ECUADOR fun and relaxation

It’s been a lazy and ‘local’ week here in Manta, Ecuador.  We’ve enjoyed exploring a couple of different beaches.  One in the city and one about 30 minutes from the city.

Walking down the city beach, we see a huge freighter nearby that is full of new cars.  The closer we got, the more massive it appeared.  I’ve always said I would love to take a tour of one of these huge ships.

We enjoyed our walk with Greg and Lisa and Amber (their rescue dog) of course.  Amber loves chasing the wee crabs on the beach and it is about the only time she barks ... when she is harrassing one !!  As tiny as these little crabs are, they put up quite a fight and display their little claws in a very brave way!
Here is Amber telling a crab what she thinks of it !!   We think Amber is from the Kelpie breed (thanks to friend Beris in Australia!)

Manta has always been know for its tuna fishing fleet and what I didn’t realize that when the boats full of frozen tuna finally arrive in port, they have likely been at sea for months !!  Not days !!

Here is a fun little fact about Ecuadorians...  the $2.00 bill is good luck !!   My friend Jan educated me about this and actually gave me 5 bills to use for the taxis.  Most of the time, the taxi drivers face lights up when he sees you have handed him a $2 bill .   

As much as they use US Currency here in Ecuador, the $2 bill is not a priority for the banks which means there is a scarcity of them here meaning there are very few in circulation.  It’s that scarcity that gives the bills their allure.  So much so that there’s even a black market for the $2 bill.  A clean, crisp new bill might sell for $4-$6!!  The superstition is that if you possess a $2 bill, more money will come to you!  So if you plan on travelling to Ecuador, and you plan on using taxi’s, bring a stash of $2 bills.

On Friday, we drove to San Lorenzo beach which is just south of the Pacoche Reserve we visited a week and a half ago.  It is another stunning, sandy beach with some gorgeous rock outcroppings for added beauty.  In the rock outcroppings, there is a cave you can walk through during low tide.  

This beach is a turtle conservation area.  When we arrived at the beach, we noticed several small roped off areas which information signs on them.  These signs indicate when the eggs were laid by the turtles.  Approximately 45 days later little turtles hatch and make their way to the sea.  Usually they do this at night because the moonlight reflecting on the water is their ‘guide’ to where they should be heading.  Sadly, some see the street lights up behind the buildings which is away from the beach and the head in the wrong direction.  They usually become bird feed or the sand crabs eat them.

This is the view of the village from the road above.  We enjoyed another $5 resh seafood lunch in a beachside grass shack restaurant here.

Here we are on the beach and near the cave entrance.  

We noticed a “Hostel” or “B&B” on the beach called Lookout Hostel.  We dropped in to see it and discovered the owners are George and Christine from Oyama in the Okanagan !! Right around the corner from our home in B.C.  They retired here 3 years ago and built this lovely B&B right on the beach.  Tonight we are spending the night because last night our friends Michael and Marla Finch (from Calgary) stayed over and were witness to hatchlings making their way to the sea by moonlight.!  Tonight it is our turn.  

If you want some secluded beach time in a clean and affordable B&B, check out this B&B.  Here is their website:   Www.thelookouthostel.com

Next post will be turtle hatchlings I hope !!  Until then....  

ECUADOR Beach and Market days

Friday has arrived and after a very lazy Thursday at home, we made plans to drive south to Santa Marianita which is a small village south of Manta about 20 minutes.  The road is windy and rolls up and down but is paved and easy to navigate.  Along the way, we see how the rural local people live and it is very interesting.  Many live in small brick homes on steep hillsides with fenced areas that run down the steep hill.  I would assume these areas are for goats or chickens.  We didn’t see much animal life but were happy about that because it was quite sunny and they wouldn’t have a lot of protection from the sun.  We would dip into a valley, then rise up and out to a stunning view of the aqua and blue Pacific Ocean.

Santa Marianita has been referred to by “Little Canada” becasue there are many Canadians who winter in this small beachside community over the winter months.  Here you will find some of the best kite-surfing in all of Ecuador.  There is a steady wind and the waves are quite favorable for this sport.  We even saw a sizeable Canadian flag blowing in the wind !!

Along the beach we found many little restaurants offering fresh fish and local menus.  We stepped into one and enjoyed a fresh fish meal with a couple of very cold beers as we enjoyed the stunning view of the beach and the ocean.  After an hour on this patio, we concluded that we have to make a couple of trips a week here for lunch or dinner and the uninterupted views of the Pacific !  The setting is just so perfect !

This meal was $5.00 and I couldn’t eat all of it.!

After lunch we enjoyed a long walk along the beach letting the waves swoosh in and wash over our feet.  Once again, we are mesmerized by the warmth of the water here !  Satisfied and refreshed, we drove through the village one more time and drove back to our city home.

Saturday has arrived and Joe is off to golf with the boys at Montecristi which is just south of here 20 minutes.  Jan and I decided to go to the Central Market (Mercado Centro) to stock up on our weekly supplies of fruit and vegetables.   All the farmers bring in their produce to this market which is on the second floor above a huge meat market.  I can tell you I want on that escalator fast and to get to the top because I do NOT like the smell of the meat market which is on the main floor!!   For less than $10 here is what I came home with today.

At the market, I learned that you hand the merchant $1.00 and ask him for whatever that $1 will get you.  In this way, you receive far more than you would if you gathered a quantity of something then asked “how much”.
I was delighted to find fresh pureed warm peanut butter at the market!!  I had been craving peanut  butter and could not find it in the grocery stores.  Voila - here it is at the market ... and it is warm because it has been ground from warm roasted peanuts !!

The vendor in this photo is scooping my peanut butter ‘order’ into a small plastic bag.  I had to squeeze it out of the bag into a container once I got home.

The bananas here are tree ripened (rather than being in a refridgerator truck for days and room temperature ripened) and you can just imagine how sweet they are !!  And the flavour is amazing!  I stocked up on more Dragon Fruit which has become one of our favorites here in Ecuador.  The peppers are full of flavour and tonight I think we will enjoy a stir fry of onions and peppers !

When you buy onions in the markets or grocery stores here, they are always peeled.  Here is a vendor peeling his red onions for display and sale in his stall.

That’s it for this blog.  Time to settle in on the balcony and get my nose into a good book !

Until next time...

ECUADOR 9-10 2018

It’s been a nice couple of days.  Tuesday was spent driving to Las Olas, the community where we eventually will build a winter home.  We walked around the property, looked at some homes that are near completion, walked down to visit the horses in the equestrian area (they need a farrier badly !!) and spent time on the most wonderful beach !!  The water is close to 90 degrees and so pleasant to be in.  We didn’t take time to swim but we sure did enjoy splashing around in it.

The construction of the homes at Las Olas is quite something!  Very sound and very safe.

Our sales person estimates that we might be able to start construction of our home next year at this time.  How nice it would be to sit on the deck every evening and watch the sunset over the Pacific !

We drove to the project with other Las Olas owners, and coincidentally, Dean the sales person (and his wife) and Mark and Jan will be our neighbors on each side.  Dean is from Florida and Mark and Jan are Calgarians.  Here we all are on our beach area.

On the way there, we pass through San Clemente, another seaside town where some ex-pats live or at least spend winters.  As well, we see Ceibo trees in every direction starting their pre-rainy season growth.  They are such a magnificent tree and a protected one as well ! Much like the Saguaro Cactus in Arizona is protected.  I took a picture of this one the day we drove to Montecristi.  The trunks are an amazing lime green in color and they are huge !  Just google the Ceibo Tree Ecuador and you will see some stunning photos of this stunning tree.

We wrapped up the day with our Las Olas family at a wonderful Japanese restaurant back in Manta - Kobe Sushi Roe.  Yummy !

Wednesday is here and there is a cruise ship in the port.  This means that many vendors from many provinces in Ecuador bring their crafts and wares and set up an outdoor market with the hope of the cruise ship patrons coming to town for Ecuadorian souveniers.

We went to the market and were amazed at all the artisans and what they had to offer.  From Tagua Vegetable ivory carvings to alpaca blankets to hand made jewellery and the ever-present Panama Hat.  There were some hat weavers who were demonstrating how the hats are woven.  Here is a video and a photo of this process.  They have to assume an awkward posture, leaning on a towel over a rock from a standing position.

Joe and I fell in love with the ladies selling the Alpaca shawls and sweaters and weavings.  It may be a mother and daughter...  here they are... aren’t they just the sweetest!  They are wearing the clothes native to their area of Otavala which is a smaller city of 50,000 people north of Quito.  They had to drive many hours but it must be worth the trip when the cruise ships come in.  The Ecuadorian handicrafts from the indigenous people are truly a work of art.

Here are a few more photos of the market today.

In the last blog I talked about Tagua - Vegetable Ivory.  It comes from the Tagua tree that grows a huge, hard spikey pod..inside of which there is a seed as hard as ivory.  From this they carve things.  Buttons are amazing !  Here are some pictures of the Tagua carvings.

 Above is a photo of the pod - the seeds within from which the carvings come.
Below is how they achieve carving then painting the buttons.

After leaving the market, we walked through a nearby park called “Centro Iguqna Parco” .  Suddenly we are seeing great big Iguanas all around us. They have come down out of the trees to eat little seeds or berries on the ground that have fallen from the trees.  They had NO fear of the pedestrians or tourists.  I even stroked the tail of one as it rested, with its full belly, on a tree trunk.  Have a look at these photos and a video.

Well - it’s been a wonderful two days here in Ecuador.

Til next time....

Pacoche Lodge and Reserve

The morning finds us heading out by 10:00 for a drive to Pacoche Lodge and Reserve.  It is only about 15 km south of our hotel and the whole way there is dry and desert like until we get about a mile out and everything starts to turn lush and green.  The reserve is conservation area called “Tumbesina’, recognized for its large number of endemic species, many of which are threatened.  The terrain is very dry in this area ... so be driving to a tropical area will be interesting !  From desert to almost rain forest in a matter of minutes.

On the way there, we took a more rural route that wound us through villags and small rural communities.  I love this type of driving because it allows us to see life as it is outside of the cities.  People live simply in this warm climate and all seem to be happy.  We passed many donkeys with their owners delivering some wares.  The donkeys that I see are all healthy and well cared for.

There are small schools and the kids are all wearing uniforms.  Their uniforms are clean and well cared for.  Most that we see are white cotton shirts and navy trousers or skirts for the girls. As well, along the way we saw several little groups of goats - all seemingly knowing where they were going !
And no concern for traffic if they were on the road !  We were quite aware that they demanded the right-of-way !

At the Reserve, there are 3 hiking routes to choose from - short, medium and longer.  They all start with quite a climb down a hillside.  The trail is made into steps with pieces of bamboo trunk.  It makes for easier walking rather than sliding unsafely down the steep grade.  We chose the middle hike which was about an hour and a half.  At the conclusion of our hike, we realized if we had taken the short hike, we would have missed the Howler Monkeys !

Yes !  We saw a family of Howler Monkeys.  Apparently, the reserve is home to at least 3 families of Howler Monkeys with 15-20 members of each family.  We were close to the end of the hike when we came across one family.  The males make loud howls that can actually be heard further than one kilometer !  We didn’t hear any of their calls today though.  Just watched them swinging from tree to tree and eating leaves.

As much as the Reserve information host shows us that we could see toucans, and woodpeckers and Mot-Mots, we heard the songs of many species of bird but only saw hummingbirds and one ‘hen’ type of bird.

This is the leaf/plant that the Panama Hats are made from.  It is called Paja Toquilla.  The process starts by cutting the fronds into fine strings.  They are boiled in water and dried.  The weaving can last from a few days to 6 months for one hat depending on how fine it is.  Which then is the reason the price for a hat can be a few dollars to a few thousand dollars !

Coffee beans in their green form and still on the vine.

This is from a tagua  tree.  From this strange looking piece of ‘fruit’ comes what they call ‘Vegetable Ivory from which they make jewellery and buttons.  The leaves are used for housing and the waste is used for brick making !  The “Tagua Nut” is being substituted for elephant ivory thanks to its similarities in color, appearance, hardness and feel.

We asked to see one of the guest cottages that overlook the reserve.  And we decided we would LOVE to spend one night in this tropical space listening to all the evening sounds from the hammock suspended on the balcony.  The rooms are simple but very clean and offer nice ‘banos’ with showers.

To read more on this preserve, you can go to www.pacochelodge.org/bio.php.  I won’t post all the pictures I took for this blog ... but will post them all on Facebook.

The afternoon was quiet for us.  time on the balcony enjoying the ocean breeze and the fly-by’s from the pelicans.  They do this regularly all day long.  I love watching them !  Daily we also watch the Frigatebirds hovering over the water and the hotel.  They are good fishing - that’s for sure !