July 23, 2018 – July 25, 2018

We knew we wouldn’t make it all the way to Puerto Lopez after leaving Laguna Quilotoa, but we headed west to see how far we could get before dark. We drove downhill almost all the way, through winding, mountain highway, rainforest on either side and views for miles.  We started high above the clouds, drove through a layer of cloudy mist to great views under overcast skies, then through one more layer of cloud as we neared the coast.

We drove through miles of banana plantation, and like other places we have been where there are vast fields of bananas, the towns looked dirty and poor.  You might think that having steady employment from corporations such as Dole and Chiquita might make for a vibrant, successful economy, but that is not what we have witnessed.  Perhaps the corporations have tied up all the free land in the area and people have no choice but to work for inadequate wages?  Not sure, but any time we are driving through such plantations, the towns and the people look a little desperate.

We ended up finding a spot to camp for the night, for free, in the parking lot of Bonanza Brewery, an interesting operation run by a German expatriate.  Since he let us stay there for free, we felt it was only right to buy some of his beer, and so we sampled an IPA, some lagers and some pilsners, all were very good and ,interestingly, became progressively better!  He gave us a quick tour of where he brews the beers and spirits and of his soon to be operational chocolate processing facility.  He told us that he made a lot of money in the 1980’s buying used German cars in Florida and then reselling them in Germany…apparently the cars made for the US market came with options or option combinations that would be much more expensive or unavailable in Germany, and so were in high demand in his home country.  This success, and the beer and chocolate recipes that had been preserved during and after the war, through necessity, by his grandmother, were now the basis of a successful hobby business that employed several local people.  Derek joked with one of the brewery staff about how working there must be a REALLY good job and the employee laughed, understanding Derek’s affinity for beer.

The next day we made it to just outside of Puerto Cayo, a place called Jardin Suizo (Swiss Garden), again, a place run by an expatriate.  The owner, Sam from Switzerland, had visited 80 countries during his career working on coastal freighter ships and showed us pictures of the different vessels he had worked on.  He had settled in Ecuador after marrying an Ecuadorian woman, who now lived in Switzerland with their children.  He was heading to visit them in a few weeks, and they returned once every year to visit with him in Puerto Cayo.

We hung out, walked on the beach, looked, in vain, to the horizon for whales and departed the next day for a short drive to Puerto Lopez.