January 12, 2019

Manta, Ecuador

It’s summertime!  (Apologies to my friends at home who are getting snow.)  Shortly after midnight we crossed the Equator and went from winter to summer.  I love these years when I get two summers!

Patty, Sherita, and I met at 9:00 to tour the area.  Because this is a working port you could not walk to the gate but instead there was a free shuttle to go into town to the Plaza Civica where there were handcraft stalls set up.

When we got to the Plaza we hired a cab for three hours.  HAL was asking $90 each for almost the same tour (we did not go to the museum they did) - we did it for $27 each.  We knew we wanted to go to Montecristi which is the home of the Panama hat.  Despite the name, the hats were never made in Panama but were shipped around the world from Panama.  They became very popular during the California Gold Rush (many of the miners came across the isthmus of Panama rather that sailing around the Horn) and again during the building of the Panama Canal.  Even Teddy Roosevelt had one.

Out taxi driver was Fernanado.  He had limited English but luckily, Sherita speaks some Spanish.  We drove the few kilometers from Manta to Montechristi where he took us to visit a Panama hat shop.  I don’t wear hats, I don’t think I look good in hats, and I did not plan to buy one.  Guess who came back with a hat????  Actually, it wasn’t as crazy as it sounds because my cruise seagrass hat had fallen apart last year so I didn’t bring it and I needed a sun hat.  (That’s my story and I am sticking to it!)

We then went part way up the mountain from which Montecristi gets its name.  There is a nice lookout at the Museo Ciudad Alfaro (where we met a couple of bus loads of HAL excursions).

Next Fernanado took us to the downtown area where we walked around and took some pictures.  The focal point of town is the Cathedral.  In the area near it are tributes to Eloy Alfaro.  He was a native of Montecristi, a leader of the Ecuadorian Liberal Revolution, and two-time President of the country before he was assassinated in 1912.

Our next stop was in the very small village of El Chorillo where we were able to see people making products from the agave plant. 

When we returned to Manta, Fernando took us on a drive around town before dropping us at the Plaza.  We decided to get a little more cash from an ATM (did you know Ecuador uses the US$ for its currency?).  With money in hand we did some shopping before taking the shuttle back to the ship.

It was after 1:30 and I was hungry and thirsty so I headed to the Lido for a late lunch and then sat out by the Lido pool knitting before afternoon trivia.

Only five on our team for afternoon trivia at 4.  We again were one off the winners with 12 out of 20.

1) Lavender, mulberry, magic mint and wild watermelon were once – flavors of Life Savers candy, Crayola crayon colors, Chapstick Lip Balm flavors, or Kool-Aid flavors?

2) Why are they called “kewpie” dolls?

3) Which two stars have an imprint of a cigar on their Hollywood Walk of Fame stars?

4) How many eyes on a standard deck of playing cards?

5) What is the collective noun for a group of giraffes?

It is amazing what people (myself included) will do to get those silly Amazon activity prize vouchers.  After trivia most of our team went to deck 4 for the ring toss.  We were all terrible – not one person got one ring but we did get our vouchers.  I am not sure I have mentioned it but this year you can get vouchers on port days.  On last year’s world cruise you could only get them on sea days.

Because of a couple of activities I wanted to do this evening, I told one of my dinner companions I was not going to be there.

After an amazingly fast dinner in the Lido, I went to the Crow’s Nest for evening trivia.  Pat and I were the only ones from our team so we played with a gentleman I first met on the world cruise last year (we sometimes joined forces when our teams were not there).  We tied with 15 out of 18 but Erin still gives tiebreakers and we lost that one.  (How many dominoes in a standard set?)

1) What Swedish car company’s name means “I roll” in Latin?

2) Which country consumes the most beer per capita?

3) What was the first Disney cartoon with synchronized sound?

4) What is the most plentiful metal in the Earth’s crust?

5) In 1933, what King was killed by the American army?

At 7:15 Sharon, Patty, Sherita, and Jim (from our Cruise Critic roll call) played “Majority Rules”.  In this game you get a point if you give the same answer as the majority of other teams.  All of the questions are opinions so there are no right or wrong answers per se. We had 5 out of 9 points with the winning team having 8.  A few we had tonight were…

1) What is the best age to get married?

2) What country is known for its cuisine?

3) What is the favorite port on this cruise?

4) What is the favorite candy bar?

5) If you forgot something for the cruise, what would be the most important to replace.

After the game we stayed for the second performance of the pianist, Paul Pappas.  He is very good.  Sure is a difference in the size of the audience for the 8 and 10 pm shows!

Panama hats…

unfinished hats

that has got to kill your back

After trying on about a dozen hats, this is the one I chose.  They are flexible enough to roll up in the box.

Agave…

spinning the fiber that comes from the leaves of the plant

finished sisal hemp ready to be made into bags for coffee beans

Museo Cuidad Alfaro…

Montecristi…

interesting street sign

the cathedral

mosaic of Alfaro

free wi-fi

Street scenes…

a hat maker

fresh ( and moving) crabs

boat building and repairs

From my deck…

lots of new vans

although it rained for a few minutes the sun returned

???

Afternoon trivia…

1) Crayola crayon colors

2) Named after Cupid

3) George Burns and Groucho Marx

4) 42

5) Tower

Evening trivia…

1) Volvo

2) Czech Republic

3) Steamboat Willie

4) Aluminum

5) King Kong (Pat was the only one to get it)

Tie-breaker – 28

Majority Rules…

1) 25

2) France

3) Rio

4) Snickers

5) Toothpaste

Smooth sailing until next time!