Ruta del Spondylus

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Guayaquil

   Guayaquil is the biggest city in Ecuador, a hot, noisy and energetic port on the Guayas river, a few degrees south of the equator, and the place where a rider's journey up the coast begins. It is a commercial city, and proud of it. In the nineteenth century, cocoa made fortunes here, and the grand houses and the old customs building along the river recall that boom. The waterfront walk, the Malecón, runs for more than two kilometres along the river with gardens, fountains and a lighthouse, and on a warm evening it is full of families.

   Read the complete Guayaquil write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Guayaquil is where the day begins. Next is Salinas.

2. 2. Salinas

   Salinas is where the Ecuadorian coast runs out of land. The town sits on the tip of the Santa Elena peninsula, on a dry, scrubby headland that sticks out into the Pacific west of Guayaquil, and it is the most polished beach resort in the country, with a curving seafront boulevard, a row of tall apartment blocks, a yacht club and a busy fishing harbour. It lies side by side with La Libertad and Santa Elena, which are bigger and much rougher, and the three towns blur into one built-up strip. For a rider this is the start of the Ruta del Spondylus, and the town makes a good place to prepare for the miles ahead.

   Read the complete Salinas write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Salinas comes up about 143 km into the recorded legs. Next is Montanita.

3. 3. Montañita

   Montañita is the surf village of Ecuador's Pacific coast, a small place of sand streets, bamboo bars and beach shacks where the main sounds are waves and music. It lies on the Ruta del Spondylus, the coastal highway that runs from the south of Ecuador's coast to its northern shores, named for the spiny oyster shell that pre-Columbian peoples valued above gold. Traders carried Spondylus shells from here all the way to the Andes and Mexico, where they were used in rituals and offerings, and the shell has given the road its name.

   Read the complete Montanita write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 212 km into the recorded legs you reach Montanita. Next is Puerto Lopez.

4. 4. Puerto López

   Puerto López is a fishing town on a wide bay, with a long beach, a pier and brightly painted boats pulled up on the sand, and the sort of slow, cheerful atmosphere that settles over a place whose business is the sea. The town sits on the Ruta del Spondylus and is the main base for visiting the Machalilla National Park, which protects a stretch of dry coastal forest, beaches and the offshore Isla de la Plata. From here, small boats take visitors out to the island, which is sometimes called the poor man's Galápagos for its blue-footed boobies, frigatebirds and nesting albatrosses.

   Read the complete Puerto Lopez write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Puerto Lopez, late in the day. Next is Manta.

5. 5. Manta

   Manta is the busiest port on the coast of Ecuador, and a fishing town to its marrow. It lies on the western tip of a peninsula in the province of Manabí, and its harbour is crowded with fishing boats, tuna trawlers and cargo ships, so that the whole waterfront smells of salt, diesel and frying fish. Tuna canning has been the city's big business for decades, and the town sits on a coast where the cold Humboldt Current meets the warm tropical water, a meeting that makes the sea rich.

   Read the complete Manta write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Manta. That is the ride.