Boobies!!

On the way to the coast, we thought we would stop and stay in the town of Guaranda and then visit the small town just north of there - Salinas. Salinas is a small town famous for its community collective which makes cheeses, salamis and chocolates. MMMMMMmmmmm. Unfortunately, 4 of us never made it because we got food poisoning. Arrrghhh. Luckily this is the first time in 3 months for me. So instead of seeing a quiant village and supporting a collective, we spent a lot of time in the bathrooms. But on the drive to the coast, we drove by el Volcan Chimborazo which is not only a volcano and heighest peak in Ecuador at 6,268 meters but it is thought to be the farthest point from the equator as well. It was snowing!!!! So we did not see the top, but we did see 2 - 3 fresh inches of snow which was a sight for my eyes and soul! We also saw an immense base - what looked to be bigger than Denali!































Krysi, Dennis, Rebecca and I arrived at the coast and stayed in a sleepy coastal village of Puerto Lopez. There is a bay which ou will tons of birds and boats out on during the high tides. We went and visited the Isla de la Plata, otherwise known as the "Poor Man´s Galapogas". This island is part of the only coastal national park, El Parque Nacional Machalilla. The island is an hour and a half off of the coast by boat. The island is really dry - they even have cacti growing there. There were hundreds of Boobies - red footed ones who live in the trees and blue footed ones who nest on the ground - all over the island. The blue footed boobies were predominantly nesting. Boobies typically lay 1 - 2 eggs which hatch about a week apart. One of the parents are always guarding them so the frigate birds and other predators do not eat them. The little boobies start to gain some plummage after 7 days or so, with feathers coming in about 2 weeks to a month. They learn to fly at bout 6 - 7 months. Boobies can also spot fish in the ocean 15 meters higher. Pretty amazing eyesight! Frigates, which I also have seen in Hawaii, do not have any oils on their feathers so they can not dive into water and fish. They rely on their scavenging and thieving skills. They are amazing fliers and have forked tails which they use in their flying.
After our hike around the island, we went snorkeling and saw some amazing tropical fish. Dennis was the last one in the water and got to see some sea turtles as well.

My favorite boobies: