Tavel Time

This morning I left Quito and took a plane to Manta, on the coast.

And finally - I was waiting for it ! - I had my first unpleasant Taxi driver. He tried to talk me into not taking the bus but his Taxi to Puerto Lopez for 40 $ (3 $ by bus) and told me it would take 4 hours (2,5 hrs) and didn't accept my first two polite refusals...when he finally dropped me off at the bus station he ripped me off but I was just glad I got rid of him. How I missed that :).

Just an indicator that things at the coast are different - people scream at you, try to drag you into restaurants, there is loud music everywhere...
Puerto Lopez is a total tourist town, not the "fishing village" my travel guide made me expect. The people in Zuleta were incredibly nice by the way.

Well, the hostel is nice, I saw Frigatebirds, Pelicans, Geckos and tomorrow I'll take a tour to an island - so I'm not complaining, things could be much worse.
Might even go diving, haven't decided yet. Forgot everything from my course last year...went into a dive shop today and will think about it tomorrow.
And it's good to see the sea again - I've spent so many months in Greece, Thailand, Jersey, Honduras and Australia at it, that it almost feels like coming home though that might sound ridiculous, I know.
This is a bit like Utila...I don't know, but I've seen quite a few places by now and now I always end up comparing. Is that good or bad or doesn't it matter?
It's diminishing the sense of "childlike wonder" a bit but it also makes dealing with reality easier. Been there, done that - kind of.
But then I sit here and I watch a 25 Frigatebirds circling over ther harbor and 5 pelicans dive for fish - and it´s fantastic. No matter how often I've seen pelicans, they are still great and Frigatebirds are a first (I think...) - so I know how special this is and enjoy it maybe even more?

But back to comparing: Number One of beautiful places on my list ist still Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia.
Hard to beat. Probably impossible :).
But I´ll give the Isla de la Plata tomorrow a chance. Hoping for seabirds and if I{ m really, really lucky maybe some sealions or dolphins. Will be glad about any nice day, hopefully with nice people.

BTW, In Quito I accidentally ran into the biggest fiesta they have, that was fun ! :)