A whale of a time

It's humpback whale season in Ecuador.

You are probably thinking one of two things after reading that line.

1. I already knew that.
2. I had no idea Ecuador had whales.

Well, trust me. Ecuador does have whales.

They follow the Pacific Ocean currents up the South American coast in search of warm water. Then they hang out off the Ecuadorian coast for a few months to mate before following the currents across the Pacific Ocean toward Asia.



The whales congregate near the town of Puerto Lopez, which is about eight hours up the coast from my site. Whale season is from June to September, and I decided to take a brief mental health break to go check out these mammals.

The pictures that I have here don't really do a good job of showing the sheer awesomeness of the whales, but they are what my camera would capture.




The whale-watching tour also included snorkeling and a bird-watching hike at Isla de la Plata. Before heading out on the boat, they gave us a piece of Palo Santo wood to chew on.

Apparently, the tourist stomach and the ocean waves don't get along. The locals claim that chewing Palo Santo wood will help one's stomach get over the rough water.

I don't know if it is true or not. But I chewed it anyway.

There might be some scientific proof to this, but I contend that the tourist is so preoccupied with the horrible taste and aftertaste of wood that they forget about their stomach issues.



As I mentioned above, part of the tour included a bit of snorkeling, which was very cool. Tons of fish. Tons of colors. Tons of fun.



There was one slight issue with my snorkeling equipment, though. Once I got into the water, I noticed that the breathing tube was letting a lot of water into my mouth. It wasn't entering from above. Apparently, the seal on the bottom of the tube wasn't completely sealed off.

I'm no expert on the whole snorkeling thing but I know that the tube is very important. So I swam back to the boat and explained this to the captain, who obviously doesn't quite understand the concept of customer service.

Ian: The tube is letting in too much water.
Captain: You are going to have to deal with it.

It would have been quite funny if he told me "no pasa nada," but he didn't. I figured it out, although it was not nearly as comfortable as I would have liked.



The other part of the tour included bird-watching on Isla de la Plata. The bird species on the island are similar to what you would see on the Galapagos Islands. There were two species of boobies (red-footed and blue-footed) along with frigates.

On the road to Puerto Lopez, you drive through one of the best-named cities in Ecuador: Jipijapa (pronounced Hippy Hoppa). Compared to its name, the town is a letdown. The area is probably most famous for its straw, which is used to make Panama Hats.