DEliTOUR: Puerto Lopez and more Ecuador

After the return flight from the Galapagos we spent a day in Guayaquil, Ecuador´s second city. In the Plaza D´Armas we found hundreds of very large iguanas mingling with the lunching office workers and tourists and we strolled the sanitised Malecon 2000 seafront boardwalk up to Las Penas, the charming hill of 500 steps, filled with bars and cafes. Some have had negative experiences in Guayaquil but, apart from the cost of taxis to get in and out of the centre, we found it pretty appealing, if lacking the excitement of a real ´destination´ city.

Our next port of call, Puerto Lopez, looked like a bomb had hit it, thanks to the total renovation of the town´s central streets. The endless sandy beach lined with relaxed bars and restaurants was a winner but the big draw was offshore; the breeding ground for the Eastern Pacific´s humpback whale population. We were just too late to see courtship but we saw dozens of big whales and some babies and some flipping and flopping on a half day boat ride. Back on the beach I had to ball juggle and buy-in to get into the big local footy match on the sand. It nearly ended in tears when I slid in, last ditch, on their big flair player. He landed awkwardly on my twisted legs though I luckily only got a nasty graze and not a break. We even had a temporary sub while I washed off in the sea - the chaps were taking it quite seriously. Avoiding the dead dog, bottles and jellyfish in the sand we ran out 2-0 winners - though I never did see my double-your-money share of the winnings.

Next up we wandered into semi-colonial Cuenca, famous as the home of the Panama hat. Panama hats are not from Panama you see. They are from Ecuador. And they are properly known as Montechristis. We went to a famous hat emporium and I was truly suckered. I put on a modern interpretation and after 45 minutes in the shop I couldn´t take it off. It has been with us ever since - even through several ´cat in the hat´ and one particularly disturbing ´Jay Kay´ jibe session.

In Cuenca we stayed at the cool ´Naranja´ hotel; an artist´s house lovingly made into a hostel with leafy common areas and cool furniture. We paced the streets and ate kiwi fruit.