Ecuador – Not lovely to look at, but interesting

January 12, 2016: Docked in Manta, Ecuador today. Manta has a population of about 350,000 and is the fastest growing city in Ecuador. We were up early to join a tour of the region. Our tour guide, Hector, is a full-time lawyer and part time tour guide. As he was taking a poll of our fellow passengers re country of origin, after one lady said she was from the U.K., the man behind her said he was from Scotland – a very funny declaration given the recent vote by Scotland to stay in the UK.   

Our first stop was the beach at San Lorenzo where five varieties of tuna are landed daily. According to Hector, Ecuador is the tuna capital of the world and fishing in general remains the main industry in the country. The beach is beautiful and lined with fishing boats sitting on the logs used to roll them into the water. A small group of women were scaling small fish (relatives of the sardine) for use as chum. John joined in and the women thought he was wonderful.

John and his favorite fish filleter

Occasionally the fishermen land “unblemished” tuna – unmarked by lines, hooks, etc. These command a very high price for the local fishermen, however that’s nothing compared to what this variety brings at auction in Japan.

Coffee production is the second leading export of Ecuador. Hector told us that 80% of Ecuadorian coffee is purchased by Colombia and marketed as “genuine Colombian coffee picked by Juan Valdez.” Apparently Juan Valdez is mostly Ecuadorian and Brazilian (the other source of so-called Colombian coffee).

From the beach we drove up the mountain to a wildlife preserve, Pacoche. Ecuador is not a very scenic country. The climate changes from desert to semi-rain forest as one travels upward, but none is very pretty. Unfortunately at the preserve we were too early to see the monkeys and many of the supposedly thousands of bird species. While there we learned to make a staple of Manteno diet, the boulla – a mashed together and fried ball of plantain, cilantro, onion, cheese and butter. It was okay.

Making boulla ain Pacoche

From Pacoche we drove back down the mountain to Monte Cristi – home of the hand-made Panama hat. It’s called the Panama hat because Teddy Roosevelt wore one when checking on the progress of the building of the Panama Canal and attributed his ability to avoid a sunburn to his “Panama hat.” But they are really = and continue to be – handmade in Ecuador. The hats vary in price based on the thickness of the fiber – the quality is the same, but the refinement is different. The finest quality hats can hold water and all the hats can be rolled up for storage and return to their original shape. We each bought one! Tonight was Panama hat night aboard ship, so ours were the head covering of the day.

Beautiful Panama Hat in butterfly bush

Weaving Panama hats

Last stop was the Tagua button factory. Tagua is a nut found only in Colombia and Ecuador. It is edible, but when it hardens it becomes like ivory – suitable for carving, jewelry and buttons. It is called “vegetable ivory.” The factory is nothing more than a series of buildings where a family of turkeys – mom, dad, and a little peeper – as well as chickens roamed freely. OSHA would shut it down in a heartbeat, but the workers seemed to take pride in their work.

BTW, minimum wage in Ecuador is $350 per month – up from $250. The country’s currency is the US Dollar.    

Our only disappointment was our inability to buy postcards and the ball cap. Unlike many ports, we were not docked next to a souvenir shop.

January 13 – at sea. The ship is leaking in many locations – lots of buckets and slippery when wet yellow cones. Hope this doesn’t turn into another Poseidon Adventure. ;-))

And the adventures at sea continue – this afternoon we had to stop in the middle of the ocean due to problems with a stabilizer. Turns out a large shark had gotten into the stabilizer. When we stopped it effectively dislodged the shark. The captain – a veteran – said this was his first experience of this type.