Manta, Ecuador

We made a quick trip into Manta, known locally as the Fish City because of its abundance of tuna and other ocean fish.  

Piscean Greeting at Entrance to Mantua, Fish City

The weather had begun to get muggy for the first time since we left Santiago.  Manta is a beach town, and we were able to see one of its six beaches from our veranda while at port. 

Manta, Ecuador  

We enjoyed an hour or so of shopping in the town square, where vendors from all over the country had come to entice us with their goods. 

Clothing Vendor at Manta Market

The best buy in the area is Panama hats.  Despite their name, these hats traditionally are made in Ecuador.  They can be very intricately woven, and some are valued at thousands of dollars.  They are lightweight and can be folded and easily packed. The women's hats have larger brims than do the men's hats.

Senor Karsten in Panama Hat

Senora Karsten in Panama Ha

Many vendors sold silver jewelry, much of it featuring turquoise, lapis, mother of pearl, and jade of poor quality.  Some clothing was made of lightweight cotton; other wearables were woven of heavy cotton.  The workmanship was really substandard--very inadequate seams and hems.  I figured that a blouse would possibly make it through two or three washings in a machine before falling apart.  The best buy seemed to be vicuna shawls, although the vicuna was not processed to a fine standard.  If you like big fat yellow brown cowboy belts, I apologize for not having bought you one.  Ditto, if you are into indigenous musical wind instruments.

Although we bought little, we did enjoy our little venture into Ecuador.  The people were very friendly and welcoming at the port and in town.  The country is trying to promote tourism in a big way, and representatives greet you as soon as you leave the last step of the gangway.  They gave us a travel tote, maps, and bookmarks.  But they have a way to go, as evidenced by our experience at the tourism tent.  For $2 US (and by the way, US currency is the Ecuadorian currency as well) they were selling postcards stamped and ready for mailing anywhere in the world.  We were all set to buy and mail to our philatelist friends when we noticed that not one of the dozens of cards they were selling had a picture of Manta.  Since we do not like to send postcards of things we have not seen, we took a pass.