Manta, Ecuador

Our last day in our overland trip from Machu Picchu back to ship.
We had an early morning flight from Lima Peru to Guayaquil Ecuador where we met our driver and guide for a 3 hour drive to the port of Manta Ecuador where the ship is docked.
Along the way we saw some of the sights and the huge amount of plants, farms, trees and small towns in Ecuador. The farms raise just about every king of fruit. Mangos the size of a football and plantain bananas over a foot long. They use plantains for many kinds of dishes, from sweet to savory to seafood. There were fields of corn, mango trees, teak trees, avocado trees everywhere. 90% of the produce raised in the country is exported. They have many growing seasons a year since it is located on the equator. Each small town we passed through specialized in something different. When we were near the coast you could buy fresh crabs still alive from local fishermen. Then the next town would have fruit, then carved teak furniture, bowls, then honey, then empanadas. The locals shop by driving out of the city through the small towns to buy what they want or need. One car was covered by plantain branches and bananas. We stopped at a Panama hat store that makes the hats there from toquilla straw. Panama hats are actually Ecuadorian Panama hats - it's a long running fight about the naming of them with multiple stories about how they are called Panama hats. They split the straw, weave it, cut the strands and form the hat - all by hand. It was really an art form that they locals still do the old fashioned way. I did not buy a hat even though they were just beautiful. We did stop by a roadside stand to get some local sweets and snacks for later.
Then back to the ship for some time in the spa for steam sauna, cold water plunge and bubbly hot tub to relax after all the hiking and walking.Read more