Puerto Lopez, Ecuador

Ecuador shares a fare amount of coastline, which ultimately results in one of the most beautiful beaches.One such coastline town  is 'Puerto Lopez'.

Travel to this town was more focused on watching The Whales, also called as 'Las Ballenas' in Sapnish,as it was the whale breeding season.
Although there are multiple places to start whale watching like Mompiche, Salinas, Bahía de Caraquez and Puerto Lopez.

Among all these cities Puerto Lopez is best known for this attraction. Not only can you go whale, watching but you can also visit the national park Machalilla , the  Galapagos Islands which is famous for it's breath taking beaches.

The travel time to this place is around 8-9 hrs from the capital Quito by bus .
As you reach the bus terminal  , there are tour guides who would take you to the beach side, make sure to bargain for the price.. ;)

Puerto Lopez is known for  fishing, minor crafts and beautiful beach.. One could spend the time strolling around the place for some souvenirs, photographs #selfies, enjoy the fresh seafood on the stalls specially cheviche..

With my life jacket on and other fellow tourists, we started for the gigantic Pacific Ocean in hopes to see the whales #lasballenas. After a ride of 20-30 minutes we spotted our first Humpback Whale. They are enormously gigantic and beautiful creatures.
I have been watching the whales on the animal planet or national geographic since my childhood, but seeing them up close is a total different experience.

The boats followed the whales and took us deeper into the sea. The Pacific Ocean, I had never thought that I would someday be in the middle of this gigantic water body watching whales..
At first we spotted 2 whales, just a glimpse of the black shiny skin coming on the surface to breathe. As we invaded the ocean further, there were almost 5 whales that we spotted, including a baby whale as it jumped out of the water.

After following them for around  one hour and taking tons of pictures trying to get that one perfect shot, it was time for the other segment of the tour 'Snorkeling'..

As the fellow tourists snorkeled through the ocean, I was kind of more focused on enjoying the views that the ocean had to offer.. Also who says no to selfies.. ;)

On the way back to the shore, all I could think was , that the nature has so many angles to be explored.. such beauty, the ocean , the whales..

Puerto Lopez , a must visit when it comes to sailing the ocean  among the whales..

Welcome to Puerto Lopez

As we sailed further into the ocean

Sighting the whales

Baños de Agua Santa, Ecuador

Baños de Agua Santa, a city in Ecuador's
Tungurahua province.The main source of living in this province is Tourism.

It seems that everywhere there’s a zip line (ask to go headfirst, Superman-style with arms outstretched), a bridge to jump (or swing from in a local derivation of bungee jumping known as puenteing),  a mountain to climb, rivers to do water rafting and a waterfall to get drenched .

I started off my journey to Baños from Quito,the capital of Ecuador, on a long weekend. A three days tour, the hotels were pre-booked ,the tour guide and the mode of travel as well.

Being a person who loves all sort of sports, there was just this one thing that I was exicited about --  'Casa del Arbol' also known as #edgeoftheworld. I had read about it and it was also featured in National Geographic as  top 100 thing to do before you die..

We started the day with a strole around this small city. The streets are full of small shops for tourists to buy souvenirs..
Followed by visiting the church also called as 'la Iglesia'. Around mid afternoon the tour guide took us to the famous 'Casa del Arbol'.. it's a 30 minutes ride from the main city..
To my surprise, there were many places where the swings were attached facing the edge of the cliff,but then we decided to visit the authentic one.
'Casa del Arbol' is a small tree house build on the edge of a mountain cliff. Attached to that tree is a swing with minimal protection that lets you swing above the deep mountain cliff.

The experience of swinging above the cliff is truly something the should be tried..

Other places which were included in the tour was 'puenteing', where one jumps down a bridge like a pendulum from one edge of the bridge to other..

 Baños, Ecuador sets you in the awe of it's mesmerising beauty, from the mamoth waterfalls for some great clicks,to risking your life in jumping down the bridge. This is a must visit in Ecuador. If ever got a chance, would love to visit this place again.

On the swing at #casadelarbol #endoftheworld.. Mesmerising as ever..

On the streets of the city..