Puerto Lopez revisited

After arriving in Puerto Lopez on June 1st we found the weather to have changed quite a bit over the three weeks we were in Quito.  There was less sun, more cool breezes and a bit of rain.  Of course, we were told that this was not the rainy season but it still rained a bit the week we were back.  We again walked the beach, had lunch at Centro and enjoyed the quiet peacefulness of Lopez.

Lopez was a hive of activity – most of the malecon kiosks were under repair – they had been moved off the sidewalks and pushed back onto the beach.  This was an excellent idea because it was impossible to get around when town was busy.  The vendors were painting and varnishing, replacing the palm frond roofs and doing some major renovations all in anticipation of the start of whale season.

We made several trips to the fish market area of the beach, watched as the workers removed large buckets of fish, shrimp, crab, ray, shark as well as squid and octopus.

Fish Market Puerto Lopez

We met some new friends who will be moving here in August or September.  Tom and Karen Wine who currently live in Atlanta stopped in Lopez while on a several week visit to Ecuador.  We found them to be good people and we hope to be seeing more of them after their move to Cuenca.

Karen & Tom Wine with Joe at Jimmy's Malecon Lopez

We happened upon a group of horses that were just grazing on the beach – as well as another strange creature that was totally unexpected on another of our walks around Lopez.

Horses on the beach in Lopez

Piglet in Paradise

The days flew by and we were no closer to finding a place to live so we made arrangements for Hector to drive us down to Salinas.  We will surely miss this beautiful tranquil area and the many people that we met and count as our friends.

Joe & I enjoying one last drink in Lopez