Riobamba to Guayaquil to Puerto Lopez

We have been in Puerto Lopez, on the West coast of Ecuador for 3 days now and I don't think anyone wants to leave. The bus ride from Riobamba to Guayaquil was long and uncomfortable, mainly due to the transition from a rainy, but not too hot Amazon, to the humid and sweltering beaches of the low lands. Seeing the mountains disappear behind us was fun.The bus ride wove in and out of mountains where the clouds swallowed the road. After descending out of the mountains it became clear that the beaches will provide us with the relaxing experience we most desperately needed. Puerto Lopez is unbelievable! As the description in Lonely Planet states, its a place where one may never leave. The beaches are lined with white sand and blue water. We arrived late on the first night so we hastily became introduced to the owner of the Hostel Maxima. Surprisingly, the owner's name was Maxima and she quickly became our friend. She has many animals that live around the hostel; a kinkajoo - similar to the one's at Merazonia only smaller, three dogs which are playful and awesome, a rabbit, a turtle and two parakeets! When we first arrived, this guy that brought us to the Hostel from the bus wanted us to sign up for this whale watching excursion, which would cost us close to 40 dollars. Creepily, he wouldn't leave us alone long enough for us to grab our bearings. Maxima came to the rescue and told us that we shouldn't pay any more than 25, so she arranged for a tour with a company that she new was reputable and we went to bed with ease knowing we were in good hands. The next morning we prepared ourselves for the boat ride to Isla de la Plata, also known as the Poor Man's Galapagos. While waiting for the boat to pull closer to shore, a few local fisherman were spotted dragging two decently sized sword fish onto the beach!! We seized the opportunity for pictures. The boat ride to the island was about an hour long and everyone was poised on observation duty for approaching whales, but alas, they were silent :( The island was neat. We took a long walk through a curvy path searching for flora and fauna. We were introduced to blue footed and red footed boobies (not the delightful objects on the female body). These birds became the animal that seemed to dominate the island. There were other tiny lizards and birds that we saw occasionally, but to be honest, we really thought we would be seeing more stuff; I guess that's why they call it poor man's galapagos...We did, however, see a few large sea turtles just after our pathetic snorkeling period. Snorkeling was fun only because we needed to get into the cool water after roasting on the hot island, but we only saw tiny boring fish and the time I went in Cuba far surpassed this meager experience. All together it was a lovely day, and after everyone achieving several sun burns, we decided that the next day we would spend relaxing and just chillin on the beach with drinks. Today we plan on going to Los Frailes, the most beautiful beach in Ecuador!!!