Huaquillas Ecuador – right on the border with Peru

Content: Varadero Seafood Restaurant – L’Moned Hotel – La Habana Hotel and Restaurant

If you live in Loja, enjoy the sea and want to put your feet in the water without going too far, Jambeli is your best option.

Jambeli is actually not just an island, it is an archipelago, meaning it is a group of islands, just like the world famous Galapagos. One of the islands is also called Jambeli and that is where most tourists go. We have already published some information about the island of Jambeli on bbxmusic.com HERE.

However Jambeli is not the only island on the archipelago. This time I decided to take a look at Costa Rica which I had heard was also quite beautiful. While Jambeli is easily accessed from Machala, to access Costa Rica one best option is to go to Huaquillas. Below is an orientation map

Going to Huaquillas from Loja is easy by bus. I happen to be in Guayaquil, so I went straight from Guayaquil to Huaquillas. This took about 5 hours if I remember correctly.

Once in Huaquillas, all it takes is a short taxi ride to Puerto Hualtaco (I did it for $1 in a moto taxi, it is more fun).

And then take a boat to Costa Rica.

Well that was the plan anyway. There is just, I found out, a small problem. There ain’t no boat ! I was expecting something like Puerto Bolivar from where every hour a boat takes tourists to the island for $2 a head. Not so in Puerto Hualtaco. There is no such service. I was told that if you want to go to the island you have to charter one boat for the day which is what people do. They come in groups of 10 or more, pay something like $5 per person and spend the day. For one single person it is however not economical to pay $50 for a passage.

So I was stranded.

A bad situation in my opinion can most often than not be turned into a good or at least decent one if you have a bit of patience and some social skills. Ecuador is a brilliant country for that. My slogan would be “In Ecuador expect the unexpected”. I looked around and saw a nice looking place called Varadero, right on the port.

Varadero Puerto – Huaquillas – Fantastic seafood

It was about 11 AM, the owner was present and I introduced myself. I explained that I was interested in tourism and wanted to find a way to go to Costa Rica. His name is Dalton Otero and he is a very nice man. We ended up spending two hours together and I ended up eating some of the best seafood I had in Ecuador.

He offered me some coffee which was excellent, strong the way I like it, and with this, some delicious appetizer. These were cups made out of platano verde  stuffed with mushrooms in a garlic sauce.

His restaurant is quite stunning I must say, made out of a tasteful combination of bricks, stones, bamboo and straw, all open space and very bright. People can sit and enjoy watching the mangrove.

Well, assuming that they can put their phones away…

A couple from Guayaquil arrived while I was chatting with Dalton. They drove all the way from Guayaquil only to have lunch and then go back. That is about 5 hour drive each way. Impressive.

The food is equally impressive, simple, nothing complicated but all excellent and fresh. Below is a new creation of Dalton’s: raw fish in a sauce, avocado, olives.

Going to Costa Rica island

The president of the gobierno parroquial of Jambeli dropped by and joined us. He lives on the island and was just about to go back so he invited me to join him and also to stay on the island for the night. Just what I said earlier, a little bit of patience and things turn around. Not only did I get a delicious meal (for free, thank you Dalton) but now I was invited on a private tour by someone who knows the place in and out.

What happened next deserves an other article, so I shall leave Costa Rica for a little later. It was most interesting and Miguel is a very nice man indeed. I met his family and talked to several people on the island. All were warm, courteous and generous people. More on Costa Rica later.

For now and to finish this article, let’s go back to Huaquillas, where it all started. It is important because a person who wants to visit Costa Rica will most likely stay in Huaquillas at least for one night.

Staying and eating in Huaquillas

When I arrived in Huaquillas by bus from Guayaquil, my first thought was “Pierre, what have you done to yourself again?“. The place is not pretty by any standard, just one of the many concrete jungle towns that abound in Ecuador, even more so on the coast. Below is a typical street view.

I was getting worried about finding some decent accommodation. The place was quite noisy, it was getting late, I was tired and had heavy bags and I did not want to run around town too much. I asked a moto taxi driver for a quiet place, meaning without a bar, a disco or something similar next door. He indicated me a hotel 100m from the Loja International bus terminal and that is where I stayed

Hotel L’Moned – Huaquillas

This hotel is basic, modern and clean. Rooms have hot water (and it works), Flat screen TV, good wifi, a small fridge. It is only a short stroll from the Loja International terminal, no need for a taxi.

What I liked most is that the hotel is not noisy because it is not right in the center and that the rooms have a modern almost completely silent air conditioning system. Most often than not one has the choice between not sleeping because it is too hot or not sleeping because the airco is too noisy.

Prices are reasonable at $22.80 per person not including breakfast (at the time of this writing Nov 2016).

One can see the Peruvian border from the hotel window. It is only a few hundred meters away.

The lady at the reception is Peruvian and was friendly and helpful. She gave me some tips about going for a stroll in Peru, which is something that I wanted to do.

Going to Peru is just a matter of walking 10 minutes down the street and crossing a bridge. The place is absolutely packed. There is police but no border control. People just walk back and forth between the two countries. You can pay in dollars or you can change your dollars if you prefer.

You can buy clothes and shoes and alcohol. Clothes are supposedly cheaper in Peru. However I must say that all the T-shirts that I bought in Peru a few years ago are completely disintegrated today. So you have to be wary of the quality you get for your money.

Crossing the bridge to Peru, I had a look at the “river” and it was filthy. I understood why they call Loja an “ecological city”. It is all relative I guess.

The white herons did not seem to bother. They seem to like it dirty.

Where to eat in Huaquillas

I would definitely recommend going to Port Hualtaco to try the Varadero’s seafood. It is only a dollar away by moto taxi. See our comments above about the Varadero.

However, if you want to stay in Huaquillas, I had a nice and inexpensive meal at hotel La Habana on the central square.

The hotel is nice, a little more expensive than the L’Moned, I would say one category up. I have not tried it so I won’t comment. I only tried the food and it was excellent and quickly served.

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