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Blogs from Manta, West, Ecuador, South America
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December 15th 2012
The Star Princess officially entered the Southern Hemisphere at 0122 this morning, and we docked amidst a fleet of fishing and cargo vessels about 0800. Dave and Mary, American friends we have met, blew off for the Galapagos’ Islands at O’Dark thirty this morning, and we cannot wait until they re-board and tell us all about their adventures. Manta is about a four hour’s drive from Quito (Capitol of Ecuador), so we’re not sure why stopped here, as we sailed at 1800. There was one small town nearby that specializes in Panama hats (called so, because although “invented” and still made here, they were shipped by the thousands to the men building the Panama Canal in the early 1900’s. After our day in Costa Rican Rain forests and jungle rivers, this made a lot of sense. ... read more
January 7th 2012
December 28, 2011 Santa Marta, Colombia 18N 241471, 0955472 We have been camping in the guy Luis´s backyard for a few nights now. We met him when we got off the bus stop and were looking for a place to camp, and he invited us. He´s quite excited about us staying here because he wants to learn English. It´s also kind of funny because he won´t let us speak Spanish. Something I´ve noticed down here is that the men don´t necessarily treat the women like equals. Actually, most men frequently won´t even address me. They will ask Jared, ¨Is she tired?¨ or ¨Does she want rice?¨ I always answer when they ask, of course, because how would he know? This generally throws them off a bit, ha. I went SCUBA diving again today in Taganga, a ... read more
February 26th 2011
Today we are in Manta, Ecuador. Bet you never heard of this place. We had a city tour which took us to, among other places, the little town of Montechristi where Panama hats come from. Turns out Teddy R. was given one when he came down to open the canal, so he told everyone it was his Panama hat...and the rest is history. It can take three months to weave a hat although they can vary hugely in quality and price. We got a very simple one which I am wearing right now as we are sitiing on the deck, watching a tuna boat unload on the other side of the pier. That is the main industry here: tuna. It is pretty amazing to see these big boxes of fish being hauled out of the hold ... read more
January 22nd 2010
Manta Ecuador, Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Manta, Ecuador is a commercial fishing town which appeals to cruise ships because it is near Monte Cristo (home to Panama hat production) and because passengers can make a day trip (including a flight) to Quito, Ecuador. Quito is 16 miles south of equator at 9200 ft. which places it “directly under the sun all year”. Besides being a UNESCO World Heritage site it is agriculture heaven. I visited Quito in 2000. Today I opted for a tour to some of the Manta sites including nearby Monte Cristo which I expect to be the highlight but was in for a surprise. Manta hosts six or seven cruise ships each season (January - March) and several of them are small ships. Visitors are still unique in this fishing village. As our ... read more
April 6th 2009
As we get closer to Central America, poverty becomes more apparent. Our last two ports were Callao, Peru (near Lima) and Manta, Ecuador. For some reason both of these ports left me depressed and homesick. I'm not sure if it was the absence of TP in the ladies restrooms in Peru or the poor crafted souvenirs foreigners were given the opportunity to purchase, but I've been a little testy lately. I would like to properly thank Trent for responding to my text messages when I was most desperate for home communication. - Thank you, Brat! I was not able to make the tour to Machu Picchu due to the cost being a small fortune ($2800) but was able to see Inca ruins at Pachacamac in Lima, Peru. Due to the fact it hardly ever rains in ... read more
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A Vacation from Vacation - (Couch)surfing in Ecuador
Published: March 7th 2009South America » Ecuador » West » Manta
March 5th 2009
Our march along the west coast of South America in search of waves continued across the Peru-Ecuador border to Monteñita, Ecuador. We crossed the border (a border crossing deemed the ¨worst¨ in all of South America for shady practices that commonly occur there) smoothly during the night and arrived in the muddy streets of Monteñita early the following morning. Now, Monteñita had been hyped up to us for quite some time. Months before I even embarked on this trip, Palo was telling me that good times await in Monteñita, and every backpacker we´ve met along the way has reaffirmed his words. Frankly, however, the timing was off for us. We arrived in Monteñita for the last night of Carnaval and it was an absolute zoo. The tiny, tourist beach town was overwhelmed with Ecuadoreans and more ... read more
April 12th 2008
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 ... read more
