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| Bent over a wooden post, an old woman is weaving a Panama hat |
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| On the dock in Manta, Ecuador. Tuna fish being unloaded in a cloud of ice fog |
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| Family business outing. The whole family are on the bike, and dad's icecream vending business is trailing behind |
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| Here they are mum, dad and two kids. Dad wears the obligatory helmet. Legally he is allowed to transport only one passenger, but being Sunday, no police hangs around to fine him for carrying three. |
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| Weaving a hat.... |
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| View of Montecristi's church |
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| Men's Panama hats |
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| Lady's Panama hat |
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| Upper sample is an ordinary weave, lower one is a 'fino' a fine weave of Panama hat. The lower one is more expensive as it takes a very long time to produce |
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| Would even look good for Tango... |
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| Hotel Metropole... |
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| Carved Tagua nut souvenir |
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| Raw Tagua nuts, looking like potatoes |
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| Tagua nut factory, this used to be a souvenir store |
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| Tagua nut yard - there used to be mountains of raw nuts, vending stalls, truck docks etc...now, there is a little shed, where bricks are being cast |
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| Descending from Veendam on the 'chicken ladder' |
Welcome to Ecuador and the Port of Manta.gateway to Quito and Machu Picchu, Galapagos Islands and Montecristi of Panama Hat fame.
All and sundry wanted to disembark at the same time, as most tours started within minutes of each other, and whoever was not on tour wanted to grab the first shuttle. Somewhat overeager, as especially on a Sunday absolutely nothing happens in any city in Latin America before 11 a.m. or later.
Things went rather slowly, the local Port Authority provided a ramp, instead of using the ship's ramp, which when delivered by local crane, looked more like a bouncy chicken ladder than something human beings are meant to use.
To make things more difficult, this contraption was attached to deck 5, rather a long way above the dock, which made the disembarkation route worthy of an experienced rappelling expert. At the bottom of this thing, some metal steps, each about two inches wide and more than a foot high.
The first wheelchair disembarkation took 20 minutes, the able bodies took about 5 minutes each, and the 'chunky' people (an inordinate number of them aboard) had to be bracketed by stewards, just in case they would loose their footing and land slide down the chicken ladder. Well, if any one of them WOULD have tumbled, the slight stewards probably would have been crushed under the human avalanche.
On the opposite side of our dock, a large tuna fishing ship unloaded its catch via crane onto a truck. The ambient temperature and humidity were so high (even at 8 a.m.) that the loads were immediately enveloped in a dense cloud of fog, when the hot air hit the iced fish.
Talking about tuna...last night around 6 p.m.a guest had observed a school of tuna being chased by another school of dolphins. Lots of jumping and splashing going on in the sea. The guest was overheard explaining to his beloved wife, that that is the reason they are called 'flying fish', and that they come up at 6 p.m. to breathe, therefore all the jumping...
Ecuador, straddling the Equator..Talking about Equator, one guest answered when asked whether he is looking forward to crossing the Equator answered: what is the Equator?
Another guest explaining this equator thing to his friends was overheard saying: better enjoy it, it is as close to the sun as you ever get.
Are these the effects of 'esteem-based-education'?
I had booked a tour - to revisit colonial Montecristi, the home of Panama Hat weavers, and be dropped off 'downtown' Manta later - the rest of it i.e. shopping and seeing hat and button making demonstrations was for me little needed entertainment. The visit to Montecristi consisted of a two minute halt of the bus (no one allowed off). Visiting the demonstration sites was a little depressing, as they reflected a sad downturn of Ecuador's economy at least for these goods (Panama hats, Tagua nut buttons, and natural fiber coffee bags). A few years ago, when I visited the original sites, they were thriving, clean, with many locals being employed in these industries.
The artisan's market is now housed in a remote building that was used by one Ecuadorian President to re-write the country's constitution and do away with congress. Not quite the same charm as a mid town plaza beside a cathedral.
By the way - Ecuador Presidents, the country had lots of them in very short times, once they had three within a 24 hour period. One of their presidents was dragged through the streets and later killed by protesters. Another declared 4 day bank holiday, during times of galloping inflation - afterwards 8 banks were broke, and the Sol (their old money) has dropped from 14,000 to the dollar to 27,000 to the dollar within that time frame. Wisely they got rid of their Sol, and they now use the US dollar - after some confusion about how to handle the conversion in terms of setting prices for goods and services.
Many of the old souvenir artifacts have more or less disappeared. Hardly any 'fino', finely woven hats, a few carved souvenirs of Tagua nut (an ivory like palm nut that can be carved or made into buttons), and a little back yard museum where locals wove fibre bags for the duration of a tourist visit.
Ecuador's biggest export now is roses, yes, like in flowers. Pineapples have mostly disappeared, too expensive and too slow to ship which affected fruit freshness. So Dole et al have all closed shop. Factories are slowly rotting and overgrowing with tropical rain forest.
Drop off from the 'interesting' tour before returning to the ship's dock was not allowed for unexplained reasons. Our entire bus load was diverted to a special port entrance to be checked out by drug dogs (apparently never ever happened before to a tourist bus), but apart from Tagua nuts and Panama hats there was no contraband aboard, and then we were back where we started - by the side of the ship.
The chicken ladder at the side of the ship was still in place - roped off with yellow tape and blocked by an expandable gate. The ship had deployed a small 'bridge' between a dock level opening in the hull and the dock, and passenger traffic flowed freely and safely now.
I made a 180 degree turn and headed off to a shuttle which would take me 'to town' and near Manta's beach playground...
