Revisiting Puerto Lopez and the Ecuadorean Coast

After a full day of flights (Gulfport to Charlotte, then Charlotte to Miami, and finally Miami to Guyaquil) I finally made it to Ecuador.  I boarded my first flight around 7:00 am Central time, went into the Eastern Time Zone, and finally landed around 10:00 pm Central time at my temporary destination.  I don't think any of the flight attendants spoke Spanish, and it was important on that last flight because most of the passengers didn't speak English!  At least neither of the two flight attendants that came to my part of the plane spoke Spanish, and anytime a passenger spoke to them, they just shrugged their shoulders.  Usually on flights that have multinational passengers, any announcement made in one language is followed by the same announcement in at least one other language.  Not the case here.  I found myself doing the best I could to keep those around me informed of what was going on.  This was especially important when one older Kichwa lady in traditional dress could not read her boarding pass and didn't know what seat she was in and when several people were confused about what food and beverages were offered for free and what ones were offered for sale.  I was exhausted by the time we got landed in Guayaquil!  I caught the shuttle to my hostal and got a restless night of sleep.

Up early the next morning, and got a shuttle back to the airport so I could pick up my rental car.  Didn't do it last night because it was dark by the time I got there, and it's too hard to see livestock on the road after dark in Ecuador.  After presenting my prepaid voucher, that said I could use my credit card or travel insurance, they said I had to purchase their insurance on the car or I could not rent it!  What a scam!  But, it is what it is, and I needed a car!  So, I bought the insurance for more than the rent on the car was!  The dude taking me to the car did an inspection and recorded every little scratch or ding on it!  God only know what is going to happen when I take it back after being in Puerto Lopez for a few days!

So, with tears in my eyes (like Arlo Guthrie) over the price paid, I got in the little silver Chevy Joy and headed out.  I will have to say they seem to have learned to mostly drive within the lines in Guayaquil.  There were only a couple of times that it seemed there were 5 lanes of traffic where there were only 3 lanes marked.  Having made it through Guayaquil, I stopped at a roadside fruit stand and picked up a pound of grapes for breakfast and a guanabano for later.  I forgot I was driving a stick, and promptly killed the engine when I stopped without pressing the clutch.  The lady at the stand and I had a good laugh about that.

As I passed by the shrimp farms outside of San Pablo, I finally saw the flamingos!  Bruce and I would drive slowly in hopes that the flamingos eating the shrimps would be close enough that I could get a picture, and it never happened.  Lo and behold - when I'm driving by myself - there they were!  In the pond right beside the road!  So, I pulled over by the "no parking" sign (a sign with a big E in a circle with a line through it), got my camera out and snapped a few pictures.  I figured if a cop stopped by, I could pretend I didn't speak any Spanish and did not know what that sign meant.  I've successfully done it before.  And besides!  Since when did they not allow parking along that stretch of road!  Almost as surprising as the "No Littering or you'll be fined" (No tirar basura - MULTA) signs along the Via la Costa in Guyas Province!  Too bad those didn't last once Guyas was behind me!

Also, the Ruta del Sol was so full of potholes that it reminded me of the road toward Montecristi, where we dented a rim one time!  The Ruta had always been one of the better roads!  But, as I got to Solango, I saw that they were fixing it.  Apparently, they started in Jipijapa and are working their way south fixing it.  They've also put in a few new roads, and there are now more ways to get to Manta than just along the coast or through Montecristi!  Who wuda figured!  But, Manta wasn't really on my radar for this trip, so I didn't check out the new roads.

So, I got to my hotel, and I've got to put in a shameless plug.  This hotel is owned by a friend, who hooked me up for my visit.  But DUDES!!  I had never been in any of the rooms, just the restaurant before.  These rooms are wicked awesome!  He put me in an ocean view room on the ground floor, and it was nothing short of AMAZING!  If you ever go to Puerto Lopez (and I strongly recommend that you do), the Victor Hugo Hotel is the bees knees!  Tell them that I sent you!  It won't get you a discount, but they might get a kick out of it!

I've done all the tourist things:  Playa Los Frailes, Agua Blanca, Paseja de monos, Isla de la Plata, whale watching (which isn't in season right now), and the others, so you can look at past posts to see about them.  I came into town this trip to see frinds, so I won't bore you with those details.

I slept most of the rest of the day that I arrived and spent the next day at my friends' house.  Saturday, they came and picked me up, taking me to La Rinconada on the Manbi/Santa Elena border for lunch, where I had my favorite, arroz con cameron (rice with shrimp).  I don't think this restaurant was there when we lived there.  I remember the little street going to it, but I don't remember the place.  It's quite snazzy and has an overlook down to the ocean.  You can walk down the steep area, but we didn't do that.  I'm old and there was a baby with us!

After lunch, my friends made arrangements to take me to the turtle hospital for Parque Nacional Machillila.  He has a friend that works there, so he called and made arrangements to take me in.  It was awesome!  Not just sea turtles, but also fresh-water turtles!  We got to pet them, too.  Some of these guys are here for cold shock, but most are in for injuries, including broken bones under the carapace.  You would think this would be mostly accidental, but Juan said that they are actually intentionally hit with oars, poles, and other things, hard enough to break the bone behind the neck, similar to our collar bone, which is the most common injury he gets.  I mean, come on, guys!  Really?!

In the evening, we had ice cream and talked at my hotel before all heading to bed for the night.  I have missed these guys since I left Puerto Lopez, and I will miss them again.  The older kids are amazing; the parents (my friends) are fabulous; and the baby is just so happy!

Ecuador has been experiencing some issues with electricity recently.  The country relies almost exclusively on hydroelectric power, and they have been experiencing a drought, so they have had rolling blackouts.  While I was there, they had some rain up in the mountains.  Since I've been there, the electricity has been out in Puerto Lopez until 8:00 in the morning, so I've been sleeping in.  On my last day on the mainland, the lights weren't turned off!  I had been up for a while, functioning in the half dark, when I realized the AC was on, so I tried the lights, and they worked!  Since the lights were still on, I got dressed and mostly packed and had breakfast early.  So, I left earlier than planned and decided to make some stops along the coast to see how things had changed.

I walked along the malecon in Puerto Lopez and took pix of the things I saw yesterday while my friend was driving, like the gigantic statue of fishermen catty-cornered from the Banco Pinchincha!  

And Puerto Lopez's letters!  They have 2 sets (one in the center of town and one on the south end), and many of the cabanas on the beach have their own set!  They even have a paid parking area, too!  

This set (in the center of town) is difficult to see because there is so much going on around it!

Even the pier has letters now!

The frigate birds and pelicans still hang out around the area where they unload the fish.  This is a femal because it has a black head and white throat.  Juveniles have a white head, and adult males have a red throat.

The guys that sell things on the beach have expanded, and fishing on the beach is now permitted.  This guy sells poles and other things you would need to bring in your catch!

They still have the tours for snorkeling and to Isla de la Plata, Isla Salango, and all of the other things they did before, but they have added kayaking and paddle boarding.  It has developed into a whole touristy town that even has a whale tail statue!

The beach cabanas line the whole central portion of the malecon now instead of just a few scattered along, and the beach chairs and covers are always on the beach instead of only being brought out for special occasions.  

I also noticed that the people don't look so drawn anymore, either.  The town seems to have flourished and the people have more of a spring in their step and a less stressed look overall.

I stopped on the south end of town and got a last shot of Puerto Lopez.  The building at the top of the hill is still empty.

Olon has also made some changes, but the orphanage in Montanita is still hanging on the hillside.  The road to get there is now blocked off to the general public, though, and the Montanita surfer dude has some fresh paint.  I didn't go down into Montanita.  It looked pretty much the same as I drove by.  Eddie's place in Olon has a for rent sign on it, so I guess he isn't selling street tacos there anymore.

In one of the little towns (El Entrada?) where there used to be deep drainage ditches on both sides of the road, those ditches have been filled in.

The little road we always cut through to bypass downtown San Pedro is now paved, and the gas station in Ballenita can only be accessed from that side of the road.  That interchange by the gas station, turning to San Vicente toward GYE, now looks like an interstate.  Going to Guyaquil, it's a cloverleaf.  I made a U turn to go to the bathroom, had to drive back through San Pedro's outskirts to get turned around, and then almost missed my turn because I was looking for it on the left, where it used to be, but it was a clover leaf from the right.  I also stopped to try to get the car washed, but there was no electricity with the rolling blackouts.  I hope the Puerto Lopez dirt doesn't get considered extra dirty and cost $100 for cleaning.

Another change is that in most places, there isn't so much trash on the side of the road.  In Guyas Province, they actually fine you for littering, so I saw very little litter in Guyas.  They should probably start doing that in Santa Elena and Manabi.

Bruce's favorite little church on top of the hill with all the stairs is gone.  I think they leveled the hill and put a great big gas station there.  There's a new Petro-Ecuador refinery on the Via la Costa on the Santa Elena side not far from where it was.

I managed to get to the airport and turn in the car with no issues.  They gave me my full deposit back.  I decided to have McDonald's in the airport before calling for the shuttle to my hostal and ran into Donald and Daisy Duck who were also ordering (with the help of their handler).  They were kind enough to let me have a pic.  I ordered a chicken club meal, forgetting the Ecuadorean bacon is not crispy.  It was a little disappointing.  But, I wasn't expecting much from Mickey D's anyway.  Should have gone with the Big Mac.

I finally made it to my hostal, and got the pictures downloaded and the SD card cleared.  After a nice, hot shower, I got repacked and ready to head to the islands to start the tourist portion of this trip!  Galapagos Islands, here I come!

The (Paint On) The Levee Was Dry!

Two more planned stops before getting home to the Gulf Coast.  The first was in the town of Pueblo, Colorado.  They have a levee mural project along the Arkansas River that has a lot of wonderful parts to it.  This project began in the 1978 when students of the local university, calling themselves the Tee Hee Artists, decided to paint over existing grafitti on the walls.  They had to do this in the dark, painting by flashlight, in an effort to try to evade arrest for defacing public property.  Even though they were covering existing grafitti, what they were doing was, in fact, still replacing old defacing marks with new defacing marks.

The first completed panel (called Fish in a Bathtub) was a hit with the community, and the city legalized mural painting on the levee, and many artists donned harnesses and other gear to paint new panels on the slanted levee.  Some fell into the river (some multiple times) and some lamented how cold it is to paint on 45-degree slant on concrete on the river, but almost all of them continued painting.  

In 1996, the Guiness Book of World Records certified the Pueblo Levee Mural Project as the largest continuous mural in the world, officially measuring 178,200 square feet (approximtely 3.5 linear miles/5 km).  Unfortunately, none of the original panels remain.  The levee, built in the 1920s, was growing old and decaying and had to be repaired.  This required jackhammering much of the initial murals in 2016 to repair significant cracks.  As of 2018, a mural in South Korea now holds the title of the largest continuous mural in the world.

But, the artists of the Levee Mural Project , though dejected, were not dissuaded.  They renewed their efforts and began a new effort at reclaiming the title of the longest mural in the world.  Proposed artwork has to be approved by a committee now prior to work begining, and there are some paint suppliers in town that will provide reduced cost or free paint to mural painters.  

It was difficult to find the path to get to them.  We crossed the 4th Street Bridge, where the first completed panel was, and found ourselves opposite the murals, but up above.  It was a sight to behold just this piece of it.

Our first look at the levee from Pearl Street

The park below is where we needed to get.  It took a while circling around to find how to get there!

The water was fairly clear - clear enough that I could get a nice shot of this fish.

The panels are kept in good repair with paint touch-ups completed as required.

Several mallards, Canada geese, and one cormorant were enjoying the murals while we were there.

Looking from the foot bridge to the 4th Street bridge.  Every panel has a mural on it.

There are decorative signs and statuary along the way.  All statuary must also be pre-approved.  Application fees for murals and statues is currently $10.

Bob greeted us while we walked a short distance on the path.  In our family, all praying mantises are called Bob.

The panels under the 4th Street Bridge currently focus on Pueblo's sister cities of (left to right) Weifang, China; Puebla, Mexico; Lucca Secula, Sicily; Chihuahua, Mexico; Maribor, Slovenia; and Bergamo, Italy.

Beginning to get hungry and out of the food I prepared at home for our trip, we made a stop in Trinidad at a Walmart for prepackaged salads and lunch meats, which we ate while taking turns driving down the road.  We stopped just short of Amarillo, Texas for the night.

Fairly bright and early, but being the last guests left in the hotel, we decided to slide by and see the new home of the Slug Bug Ranch.  We enjoyed the Slug Bugs for the first time in 2018, and we added our painting prowess to the already existing conglomeration!  They were just off I-40 in Conway, Texas, at that time.

Last fall, when we were heading to Washington, we were going to stop and see them again, but they were no longer in their spot!  After checking, I found them at the Starlight Ranch in Amarillo, which is owned by The Big Texan restaurant.  When we got there, the caretakers were power washing grafitti off the sidewalks and one of them gave us the history.  Apparently, somebody improperly took the 5 original "slug bugs" off the property in Conway while the owner of the property was trying to sell.  Once the perpetrator was located, they brought the car shells back to the property.  The owner of the Big Texan then offered to buy the original bugs and moved them to the Skyline Ranch, where he added some additional, more recent versions of the iconic cars, some longhorn cadillacs, and some silos for more things to paint.  Instead of just a field with the 5 slug bugs and some abandoned buildings, the new Slug Bug Ranch has signage and caretakers!

There are even signs of the rules which people clearly ignore.  Though it is difficult to see in the picture, it's "NOT OK to spray signs".

This is one of the originals

This is a line of new ones with the caretaker pressuring washing the sidewalk.

The new bugs have tires on them with good tread and they spin easily.

I'm not sure how much I like this new Slug Bug Ranch with more than just the iconic slug bugs.  The five original bugs are in the front, and everything behind them is new.

This was our last stop before getting home in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.  It's now time for me to get ready for my next adventure, which is coming up soon!

From Demons to Gods

Still riding the high of knowing I was good for slow hiking gently uphill at 12,000 feet and having only gotten rain below 10,000 feet, we decided to go by the Stanley Hotel.  We didn't know at the time, but this is the 50th anniversary of when Stephen King stayed there for the inspiration of writing The Shining.  You have to pay to get into the grounds, but they give you a token that you can either keep as a souvenir or trade in for $5 off something in the gift shop.  We kept ours.  I just got some exterior shots.  First, I got a couple of shots of the Lodge.

Then I walked around the hedge maze and met this cute little bunny.  He wasn't at all concerned about me.

Finally, I made my way to the front of the main hotel and got a shot.

On the way out, we saw this bronze statue of a cameraman that we thought was in honor of King and The Shining, but it turns out that it marks an upcoming film area on the hotel grounds.

It was raining, and I was looking forward to meeting up with a friend in Denver, so we scooted on out of Estes Park on our way to Colorado Springs with a long stop in Denver.

Following a night in Colorado Springs, we headed out to the Garden of the Gods, where we had a trolley tour reserved.  The visitor center is pretty nice.  We didn't do the film, but we looked at the gift shop and the signs and views from the second story, wrap-around-ish balcony.

Our trolley driver was late, but it was a pretty good tour.  I loved the rules posted in the front of the trolley.  You have to blow them up to read them.

That building at the top left thatyou can barely see is the Pike's Peak visitor center.

I missed part of what she was saying and pointing out because I was too busy watching and shooting the bighorn sheep!

This is the pregnant woman formation

I don't remember what these were, but they were pretty.

This is the trading post.  The initial postwas just the center part, but it has been added on.

These are the little paintings on either side.  Our driver said the date they were repainted/touched up was at their feet, but I can't find it.

On the left side is a crying woman.  She said when it rains, the water runs down that track from her eye.

I don't remember this, but I like it.

She drove way to fast for me to get some shots.  I wanted to get the mule deer, the formation that looks like Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, and several others, but she just zoomed right on by.  That's okay.  We'll be back and won't be taking the trolley the next time, just self driving and doing some hiking.  Definitely a beautiful park, and the trolley ride is very informative, but do plan to do the self-drive after the trolley.  The visitor center has a QR code on a sign that will give you the highlights so you don't have to memorize what your trolley driver said.  I'm reallly looking forward to going back ad self driving and hiking when I'm more ready for altitude and snow leopards, but for now, we have more things to see, so it is time to head on down the road!