Pleasantly lounging in Puerto Lopez

Our 3 hour drive south from Canoa was far more mountainous than you would have thought traveling mostly along the coast of Ecuador. This area also had a wide array of agricultural products being farmed. Fields were planted and grown from along the road, and up into the foothills of the undulating terrain throughout the area we drove through. We practiced our Spanish, and our super nice driver Tito, worked on his English as he "narrated" the highlights of the towns we went through, and what the fields of crops were that we passed [corn, banana, dragon fruit, and rice]. Ecuador (that we have seen) is a lush beautiful country and its people are friendly, nice and hard working.   The slideshow below has some sights on our road trip to Puerto Lopez. [Slideshow; yada yada--you do remember what that means, right?]

Right on cue at our expected arrival time we crested a rolling hill in the road and entered the outskirts of Puerto Lopez. The town runs along the coast of the bay and looks and "feels" like what I would expect an Ecuadorian fishing village to be (more info and pics to come about town). Shortly upon entering town, we turned off the main road and started up into the foothills-I quietly asked Sha if Tito knew he was taking us away from the beach...we do tend to like staying next to the shore.
The auxillary roads are mainly dirt and can be riddled with holes and rocks; Tito did a great job of navigating rough and narrow roads. We had a steep climb up a private dirt road to the entrance of our new property.

We happily got out of the vehicle, stretched and then met our new hosts, Paul and Susan (picture not taken as we got out of the car).

Here's where we will be staying for the next month (You'll see why I'm not minding the walk to the beach). [Slideshow w/captions; yada yada.]

Welcome drink in the pool with Susan!

No matter by plane, train or automobile; travel days are tiring. We enjoyed the pool, a beer or two, and a wonderful sunset before  a light dinner and early to bed. [Slideshow; yada yada.]

You would have thought it was "sleep in Friday" by the time I got out of the way-too-comfy bed we have. Coffee and a little breakfast on the veranda whilst listening to the neighborhood roosters and dogs talk to each other at great length and in detail was a super way to start the first morning in Puerto Lopez. We checked in with Susan and Paul and then headed off on foot on a mission to explore the town, the  malecon, and shop for groceries. Our property is located about a 15 minute walk from the water. Here's some sights on our first trip into town. [Slideshow; yada yada.]

You may have noticed, we didn't walk back home. We had planned the walk to incorporate shopping at two of the 3 local grocery stores before returning and were counting on a ride (I didn't want you to think that Sha was tired from carrying me on her back for the last half hour to be the reason we didn't walk home).
Local taxis are Tuk Tuks, abundant and economical and can navigate the narrow and sometimes rough dirt roads in and around town; not to mention knowing where/when to turn, or handling the "traffic" on two, three, or four wheels, or 4 legs or 2. This was our first ride in a Tuk-Tuk; and we amazingly loaded up all of our reusable shopping bags full of groceries into the back of the Tuk Tuk with the two of us, and off we went (we had planned to take "some" groceries from here and walk down the street to the other store to get the "rest" of the shopping list before catching a taxi...but, we couldn't get to the second one because we bought all we could carry at the first place). I was impressed the way our Tuk Tuk barreled us up the steep entrance road to our home. Sha even got to "drive" the Tuk Tuk after we arrived. The ride was 10 minutes, tops; and cost $1. (We found out later that Paul and Susan have a personal Tuk Tuk "UberEats" driver they use to occasionally drop off needed supplies; beer included--slick!)
An afternoon beer preceded Friday Nite pizza at Villa Bella Vista; featuring the outdoor pizza oven just off the pool deck in the community area. On the menu was your choice of 3 pizzas (Hawaiian, Veggie, and Meat), made with homemade pizza dough and homemade sauce, and each personally designed by Susan. Vino, cerveza, or sangria were available for consumption as well; if you had the desire. Paul expertly manned the oven, perfectly preparing the pizzas. Susan, somehow found time to even bake a cake! A wonderful poolside dinner and great conversations was capped of with a cool sunset.

We both were excited to find, as one of the perks of booking on the property, we received Paul's official guided town tour and transportation demonstration. Paul showed us how to cut our transportation cost into the city in half by walking to this junction in the roads for a 50 cent ride to town; he taught us the secret signal to wave down a Tuk Tuk, and then demonstrated it to us by securing us a ride into town at that junction. The three of us in the back; we rode through town and near the southern end, got out at the fish market. At first glance, it's a sight to take in and a little intimidating, but after experiencing it, I'm going to disagree with myself. [Slideshow; yada yada.]

It was a real treat to have Paul lead us through the market.  The informational and interactiveness of our tour came from insights and experiences that 14 years as a property owner here bring. Having done everything at the market except catch the fish, we continued walking south over a small bridge to the pier stretching into the bay affording a nice view of the beach and town. There is also a small landing dock for boarding island and fishing tour boats.

This cool piece of art along the malecon, showing 3 different guys fishing, was so big I had to piece it together with multiple pics to get all the details.

Paul gave recommendations on places to eat as we made our way walking back past the market along the malecon while he was greeting and speaking with friends and business owners along our path. Paul was even thoughtful enough to ensure we were properly hydrated during the tour by stopping at a 2nd story deck at an ocean front bar for a beer during our long walk. Minor business at the pharmacy and hardware store and our movement through town to find them, gave us the layout of where to go to for what and other positive info. We finished the shopping, and using the secret signal, flagged down a Tuk Tuk and headed for home; feeling wiser for the morning's activities.
Worth noting; we have completed the cycle of walking to town and returning all the way--yes, we made it up the steep hill as well. Our daily pace is tranquil and slow with pool time and sunset a mandatory scheduled activity. Ok, this will be my last half-assed apology for sharing too many sunset pics..."sorry, not sorry!" Look for the little sliver of moon in the purple sky NGG captured in the second sunset example, last pic.  [yada yada.]

We have Tito picking the four of us up tomorrow at 8 AM to start our "South Tour" adventure. Looking forward to sharing that experience, next time.

Enjoying Ecuador; stay safe and well mi amigos. Ciao.

​Pura Vida!