Isla de la Plata

Isla de la Plata is a small island 40 km off the coast of Ecuador from Puerto Lopez.  It has been called the “poor man’s Galapagos.”  With a name like that, how could we resist?

We arranged a tour with Susan, our B and B owner, and Natasha, our Finnish friend.  The van came and there were two more Finns and two Colombians.  We headed North to Puerto Lopez.

View of Puerto Lopez Bay from hill outside of town

We arrived and got on the boat.  There were about 15 guests.  The skipper had his wife and young child on board as well.  We took off across 4-6 foot seas for the 1 hour 20 minute journey.

Upon arriving, we were immediately surrounded by sea turtles.  We disembarked on to the island, and hiked up to a summit.

This is the dry season, and it was dry.  And hot.  The weather patterns here have been changing.  This seems to have caused the mating season of the blue-footed boobies to have been delayed from June to August.  Now many of the chicks are dying of heat and dehydration.  It is quite alarming and sad.

We made it to the far coast and it was beautiful.  We saw albatross, blue-footed boobies, tropicbirds, and frigate birds.

After the hike, we did a bit of snorkeling.  The coral was lovely, and there were a fair number of fish, although nothing like Hawaii or the Caribbean.

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Lobster caught by the beach

Adolescent tropicbird without tail

Susan – owns our B&B

Blue-footed booby chicks

Puerto Lopez

These seed pods are being used to make glutin-free flour

Blue-footed booby chicks

Frigate bird

Blue-footed booby chicks

Blue-footed booby nest

Adult Tropicbird with long white tail

Cosat

Abandonned eggs