Manta, Part 2 (with some pics!)

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Hello everyone...I write this part actually back in Quito having returned yesterday. Ecuador, especially weather-wise, is just an amazing country. I started yesterday in Manta, which is on the coast and rather tropical (at least while I was there). It was about 80F and relatively humid, though not horribly so. I got on the TAME flight, and a half hour later I am in Quito and a cool 60F with little humidity. If I went east back into the somewhat dreaded Amazon region, you'd be back into the hot and humid. This is all within a country the size of Nevada or Colorado - from coast to Andes Mountains and back to low level regions. Keep in mind, Ecuador Tourism plays this up that in their little country, one can have a lot of experiences depending where you are.

While thinking about Manta, however, I've concluded that Manta is currently a strange city - at least from my tourism viewpoint. There are a few nice hotels in the city, most notably the Oro Verde Hotel on the coast. This is almost certainly the nicest hotel in the city, comparing favorably to many U.S. hotel chains. I even went and took a look at the rooms. They were definitely nice. The Oro Verde was also basically on the beach and ocean, so good in another respect. Rates are also the highest I saw of the hotels in Manta, starting at $120/night (high for the city of Manta). That said, you get what you pay for. However, what was strange is that so many hotels/hostels, restaurants, and shops just didn't seem to have many customers, yet remained open. For example, in the budget hotels/hostels I stayed, of which there were two, I was indeed the lone customer the whole time. In fact, in the one I stayed for three days, it appeared I was the lone customer in a while as the shower was below a window and it appeared dust had blown in on the shower over some time and settled. Don't get me wrong, the hotel was clean enough and comfortable for my budget tastes, but it was an interesting observation. Yet, this particular hostel had several signs around town advertising them. I really asked myself, how do you stay open when you have one customer for three days out of however many? Yes, you can be a family-run operation to save on labor expenses but you still have to pay for electricity, water, taxes, etc. Oh, well...not my business to run, I guess. There are a number of restaurants and bars that seem to be in a similar position, yet seem to stay open. Finally, there seem to currently be a shortage of tourist geared shops (though no shortage of people walking around trying to sell chiclets, DVD's, hammocks, and God knows whatever else. Don't worry, though, once you say no they pretty much move on without fuss).

Currently, as mentioned before, Manta is a port city and somewhat more industrial minded. It actually reminds me a tiny bit of Duluth, Minnesota. Duluth had been traditionally more industrial port minded, yet today enjoys a definite tourism economy in addition to more practical stuff like receiving and shipping goods. I hear from connections I've made that Manta will continue to increase in shipping business, plus tourism over the coming years because of various advantages Manta will enjoy: an expanded port that will allow ships to dock here instead of having to spend more days going to Santiago, Chile; a regionally certified airport that will allow more flights in the continent and probably with more tourists to the U.S. one day, and other aspects. It's just very early in the curve right now.

Anyway, more on what I did...I did spend a day taking the bus to Montecristi - a small town known for it's Panama Hats and other handicrafts. It was a fine little town, though fairly quiet today. It was a fairly quick bus ride at about a 1/2 hour, though you can't get much cheaper at 25 cents. There is always a little bit of trepidation on these trips for me the first time around as I have no idea of what I'm looking for to know where I should get off. I simply have to ask "Vamos a Montecristi?" and hope they will tell me. The guy did let me know and I got there soon enough, though I thought I could be a punk and call my mom or someone and say I overshot my destination on the bus and now have no idea where I am in the country or how to get back! I then wondered if my mom would really believe I could have made it this far on my journeys successfully and then gotten lost. Plus, it would tarnish my reputation of rarely or never getting lost! I did tell J.Lynn back at the hotel to tell Lily, our Executive Housekeeper, to say that's what happened. I hear that Lily still thinks I'm somewhere in the middle of Ecuador hopelessly lost...she's probably also thinking "I told him so that he shouldn't have gone there!"

I ended up buying a Panama hat in Montecristi from a local family and while I think I spent too much I just looked online at a U.S. company they make hats for and it looks like I actually got a pretty good deal. I don't know if I'm very excited about a Panama hat for myself, but have a connection if I get a market for Panama hats. At $35, it really is a good deal considering it's completely handmade and takes a couple of weeks or months to make this hat. It also should last a long, long time. This hat was also a fairly "basic" one: you can get more finely weaved hats for more money considering it can take 5 months to make the most finely woven hats. I got the people's card so one day I can call or mail them. It was also interesting to talk with the family as they spoke no English; our communication was entirely in Spanish. It worked however, even to the point of when I tried asking how good or bad my Spanish was, the lady said it was bad...followed by us both laughing pretty heartedly!

While in town, I ended up in the casino connected to the Oro Verde Hotel. It's small and at first I wasn't sure I would go there. I told myself I can lose my money fast enough in English, and probably all the more in Spanish. However, I needed to go to an ATM. The one at the Supermaxi was not working and the Oro Verde/Casino was the next closest place. I figured every casino has ATM's so I would at least get cash there. I walked in and to both my pleasant and not pleasant surprise saw mostly English on machines and signs. Hence, guess where I was that night. This is where I ended up meeting about the only gringos I saw while here. They were a group of guys from the U.S. Air Force base in Manta, spending some time before work the next day. While there was no lengthy conversations, it was great to meet these guys: Tom, Phillip, Andy, Luke, and a guy I only know as Douchebag (according to his friends, anyway...) It was a good night and a fair amount of free booze just like in Vegas, so it was a good night. I also didn't lose too much money...

Finally, I spent some time on the beach and at least got my feet in the water. When I decided to go into the water, I had my camera for pictures and didn't have my swimsuit on. The water started a little cool, but was nice. Ultimately, it became a little hard to want to leave. I eventually did for a while, though went to just listen to the waves breaking later in the evening. While I felt a little out of place previously being almost the only gringo in the area and not seeing much touristy things to do, it was the ocean and water that helped a lot.

Soon enough, it was time to catch the TAME plane back to Quito. There was a part of me that was ready to go with being a little "out there on a ledge" as the near lone gringo and not always a lot to do. Yet, when I got to the airport and the plane was taking off, I actually felt a little sad to be leaving. The beach was a great draw and I was sad to be leaving it. While I knew Manta has some developing to do, there was good there too. There actually is something to be said in not having a beach site be too touristy, with timeshare salespeople and all the other less great things about touristy locations. Of course, of what I hear about Manta's future, that may one day soon enough change.

The plane ride was only a half hour, but a good ride. Besides TAME seeming to have down taking care of their guests sometimes better than U.S. airlines, it was a beautiful flight. Flying over the Andes mountains and seeing high mountains with snow-capped mountains sometimes in clouds seemingly almost as high as the plane was flying was spectacular. I should have been a dorky tourist and pulled out my camera, but didn't. Maybe on a future flight and if you want to see the little slice of heaven you'll have to take one of my hopeful future tours with me!

Like other locations thus far (and probably future ones), there was good and bad in Manta with sometimes conflicting emotions about where I was and the trip I have been on so far. However, all in all it's a great journey where I'm learning lots and know it's a whole new life I'm living. Panama is the next stop in a few days, and I look forward to writing you next time from Panama City.

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Photos

Oro Verde Hotel, Manta
Outside view of likely the best hotel in Manta. It really is a nice place and basically on Playa Murcielago, or Murcielago Beach

Playa Murcielago
Yes, it looks a lot like other beaches, but gives some sense of this particular beach, with highrises off in the distance.

Another pic of the beach
I took lots of pictures of the Murcielago beach for future reference. Here is just another view...

Boat ride?
On the beach there are a few guys that will offer you a ride in their boat for money. They sure approached the lone gringo asking, though I politely declined. I was happy just walking on the beach!

Waiting for you...
Along the beach during the day, guys set up these chairs and rent them out. I asked a server at a restaurant along the beach how much they rented for (or if they were free), what I understood in Spanish is you should be able to rent them for an hour or two for a dollar or two, but will certainly try for $5-10 out of tourists. There always seemed to be a lot of chairs, so I'm sure if you threaten to walk away or ask other guys for their chairs, you'll get the better deal.

Big church in Montecristi.
Montecristi's largest church and what you'll see in many promotional material for this little tourist souvenir town. I didn't go inside but it looks like a nice church

Making Panama hats
The lady who said my Spanish was bad, followed by laughter, demonstrated some of the weaving of the hats she makes and invited me to take a picture. Hats can take from two to five months depending on how fine of a weave in the hat. Obviously, the finer the weave, the longer it takes and the more costly the hat.

Manta Capital de Atuns
It says this along the can below the fish. This is along the main road on the ocean and is clearly the big moneymaker for the city (and obviously the city knows it)

Queremos Atuns!
A view of the other side of Port Manta with many of the fishing boats in dock. I didn't observe them going in and out in mass, though did see boats out in the sea at times.