Blogs from Manta, West, Ecuador, South America

When I was awakened by my reliable alarmophone at 0645 (so I could don my bathrobe before my juice and coffee arrived at +/- 15 minutes of 0700), I again felt the resurgence of enthusiasm about the cruise that had began the previous evening. Cruise Day 8, Tuesday, January 10, 2023 would be another day at sea. The events aboard ship have numerous daily activities; but, in lieu of shore excursions, the singular or weekly events seem to be held on our days at sea. Two astronomy professors have been on board for pretty much the entire cruise and offered two presentation on Cruise Day 8 which I found very interesting – Guided Tour of the Solar System and James Webb Telescope. In the late morning, a Military Meetup was attended by 40-50 veterans. Each attendee ... read more

Manta part two! Okay so the port of Manta is a working area.....see by the photos, mainly tuna fishing. (i don’t think it’s really fishing when you dredge with a net though). There doesn’t seem to be a, line caught, fishing policy here yet! The ships and lorries are just outside our balcony and they worked all day yesterday and are starting up again now. Once Dave recovered sufficiently from his pass out spell, we headed out again. The artisan market was really nice and I bought an ivory nut necklace. As before, the nut is as hard as ivory, looks like ivory but is completely made from the seed of a plant. Once dried, the ivory nut seed is hard enough to drive coaches over without damaging them. It can then be dyed, carved and ... read more

It was a short journey from the border to Quito: about five hours. That this is now for us a short bus trip because it can be done without taking an overnighter is testament to the distances we have chosen to travel between places across this incredibly expansive region of the world. Nonetheless, in those five short hours, it was incredible to witness the almost instantaneous transformation of the landscape between southern Colombia and northern Ecuador. Despite political boundaries often bearing little relevance to the geography of an area, there was a distinct change in the contours of the hills and the hue of greens across their distant ridges. When there was green, that was. Dull brown hillsides were prevalent the length of the highway to Quito, once having had trees but felled for something very ... read more

Manta - 11/29/2014 - Day 6 Hotel was quiet last night, considering we're on a busy street. Went out to explore Manta. Walked through the central area and the markets. Many fruit stands, live chickens, roosters, crabs, fabric, everything you could ever want. We checked out Hostel San Francisco, another option from Lonely Planet. Price was just the same as Hotel Leo ($35). We crossed the river (Rio Manta), which separates Manta from the little town of Tarqui. 'Tarqui is a little more run-down than Manta. Found an entry to the beach, several huge ships in the harbor. We looked for a place for breakfast with fruit, but just found fish and chicken. Stopped for lemonade and water. Hot aleady at 9:30am. Loud music. In the evening there are many soccer and volleyball games on the ... read more

Our Arrival We arrived from Canoa 1:25pm. From the bus terminal we walked right under the main highway, crossed over the road towards the garage and ended up in the East side of the town. Where We Stayed Hotel Mayita 2 - Avenue 107 and calle 101/102. $15 for a double room with private bathroom and TV. Most hostels this side of the river were the same price but didn't have internet. Where We Ate We had lunch in the market for $2 for a set lunch. There was a Gran Aki on calle 102. About Manta There is a nice beach on the Western side of town with fancy seafood restaurants. Near the beach side of town the hotels all looked a lot fancier. Where We Went Next We went to Puerto Lopez - we ... read more