Time to get out of the crappy town! After going to the same spot as last night for breakky, we got on the road. The road today was unlike any other on this trip so far. The road went through every climate imaginable, and had amazing turns almost the entire way.
We started out in a cocoa plantation, which had comfortable temperatures, grey skies, and flat green farmlands. Half an hour later, we rolled into a climate that reminded us of autumn at home, complete with cool temperatures and orange leaves falling off the trees. And it was still flat. This continued into a town called Pichincha, which didn't seem like anything special. After getting through town, we entered the jungle. Heading uphill into the mountains, it started to get warm, and the roads turned crappy. Unpaved, partially paved, potholes, washouts... But the scenery was awesome and the road was manageable. No real complaints. It only lasted for about half an hour, and suddenly the roads got good again. Still jungle, still warm, don't really understand the difference in road quality. Oh well.
Once we arrived in Portoviejo, it was time for lunch and coffee. As it turns out, Portoviejo ddoesn't serve coffee in the afternoon. Like, nowhere. Every restaurant, food cart, bakery, and person we talked to just looked surprised and confused, looked at their watches, and told us there was no coffee at this hour! What the hell?
After a coffee free lunch, we got back on the road. This time, it was a straight, hot highway through the desert. There were cool trees and cactus things the whole way, which were pretty unique and new to us. We managed to find a place on the side of the road that served instant coffee (super desperate at this point) so that made a good pit stop.
Finally we got to Jipijapa, which was super warm desert. Gotta keep moving! Heading towards the mountains, we passed what seemed like a line between two climates. Within less than 100m, we had changed from a hot desert to a cold rainforest. It was bizarre how quickly it changed! In the new cold rainforest, we went up and up the mountains, driving through fog, alpacas, sun, and sheep. Beautiful.
After we reached the summit, we drove through another similar climate line. This one switched from rainforest to cold desert... A complete change around a single corner. So crazy. The cold desert stayed with us all the way down the mountains to the Pacific! It was weird... being on the coast, at the equator, in the desert... And it wasn't hot. I don't understand how the world works.
After another hour or so, we arrived in Puerto Lopez and found a hostel with parking. Hostel seemed super chill, but barely anybody was even staying there! Low season is crazy. The evening was pretty low key, with a seafood supper and signing up for a scuba dive tour for tomorrow. Getting stoked to get back under water!
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