ECUADOR more

Starting out with a laugh.  Joe went to the management office to say he had left some shirts hanging in the other apartment.  When he spoke with her, she gave him her phone and said to speak his question into it - which he did. He said I want to get into apartment 802.   The translation came back in Spanish as “I want to get inside you”... the young lady in the office laughed hysterically ... and finally when she could get control of herself, showed Joe what the translation was!  Of course, he came back to the apartment laughing his face off as well !

We were in the city on Saturday.  Our driver took us to a huge market.  The lower floor was all different kinds of fish and meats.  The 2nd floor was all fruits and vegetables.  A wonderful fresh market to load up on our produce.

This particular fruit is called a "Marcuya" (mah-rah-coo-YAH).  It is often referred to as passion fruit and is rather hard to cut in to.  But once you slice into it, you dig out the gooey seed mix and eat it.  It is a combination of tart and sweet all in one mouthful.  The vendor says to put it in a blender and then add the mix to yogurt.  We will try this tomorrow !!  I like it just as it is.

This array of fruit and vegetables cost around $10.  Strawberries, papaya, mango, radishes, pineapple, limes, passion fruit, and dragon fruit.  The benefits of the dragon fruit are amazing, from strengthened immune system and faster healing of bruises and wounds and eating lots of it results in fewer respiratory problems !  Google this fruit - if you find an article by Dr. Mercola, you will want to be eating a lot of dragon fruit !!!  It's the red one nestled into the pineapple in the photo.

Later in the day, we drove south a few minutes to see San Mateo by day.  It is a sleepy fishing village only about 10 minutes drive from our hotel.  The people are simple and kind.  Many families come here on the weekend to enjoy picnics on the sandy beach and swim.  The water here is almost 80 degrees so swimming is enjoyable !  The town has a few resident stray dogs but they are well fed and not timid or afraid of us.  When we pulled over to read a map, there were a couple who came towards the car waiting for a handout...   The dogs are even vehicle savvy - they cross at cross walks and I watched several 'pairs' look both ways before crossing !!!

Back home for a steak dinner (we have a butcher nearby who is Ecuadorian but grew up in the USA.  He owns the butcher shop and the ranch where the grass-fed beef comes from).  With new potatoes from the market and green salad, it was a nice end to the day.  

 On Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast in the condo and then headed out for a drive south of the city to Montecristo.

It's a tired and old little town but we drove down there because there is a golf development that we wanted to see.  There were vendors on every corner with the produce and every hundred yards or so as well as little stalls selling sacks of dried corn.

We had been invited to go golfing but having nothing here in the form of golf wear.. we opted out of playing but a Sunday drive for a cappuccino was a nice alternative.  It is very beautiful and the coffee was outstanding !  Originally, the clubhouse was someone's mansion and it truly is quite grand !  Here we are driving into the golf property.

The bougenvillia hedges are stunning on this property.

What we couldn't find is where they make the Panama hats in Montecrisit.  That will be another drive for us one day.  This statue tells the story of the ladies who toil so hard to make the Panama hats. It is near the north entrance to the town. It is constructed of beautiful ceramic tiles.

On the way home we stopped at a Mercado (grocery market) and picked up a few items for dinner.

Here is a map of the nearby area from where we are staying in Manta.

Tomorrow we are driving to a huge nature preserve.  Should be good material for the next blog !

All is well - enjoy the read.