Carnaval is hot in Ecuador! It's four-day holiday, full of madness, fun and time with friends and relatives. Children play in the streets, trying to hit each other with water balloons, confetti sprays and even with flower and eggs. Isn't that insane? During my latest Saturday class, my students told me one can distinguish two kinds of Carnaval celebrators: the people that stay home and celebrate with their families or, a rapidly emerging group, people that enjoy their holidays somewhere else, for example on the beach. I obviously belong to the second category.

Together with three friends I decided to spend Carnaval in Puerto López. According to most of the travelguides that are older than 3 years, this town isn't much more than a dull fishing village. But over the past couple of years this town has turned into a nice but not overwhelmingly large beach town.

As we are determined to leave as early as possible, that is right after Saturday classes end, I propose my students an early exit. To make up this time they'll have to give up one of their breaks. No complaints so far. At 12:15 on the dot we rush out of school, grab our backpacks and rush into a taxi that brings us to the bus company. Wisely we have decided to book a private van that will drive us to Guayaquil, with a population exceeding 3 million peoply by far Ecuador's largest city. On our way from Cuenca to Guayaquil we pass through Cajas, a huge and gorgeous national park. Leaving Cajas, the landscape suddenly turns flat: we have left the Andes and we're now in the delta region of Guayas. It's as flat as Holland can be. Banana plants are all over the place!

In Guayaquil we're facing what I later recall to be one of the most insane travel experiences I've ever seen. Inside the terminal there is no possibility to move through anywhere to make it to the ticket counter. The terminal is fully packed with people, all desperately fighting for a place on any bus towards the coast. We immediately decide to go back to the private bus companies, but all buses have left. We're supposed to wait for at least 1.5 hours and need some more passengers before that bus can even leave. I decide to go and hunt for either people or other types of transportation. Just around the corner I happen to find a friendly guy from Montañita who is willing to take us all the way there. His van is halfway filled ,so we have to be quick, grab our bag and fold ourselves into the van's cosy and comfy ront seats. There we go!

That night, we finally make it to our final destination, after continuously having feared the risk of getting stuck in any town. We're happy! Having arrived in Puerto López we directly run and jump into the Pacific ocean and hang out in some of the hammocks on the beach.

The next day, we decide head to Isla de Plata. This little island is only an hour away from the mainland and truly resembles the Galapagos islands. The boat trip is very nice and comfortable. The crew are friendly and take care providing us with all kinds of food and beverages.

After our hike we set sail to another side of the island where we were all allowed to leave the boat to go snorkeling! We're able to see so many different fish here! But all the good has come to an end, so we get on the boat to go back to the mainland.

Facing the sunset we decide to go crazy in the huge waves that are currently hitting the coast. Even though having a great time here, I suddenly feel my arm hurting and realize I just got bitten by a jellyfish. Luckily we brought a first aid kit, so no ambulance or 911 are required .I'm fine.

On our last day we're invited by Freddy's cousins to spend the night at their place. Thanks to these friendly people, we can catch a 7:30 am bus to Guayaquil. This time, the situation there isn't that bad and even though we miss our bus to Cuenca by two minutes, I get home at 2:40, perfectly on time for my 3:00 class that afternoon. Which sets my mind back to reality! It makes me feel a bit disappointed, but knowing that the end of the cycle is near it isn't that of a big deal! The two-week break will take me to Colombia: the country of coffee, wax palmars, salsa and beautiness! But I won't leave before grading all my exams andsaying goodbye to my students.