Puerto Lopez - A Lovely Weekend Getaway

About an hour south of Manta along the coastal road is a lovely town called Puerto Lopez.  We headed down there with friends one weekend and stayed at the amazing Hosteria Mandala http://www.hosteriamandala.info.  The couple who own the resort started with a couple of cabins many years ago, and now have around 20; each one nestled down a private path surrounded by beautiful flowering plants and trees brought in from all over Ecuador.


While the landscape around Manta is mostly desert, the Mandala is a beautiful rainforest retreat.  The owner's are artists and have decorated each cabin with a theme.  Our cabin was the Pulpo or Octopus cabin, so the etched glass doors, carved hardwood sinks, toilet seat, etc. were all adorned with various octopi.  Our outdoor deck had two hammocks and a seating area for relaxing after a long walk on the beach 

The main reception area, dining room and even the gates of the retreat are beautiful treats for the eye, with everything carved from local hardwoods.  

Each of the hand carved table tops in the indoor-outdoor dining room contain a board game.  After a gourmet meal served by friendly staff who speak several languages, you can sit and listen to the ocean while challenging your partner to a game of backgammon, chess or a myriad of other games. 

Hosteria Mandala may well turn out to be my number one favorite place in Ecuador!

Of course we didn't just relax at the resort.  A walk down the beach to the ubiquitous fish market was in order.  The market in Puerto Lopez is right on the beach in the centre of town, with fishermen pulling their small fishing boats right up on the sand and then unloading their cargo onto old, well-used tables to sell their catch whole, or filleted if you wish. 

Weaving our way through vendors, fishermen hauling in their catch, dogs, locals and tourists, we saw swordfish, dorado, shrimp and crabs being brought to small tables where the bartering began.  The market is a bustling cacophony of sights, smells and sound, and then by the lunch hour it's all cleaned up and the beach is pristine as though none of it occurred. 

Ecuadorians are passionate about their eco-system and their environment.  Garbage pick-up is every day.  All the leavings from cleaning and filleting fish at the market is put in buckets or tarps covering the sand on the beach, and then hauled away (probably to the pet-food factory) before high tide, which then comes in and washes the beach. 

Walking back from the market to the hotel, we were a bit intimidated by these guardians of the environment.  The sign urges you to protect the beach and the aquatic creatures.  We made sure we complied!