Ecuador, Puerto Lopez

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We changed our flight and hopped off the plane at Guayaquil instead of Quito, saving us time travelling to Puerto Lopez. It's a busy fishing town, each morning the beach is a hive of activity as fishermen unload their catches and repair their boats, pelicans fight for fish and locals come to socialize. We came here to go whale watching, because every year between July and October humpback whales come up and down the coast to mate and give birth, and this is one of a few places in the world you can see them. Watching 15 ft whales shoot right out of the ocean in such a playful manner is an amazing experience, so much so that we stayed here for a week longer than planned and went out 4 times to spot them. I know I probably use the word amazing a lot in this blog, but this time it's definitely worthy of it. Luckily on one trip we randomly meet the Director of the Ecuador Pacific Whale Foundation who told us loads about the whales and asked if I could email her any tail photos I had taken for research, which was good as the guide was crap. We managed to get some good shots, but it was pretty hard as you couldn't tell when or where they would breach. Although I think we were lucky to see them jump at all after speaking to other travellers who hadn't see any. [Tom]