I had the 31st of December - 3rd of January off and went to Puerto Lopez with Brónagh to celebrate New Year's Eve.
Originally we had planned on going to Canoa or Montañita that are bigger party cities and would guarantee for a great New Year's Eve with lots of traditions and fireworks, but we booked a hostel in Canoa that later wrote us that they apparently did not have any free rooms anyway! And afterwards everything was sold out, so we ended up in Puerto Lopez.
We took the bus Wednesday evening at 7 o'clock and arrived at 6 o'clock the following morning after a bus ride where we first stopped to fix the air condition and later had the bus searched by the police and all the men were body searched (apparently women are not dangerous and are not hiding anything on their bodies).
On the 31st we went to Playa de Los Frailes, a really beautiful, remote beach. You have to go to a national park, you can buy nothing on the beach, and I have even heard that they limit the number of visitors allowed each day.
New Year's Eve we ate seafood (we were near the sea), had the lights go out in the entire city and later found the only bar with music in the entire city, where we made friends with two expats and meet another volunteer from our organisation.
At midnight we walked down to the beach saw some fireworks and saw an Ecuadorian tradition: The burning of dolls, representing everything bad from the old year. We participated ourselves by writing down everything bad that has happened during the last year and afterwards burned the papers. Goodbye 2015, hello 2016!
We also did another tradition (2 days to late on the 2nd of January because we wanted to do it and forgot to buy grapes), where you have to eat 12 grapes in 12 seconds for 12 wishes for the new year/12 good months. I guess I do not think I have to mention that it was hilarious and we failed!
Another thing we were able to do while in Puerto Lopez was to visit Isla de la Plata: Meaning the Silver Island but also known as the Poor Man's Galapagos.
It was a one hour boat ride to the island and then we hiked around the island for more than an hour. And it was baking hot on the island! We saw lots of blue-footed boobies (Ecuador goal!!) and lots of frigate birds. When leaving the island we saw 3 sea turtles
Afterwards we had 45 minutes to snorkel at a coral reef. The life underneath the sea was so rich and I was lots of fish! Unfortunately I do not have a waterproof camera and I do not know the names of all the fish species.
I definitely think that Isla de la Plata is a good alternative to the Galapagos, if you do not want to spend a lot of money going there (but of course I cannot compare yet since I have not visited the Galapagos). It was definitely a good experience as the end of our New Year's trip.
My New Year's resolution? To never get sunburned again!
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| Playa de los Frailes |
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| Playa de los Frailes |
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| Panorama: Playa de los Frailes |
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| Vamos a la Playa |
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| Puerto Lopez |
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| Puerto Lopez |
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| Puerto Lopez |
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| Puerto Lopez - also known for great whale watching in July and August Puerto Lopez - også kendt for de fantastiske muligheder for at se hvaler i juli og august |
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| Dolls that will be burned at midnight De dukker der blev brændt ved midnat All credit goes to: https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/106/366249755_5552f1612f.jpg |
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| Dolls to be burned at midnight De dukker der blev afbrændt ved midnat All credit goes to: http://www.larepublica.ec/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/a%C3%B1os-viejos.jpg |
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| Burning Afbrænding All credit goes to: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/A%C3%91OVIEJO_PASTOREVEILLON2.jpg/300px-A%C3%91OVIEJO_PASTOREVEILLON2.jpg |
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| On the boat to Isla de la Plata På båden til Isla de la Plata |
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| Isla de la Plata |
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| Isla de la plata - albatrosses on the picture Isla de la Plata - albatrosser |
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| Blue-footed booby with offspring! Blå-fodet sule med en unge |
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| I love these birds! De er skøre de fugle. |
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| Isla de la Plata |
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| Isla de la Plata |
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| Blue-footed boobies Blå-fodede suler |
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| So cute! Så søde! |
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| And one without the classic blue feet Og et billede uden de klassiske blå føder. |
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| The blue-footed boobies need to keep their eggs in the shadow or cover them - to keep the eggs from boiling! De blåfodede suler bliver nødt til at holde æggene i skyggen eller dække dem med fødderne. For at sikre sig at æggene ikke koger! |
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| Panorama: Isla de la Plata |
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| The only one we saw with two eggs Den eneste vi så med to æg. |
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| Frigatebirds Fregatfugle |
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| A flying frigatebird En flyvende fregatfugl |
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| The frigatebirds were often resting with their wings open Fregatfuglene hvilede ofte med vingerne åbne |
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| Frigatebirds Fregatfugle |
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| Resting with the wings open Slapper af med vingerne åbne |
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| This one resting in the tree Denne fugl slapper af i et træ |
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| About to fly? Ved at flyve? |
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| A lone blue-footed booby offspring En ensom blåfodet sule unge. |
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| Sea turtle! Havskildpadde! |
Jeg havde fri fra den 31. december til den 3. januar og tog derfor til Puerto Lopez sammen med Brónagh for at fejre nytår.
Vores første plan var at fejre nytår i Canoa eller Montañita, da begge disse byer ville garantere for et fedt nytår med masser af traditioner og fyrværkeri, men vi startede med at booke et hostel i Canoa som senere skrev til os, at alle rum var bookede. Men på dette tidspunkt alt andet var udsolgt. Så derfor endte vi i Puerto Lopez.
Vi tog bussen onsdag aften klokken 7 og ankom morgenen efter klokken 6, efter en bustur der både inkluderede et langt stop for at reparere bussen og senere blev bussen gennemsøgt af politiet hvor alle mændene blev kropsvisiteret (og kvinder kan åbenbart ikke finde på at smugle noget).
Den 31. december besøgte vi Playa de los Frailes, en flot og afsidesliggende strand. Du skal igennem en nationalpark, du kan ikke købe noget på stranden og jeg har hørt, at de begrænser antallet af besøgende i nationalparken.
Nytårsaften spiste vi skalddyr og fisk, oplevede at strømmen gik i hele byen og fandt den eneste bar med musik i byen, hvor vi blev venner med to udlændinge og mødte en anden fra vores organisation.
Ved midnat gik vi ned til stranden, hvor vi så fyrværkeri og oplevede en ecuadoriansk tradition: At brænde dukker af, der symboliserer alt det dårlige fra det gamle år. Vi deltod også selv ved at skrive alle de dårlige ting fra 2015 ned og bagefter brænde papiret. Farvel 2015, velkommen 2016!
En anden tradition vi også prøvede kræfter med (2 dage for sent fordi vi glemte at købe ind) var at spise 12 vindruer på 12 sekunder. Vi fejlede, men havde det utroligt sjovt!
En anden ting som vi også gjorde imens vi var i Puerto Lopez var at besøge Isla de la Plata, hvilket betyder Sølvøen, men den er også kendt som fattigmands Galapagos.
Det var en 1 times sejltur til øen, hvor vi havde lidt over en times vandring. Vi så rigtig mange blå-fodede suler (et mål for Ecuador!) og fregatfugle. Og da vi forlod øen så vi 3 havskildpadder.
Efterfølgende fik vi 45 minutter til at snorkle ved et koralrev. Havlivet var rigt med mange forskellige fiskearter - desværre ejer jeg ikke et vandtæt kamera og mine evner til at navngive havliv er ikke synderligt udviklede.
Jeg var rigtig glad for at vi besøgte Isla de la Plata og jeg synes øen ville være et godt alternativ til folk, der ikke har planer om at besøge Galapagosøerne (selvom jeg endnu ikke kan komme med en sammenligning). Det var en dejlig afslutning på vores nytårstur.
Mit nytårsforsæt? Aldrig at blive solskoldet igen.
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