MANTA, ECUADOR - ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL! (1 of 6)

January 11, 2025, 77 Degrees, Overcast, 5:45 AM, 78 Humidity, Winds SSW 8.1 mph

We had a great day and our first Excursion in Manta, Ecuador but it ended with an unexpected, and slightly scary, Tender return to the ship. More about that in the last Blog of the Manta “Series” – so much for Show & Tell from Manta!

The day started bright and early, or at least early, the sun wasn’t even up! We pulled into Manta at 4 AM so the groups going to the Galapagos Islands could start their trek. They will rejoin the ship in 3 days in Lima, Peru. For some reason, known only to him, John was up and checking his Blog Stats (more about that in a later in a Sea Day Blog when there’s not a lot to talk about) shortly after 3 AM (much groaning from my side of the bed). We didn’t have to meet for our Best of Manta Excursion until 8:15 AM! About 5 AM, John came back to bed, and I was afraid we’d sleep through our Room Service delivery but no worries, we were up by 5:30AM and our Room Service never came! Our first Room Service order and the first “blip” in the perfect service we’ve had so far. We hung our order on the door hanger before we went to dinner the night before, the instructions said have it out before 2 AM. Maybe we were too early, who knows. The order was gone when we returned from dinner but no 6 AM Continental Breakfast! We called at 6:30 AM and Room Service said they had no record of our order. We’ll try again but next time hang it out before we go to bed, not so early. We usually go to the Dining Room for breakfast but there wasn’t time to do that and meet our Excursion. So, we settled for one of the Granola Bars I brought and John had coffee. I brought several boxes of Folgers Single Serve Coffee Bags. They’re like tea bags but coffee. They’ve worked great. The water in the room is hot enough that John’s “brewed” himself a cup (or two) every morning rather than going to the Crow’s Nest, 3 decks up.

We boarded our Excursion Bus promptly at 8:30. We were 7 Orange, they put a sticker on everyone, depending on your tour. There must have been at least 12 very nice, modern, air-conditioned buses lined up next to each other. Very well organized, obviously not their first rodeo. Each bus was “labeled” with the Tour Name and Color/Number. The driver stood out in front with a colored, numbered paddle. Our Tour Guide was David, a native Ecuadorian about 40 years old. Very nice, funny and informative. He came to the US as an exchange student for his senior year of high school. Sue came to Ecuador for two weeks in an exchange program her Senior High School year.

Ecuador is a democratic country with a President and Assembly elected every four years. Surprisingly, the currency is the US Dollar. To combat the inflationary cycles of their unstable currency (Sucre), Ecuador converted to the US Dollar in the year 2000. The Sucre had been 5,000 to the Dollar in approximately 1995 but in threes years had “devalued” to 25,000 then 30,000 Sucre to the dollar. The president set the value for Sucre at the time of conversion to 25,000 Sucre to the Dollar. Many people who had their savings in banks in Sucre were all but wiped out. David’s father had most of his savings in Dollars and so fared better than most. It took a while for the economy to recover but now, having the US Dollar as its currency attracts international business to Ecuador. Although there are some who miss having their “own” currency, most agree having the stable Dollar is best. In the last election, one candidate campaigned on returning the Sucre, he lost.

Manta is a rapidly growing city about 125 years old. The climate is dry and arid, they only get 20 - 25 inches of rain a year. Later in the day, we drove to a restaurant in the mountains that was in a lush, green rain forest.

Tuna is “King” in Manta. If you bought Starkist or Chicken of the Sea tuna, the label would probably say, Product of Ecuador on the can. The fishmen bring in their catch and the processing plants are close by. The fishing boats have a quota and a season. They can be out for as long as 6 months at a time. If the catch is good and they meet their quota, they come home early. Sometimes they will be gone for 6 months and if the fishing is not good, come home without a full load. They salt and freeze the fish immediately to maintain freshness. At dinner last night on the ship, they served Fresh Ecuador Tuna they had purchased that morning from a small local fishing boat. At the Maître D’s suggestion, we had ours medium rare (a first for us with fish). So good, reminded me of swordfish. Speaking of swordfish, all seafood is plentiful and cheap here (at least by US standards). David, our guide, said swordfish sells for $3 a pound and you can buy a whole Bonita tuna 3-5 pounds for $5. A nice 3-course lunch would be $3.50, on the local market. But, according to the government, $460 a month is the minimum living wage here. David said it would be $900-$1200 a month for “middle class” with a car and comfortable house or apartment. Ecuadorian’s will go to the fish market to buy fresh fish and often make Ceviche, diced fresh fish cooked/marinated for several hours in lemon juice and salt. It is very popular and eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We passed a shipyard which is the last one still working that can repair/refurbish wooden fishing boats. The boats are made of mahogany, which is now endangered and protected. Mahogany is a strong wood that “lives” forever, they salvage and repurpose the valuable mahogany when possible. It can be restored many times. If parts are damaged and need to be replaced, and recycled mahogany is not available, they now use teak. The scaffolding around the boats was bamboo. Bamboo grows wild here, in the wet zones, and is used for many things including scaffolding, house construction and covered bus stops.