While in Ecuador, we are not going to visit the Galapagos. That’s been the first question people have asked us when they hear we are traveling to Ecuador. For a couple of reasons, the largest being the expense of visiting, we have decided to skip the Galapagos on this trip. Instead, we are basing ourselves in Puerto Lopez, a small fishing town on the coast toward the southern part of the country. About 40 kilometers from Puerto Lopez is a small island called Isla de la Plata, which is where we took a tour to the “poor man’s Galapagos.”

A blue-footed booby! One of many that we saw on our hike on Isla de la Plata.

Our tour started with an hour-long boat ride across the Pacific from the pier in Puerto Lopez to the sandy beach on Isla de la Plata. We jumped out of the boat, barefoot, and walked across the sand to the visitor’s center. Our tour guides led us up a path with uneven steps to a small pergola in the center of the island. From here, we had our choice of treks that we could take across the island. Our entire group elected to do the easy hike, to the cliff and back, called Los Acantilados covering 1.6 kilometers.

The pathway that we took down to the cliffs and back.

We didn’t walk more than a few feet before being stopped by our first blue-footed booby sighting. The birds were situated all along our hike, many with young chicks as well. The babies were covered in white fuzzy fur and still had tan feet. The booby’s feet start turning blue after they reach adulthood, starting out with a bright turquoise blue and turning into a deep royal blue as they age.

A couple of chicks, thinking they could fly, with their parent.

The blue-footed boobies, the most common bird that we saw on the island, mate with a different partner each season. While on our trek, we passed different groupings of the birds: one or both parents with one or two chicks. While some will lay three eggs, only one or two will survive into adulthood. Both parents are responsible for fishing and bringing back food for the chicks, so they take turns when the chick(s) are young. When the chick(s) are older and need more food, the parents will sometimes both go, leaving the chick(s) on their own for a while.

You can tell that the booby on the right is younger than the one on the left because of the shade of their feet.

Our walk took us to the edge of the island, on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The ocean pounded the rocks below and the blue water contrasted with the frothy white of the waves as they crested. Because we visited during winter, the trees and bushes were stripped of leaves, leaving the island dusty and brown. A few stubborn flowers hung onto the branches, giving us a pop of bright yellow as we would pass. Despite the season, the views were spectacular from all over the island whether looking out over the ocean or along the path to the interior of the island.

The cliffs of Isla de la Plata were beautiful!

After exploring the island and observing numerous blue-footed boobies, we got back on our boat and cruised to a small inlet where the water was calm. We adjusted our mask and snorkel and got shocked as we jumped into the cold water (low 70’s Fahrenheit). The coral here was different than what we had seen in the Caribbean, but the fish were as diverse as any that we had seen. Small dark fish zipped around in groups while larger colorful fish nosed around on the bottom. The current carried us back and forth, giving us a new view each way we looked.

Snorkeling around Isla de la Plata allowed us to view a different underground environment than what we had seen in the Caribbean.

To cap off our experience, we were lucky enough to spot something we didn’t think we would have the opportunity to see: whales! June through September is the season for whale spotting and it’s not common to see them outside of this season. However, our boat captain stopped three different times where he had seen a while. Twice, we saw them breech from a distance, but the third time, a mother and baby were close to our boat and swam for a couple of minutes. Everyone on the boat cheered and celebrated our luck for having seen whales in November. (We didn’t get any pictures, but do have a couple videos that we will eventually share!)

A view of our boat from the water, with part of Isla de la Plata in the background.

Our day on and around Isla de la Plata gave us a small taste of what others experience in the Galapagos. While we didn’t see as much variety of animals as you would in the Galapagos, we were able to spend a few hours with blue-footed boobies, Pacific ocean fish, and humpback whales. Jon and I have loved the opportunities we have had to view wildlife on this trip and enjoy each encounter just as much as the last. I can only look forward to what other animals we may see in the future as we continue to travel!

During our hike on Isla de la Plata, with the cliffs behind us.