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Playas, Ecuador
December 23, 2022
Playas, Ecuador: Less than 40,000 live in the city of Playas, but in the entire metropolitan area there are around 70,000. The major industry here is tourism, followed by fishing. The area is known for it's seafood restaurants. There is a large shrimp farming industry, and many farms are growing the pitaya fruit (dragon fruit). As for any historical info, there isn't a lot. The city dates back to the colonial era (there's nothing more specific than that). From the pre-Columbian era there are traces of indigenous communities along the coast in this area, which survived until the Spanish conquistadors conquered the area. In 1901 the powers-that-were in Guayaquil decided to turn the area of Playas into an actual town. Then in the mid-20th century, it started to grow exponentially.
Read MorePuerto Lopez, Ecuador
December 21, 2022
Puerto Lopez, Ecuador: The Spaniards settled this area in the early 1800s although there has been evidence found that shows the area has been populated as far back as 3500BC. It has only been since the 1840s that the town has experienced much growth. Fishing is the primary industry, as well as tourism. There are many hotels, hostels, and restaurants, especially along the very nice malecon (boardwalk). Whalewatching is popular here and there are several tour outfits that will take you out to see the whales. Not far offshore, about 40 kilometers, is Isla de la Plata (Island of Silver). There are stories that pirates hid their treasures on the island. Now it is a wildlife refuge and only a small number of tour operators are allowed to take visitors to the island. It is also known as the 'poor mans Galapagos'.
Read MoreSan Lorenzo, Ecuador
December 18, 2022
San Lorenzo, Manabí, Ecuador: I've been searching for any kind of historic info about San Lorenzo and cannot find anything, the few websites that have any info simply talk about the beaches, the lighthouse, the waterfall, the caves, cliffs, etc. I did find that the population is/was (in 2010) about 2600. San Lorenzo is a tiny coastal village, it has no stoplights, no gas station, no supermarket, and no ATM. Here at the Lookout Beach Hotel where I'm staying, the owners are Canadien and very friendly and helpful. They've been here in San Lorenzo for 8 years. They bought this piece of land and built their home on it. Then they added two more floors to open the hotel. Then they added a second building of 3 floors as well as a pool. Now they're in the process of building a restaurant. I highly recommend Lookout Beach Hotel to any travelers visiting San Lorenzo, Manabí.
Read MoreJipijapa, Ecuador
December 15, 2022
Jipijapa, Ecuador: Founded in 1565, but it never really grew until the 19th century with the introduction of coffee farming. The city may be very old but has little in the way of equally-old buildings and architecture. Since there's little to attract tourists the city is currently working programs to bring eco-tourists to the area. Some of the attractions include the Agua Dulce Waterfall, the Andil fresh-water wells, the mineral water wells of the volcano Chocotete, the Anegado waterfalls. Other area communities are also promoting other attractions, including bird and flora observation trails, archaeological sites of the Manteña culture such as the Petroglyphs, and tours of ecofarms.
Read MoreManta, Ecuador
December 14, 2022
Manta, Ecuador: Population: around 200,000. Founded in:1563. Manta is the largest shipping port in Ecuador and it has been in use since the early 1700s. It is also known as the "tuna capital of the world" due to its large tuna-fishing industry. At least four international tuna canning companies have processing plants in Manta. The climate is quite nice with an average daily high in the low '80s F and the average nightly low in the low 70s F. There are only a couple of beaches here in the city and they are okay, with more gravel than sand it appeared to me. To get to the nice beaches you have to leave the city and go either north or south.
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I used to teach English as a foreign language in Barranquilla, Colombia. Now I'm retired and traveling throughout South America.
I'm from Kennewick, Washington, USA. In my previous life, as I call it, I was an IT guy, systems administrator, computer tech, as well as a shipping/receiving guy and also worked as a merchandising guy in a RV/Camping store.