June 26, 2008

2008 Itinerary

After breakfast on the porch of the Hotel Mandala we went to Los Frailes Beach, which is located in Machalilla National Park. This is a beautiful sandy beach, framed on both sides by tan colored cliffs that are capped with dry tropical forest. The forest is composed of short scrubby trees and thorny bushes with an occasional cactus poking up here and there. Green Parrolets flew in noisy groups from tree to tree and small lizards scurried through the brush. Members of the group swam in the surf, sat and watched the water or painted the landscape. We all reflected on our time here in Ecuador and, using objects that we had gathered on the beach, we created a communal piece of art. We shared some of what we will bring back home from this experience. This time on the beach was our last opportunity to connect as a group, as Holjer would be leaving us after lunch to return to El Cerrito and Miguel would be dropped off at the airport in Guayaquil in the evening.

Back at the hotel as we packed our bags into the bus, Kelly, Rhonda and Patty discovered a pair of white bats hanging under the eaves of their cabana. The type of bat was a bit of mystery at first, but after looking closely at their features — they were about five inches long and had soft looking fur, large dark eyes and prominent ears — we tentatively identify them as tent bats. Tent bats usually make roosting sites in trees by biting the veins on the underside of a leaf so that it folds over and makes a shelter, thus hiding them from predators. What a treat to see this unusual mammal right outside our door. There are many different kinds of bats in Ecuador — of the 324 mammal species in the country, 130 are bats. Bats are a tremendously important part of the tropical ecosystem. They take the place of birds after it gets dark. Most of the bats specialize in eating insects, but others species specialize in eating fruit, nectar, pollen, frogs, birds or fish. There are also vampire bats, which drink the blood of birds and mammals.

When we were completely packed a group picture was taken for us by Maya, our hostess at Hotel Mandela. We then left Puerto Lopez, heading for the Restaurant Delfin Magico in Salango. We also had to say good-bye to Holjer here, with much waving and sad faces.

A quick stop for native craft shopping at Fundacion Pro-Pueblo, a fair trade market, broke up our drive to Guayaquil. This ride took us along La Ruta del Sol, which follows the Pacific coastline and goes through many small fishing villages. Along the way we saw huge sea salt evaporation ponds and shrimp farms. At the Guayaquil airport we said good-bye to our wonderful guide, Miguel Castanel, who shared so much of his knowledge with us throughout this trip.

Q & A for June 26

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