This is the fishing village of Los Frailes, on the coast of Ecuador, a little more than an hour north of my home in Olon. A friend and I signed up for a tourist package last Thursday that consisted of snorkeling and visiting the famous Los Frailes beach. It's touted as one of the nicest beaches in Ecuador, so we thought we'd check it out.

Los Frailes is part of the Machalilla National Park, and access is very restricted. The park also

includes the Isla de la Plata that I had visited back in December. Isla de la Plata is an island about thirty miles offshore that features blue-footed boobies, frigate birds and other local birds. Often called "the poor man's Galapagos," the island is a big part of the local tourist scene, as is La Playa de los Frailes, our adventure for the day.

After riding a bus to Puerto Lopez, a small city that is home to a large fishing fleet and the

headquarters for all of the park tours, we took a second short bus ride to the town of Los Frailes, where we boarded a boat for a small, rocky outcropping just outside the harbor. Snorkeling gear was passed out after anchoring, and most of us jumped off the boat, anxious to explore the coral reef surrounding the island.

My friend Pauline did well, and swam off with the group to see what the reef had to offer. I swam about twenty feet and had water leaking into my mask. Of course I ended up snorting some sea water, which is never a good thing, and swam back to the boat to try to adjust my mask. Thinking I had it nailed, I swam off again, eager to join the group. Well that didn't work either, as more water started coming into my mask. Another adjustment with the same result helped me make the decision to get back on board and take pictures!

Pauline fared much better than I did with her equipment, and was able to spend some time actually snorkeling, and not coughing on salt water. Her report was that she had been able to see only a small amount of fish, and they weren't too exciting. Seeking a good excuse for wimping out, the lack of fish near the island justified, in my mind at least, my return to the boat. Maybe I wasn't meant to be a snorkeler, you know?

We headed back into the beach after having some lunch, and got back into our little tour bus. A quick ten-minute ride had us at the entrance to the park and off to the beach. As I said earlier, Los Frailes Beach is famous throughout Ecuador, and is

visited by thousands of people, both locals and tourists, but there seem to be daily limits to the amount of people they allow in. The nicest thing about the beach was the fact that there were no houses, hotels or buildings of any kind. It was just sand and vegetation at the top of the beach. They close the park at four each day to allow the sea turtles that nest there to come up on the beach at night with no human interference. I really like that a lot!

It's nice to see that the Ecuadorean government is doing everything it can to protect the natural beauty and the wildlife that inhabits their country. Not all Latin American countries do, so seeing these protected areas here is always a pleasant experience. The beaches of Ecuador are beautiful, and the Pacific Ocean is quite different than the Atlantic I grew up in, but it's still just a big pond for little fishes like us!

Hasta luego, see you soon!


Mark


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