Today our port of call is Manta, Ecuador. I wasn’t sure if we would stop here due to civil unrest but it appears that Holland America thinks it’s ok. The Brits received emails that they should not go off the ship. The US has Ecuador as a threat level 2. However, Manta seems a distance from where the demonstrations and violence are taking place.
Before we retired, Ecuador was the country Bruce wanted to retire to. With all our traveling and 9 years later we are finally getting here.
Our view today is not very pretty. All we see is this huge cargo ship. This morning, hundreds of cars were driven off this ship.
If I look around my balcony, I can see the water. This was the first time we were on the wrong side of the ship.
It was brutally hot. Maybe only in the high 80’s but the humidity made it a scorcher. Bruce and I decided to go to the mall.
On our way, vendors were selling Panama hats. Did you know that Panama hats are really made in Ecuador? Teddy Roosevelt made the Panama hat popular and at that time, everything exported from South America went through Panama. A town in Ecuador, Montecristo, is where they are made. An authentic Panama hat takes approximately one year to make. They are waterproof and can be folded tightly to fit inside a ring. An authentic hat costs about $500. The vendors sell knockoffs for under $50.
There used to be several hundred people who were skilled in the art of making the Panama hat. Now there are only about 20 artisans remaining.
These are knock offs but kind of cute!
Bruce and I stopped at a Baskin Robbins for ice cream.
It was a huge mall with its teenage girls walking in pairs. A sort of cloned Best Buy, nail salon, and food court all made this look like a US mall.
The beach was right across the street.
It was too hot for bakery today so the ice cream had to suffice.
I think that’s about all I have on Manta for now.
The barge just left and now we have a view.
Now we are off to meet up with friends for coffee!
#ecuador#manta#icecream#panamahat
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