into a little town called Jipi Japi (pronounced “hippy happy”) nice name! We were guided to a local mechanic who eventually replaced a hose and a clamp to get us on our way an hour later. We were pretty luck for this to happen close to a town. I shudder to think what might have happened later on in the trip.
So, we were back on the road and eventually to the “area” around our next stop – Kashama Lodge. I say the area because the directions to the place were not very exact (to say the least). This place is kind of in the jungle and the address given didn’t help much. Eventually after several phone calls and double tracking we eventually arrived (gratefully) at around 10:00. So, the 6 hour trip became 8 (although the mechanical difficulties couldn’t have been expected). My premise that Ecuadorian time differers from ours held true. Everything seems to take s little longer that expected. The place looks pretty spectacular in the dark and the staff was waiting to prepare us our dinner at the late hour. Tomorrow is rafting in the morning and an afternoon to relax around their magnificent pools. I asked and they told me (unfortunately) no internet access in the jungle. So, I’ll write up the journals each day and post when I get the time. Adios, until later……..
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