What a Monday!

We had a special trip in the plans for today…a trip to Isla de la Plata, Silver Island. We actually first saw the island when we arrived in San Lorenzo last year, on days when it was a little clearer. After talking with Jorge, the owner of La Cueva where we are staying, a bit he shared that there were tours that went out to the island that is also known as the Poor Man’s Galapagos. Last year there was no time in the schedule for the team to visit the island, but this year there was!

We woke extra early for a 6am breakfast of bananas and ham and cheese sandwiches. Many on the team also enjoyed a dramamine with our delicious fresh squeezed orange juice. Soon we were all jammed into a bus/van headed south down the coast. We had to travel an hour and a half to the coastal town of Puerto Lopez to board the boat that would take us to the island. Jorge accompanied us on the trip. During the ride it was very interesting to see many different small villages along the coast.

We arrived in Puerto Lopez, which is a much larger town in comparison to San Lorenzo, there were many people going about their business on Monday morning. Among them were many fisherman boarding and unloading boats on the beach. Fishing is a major part of the economy here on the Pacific Coast of Ecuador.

We boarded the boat minus shoes and headed out for the hour and a half boat trip to the island. The ride was a bit rough, and some people were not feeling very well. The excitement of the ride occurred when we spotted some whales! They were very close to the boat! It was an awesome site! We would later hear that it was likely a female with two males chasing after her. We spent some time following the whales which made the trip a bit longer. As we continued and neared the island, we saw a school of dolphins swimming! Again it was an amazing site!

We neared the island which was so much larger up close than from the main land. As we arrived on shore there were some large sea turtles swimming in the water. We had a quick meal of bananas and banana bread and headed out for our hike. We were lead by two Ecuadorian tour guides who shared about the vegetation and animal life on the island. We saw blue footed boobies, masked boobies, a single sea lion as well as an albatross! They were all so close to us, it was incredible!

The hike was very rough at times. There was no shade for long periods of time and the sun was hot! We hiked for over three hours, and some on the team wondered if it would ever end! We hiked up and down several hundred stairs in the process and drank a lot of water!

Finally we arrived back on the boat for a quick lunch of tuna and cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit, and other snacks that we had brought along. We ate lunch while traveling around to another part of the island where we took a quick dip in the refreshing ocean. It felt great after our long hike in the sun! Some of us even went snorkeling and saw some magnificent fish! There were some awesome orange clown fish swimming in schools near the boat.

Soon we were headed back to the port on another hour and a half boat ride. Some people were happy to nap as best as they could during this time. After we arrived at the port, we boarded back into the vehicles for the drive back to San Lorenzo. One of the vans stopped for some yummy ice cream along the way!

It was an incredible day all the way around! Some people are starting to question whether this is a boot camp training instead of a mission trip! It seems that we are a very active team and enjoy all things outdoor!

Thanks for continuing to share in our experience through this blog! We look forward to sharing more with you all when we arrive home on Saturday!

On behalf of the team,
Jennifer