Central & South Coast - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 284

here are average, but they can be somewhat dreary between June and
August. Hotels line the waterfront street, and you can swim in the
bay, though it is not as sanitary during peak months. Salinas has a
lively night scene.

Buses from Guayaquil to Salinas take about three hours. You may
need to transfer in La Libertad onto a bus heading toward Salinas.

Just east of Salinas and the highway's turning point toward
Guayaquil is La Libertad , a bustling fishing town of more than
50,000 people that serves as the region's transportation hub. Al-
though there's not much there for the eco-adventurer, it's interesting
enough to warrant a stroll in between bus transfers and does have a
few decent hotels.

Adventures
On Foot
The Chongón Colonche Mountains
Among the lesser-known gems in Ecuador are hidden
cloud-forest communities that are accessible only through
your own efforts, places that are remote and sometimes
hard to reach. But the rewards of hiking into these lush
forests are genuine, as noted by a recent traveler:

“I awoke to the soft patting of rain drops mixed
with roaring echoes that shook me out of my
dreams. It was as if the forest herself was
speaking to us and was enough for me to ask our
guide what was going on. Well, the roars were
from a troop of howler monkeys and I later
learned that the rainwasn't rain at all! Wow, this
is going to be a great trip, I thought. And indeed,
the longer we stayed the less I wanted to leave.”

Cloud forests along the slopes of southwestern Ecuador may appear
to be a bit of an anomaly when you consider that this region receives
enough rainfall to support only a desert environment. Yet it is as rich
in thick vegetation and biological diversity as the Amazon. From
around June through December, the coastal fog, known locally as la
garua , engulfs the land and is captured by vegetation along the low-
land slopes. As a result, water constantly drips, breathing life into the
forest. In fact, this “capture” phenomenon provides the foundation for
the entire watershed and brings fresh water to local communities. In
most of these areas, however, cattle ranching, farming and

woodcutting seriously threaten the remaining forests.