Whale Tails

View from our hotel in Machalilla

It looks like an ark is being built---It has been pretty rainy here lately.

Public transportation in Machalilla---sort of a box surrounding a golf cart.

The boat actually departed from the town of Puerto Lopez

Leaving Puerto Lopez

After about 1 1/2 hours, we approached Isla de la Plata, which means Silver Island.  Pretty romantic sounding, right?  The name comes from the guano that the birds drop.  So they could have called it Bird Poop Island!

Blue Footed Boobies!  Aren't they something?

Mother bird with baby.  Is this also a booby?  If so, I should have shown Bobby and the Baby Booby!

Bobby, looking picturesque next to very picturesque scenery

If you look just right to center of the horizon very carefully, you will see a water spout from a whale.

There they are!

The splashing is from the whales turning over.

One flipper would turn over, then the next.

Here you can see more of the length of one of the whales.

Here you can see more than one.

Do you see the spot of turqoise on the right side?  Often there would be such an area near the whales.  I wonder what that was?

Just the splashy water after a whale went back down, with a little spot of turquoise

Seems that one side of the flipper would be white and the other side black.

A nice big flipper!

It was exciting to realize there were more than one.  I think this is the best photo.

Family Day at the End of the School Year

Before summer vacation, there was Family Day at the elementary school where 2 of the Sanchez kids attended.  They're big into families here.

Groups of parents performed dances in traditional dress...

And each class of children.

This was one of the best kid's group, all with painted faces being mimes.

Some parents dancing in less traditional dress!

A group of kids dressed as caballeros...

And behind them, another group doing a sort of maypole dance.

The cute kid on the left is Fernando, one of the boys in our adopted family

Very pretty dance with colorful dresses, all twirly

And kids on the left with interesting masks

José Carlos with his spiky hairdo, Terri, and Elsa

This one was a hoot---parents dancing to a Spanish version of Jail  House Rock!

Guiliana and José Carlos

Nancy, Elsa's sister

A repeat---sorry!

More parents dancing

Kids

At one point in a dance, we saw this structure with religious pictures on it, various saints, Mother Mary, and God at the top (at least it looked like God.  However that is!).  Then the structure started exploding---it was lined with firecrackers!

Parents, with perhaps some sisters.  This was an all-boys' school.

José Carlos' class did an aerobics routine to music.

There he is again.

Pretty Elsa!

This little kid---4 or 5 years old---sang and danced  amazingly well---the next Michael Jackson,  I think!

Fernando was proud of his performance!