First day in Manta, Ecuador

A quiet Corona, complete with lime and salt rim, before the very noisy lunch

This time, the remainder of the pop was carefully distributed, without any spillages. It’s a shame the sunsets are so early now (6.45pm), as by the time we’ve got our act together and frocked up, it’s generally an hour later. However, it was still lovely to sit in the dark on our balcony, chewing the fat, as the sea drifted past us. There is something rather brochure-esque when you’re glammed up, sipping something lovely and watching the sunset. I guess if we want all of that, we’ll just have to get organised earlier in the evening. 

We’d checked out the menu for the main restaurant earlier in the day, and it didn’t look too bad for the evening’s Celebration Night. We were in a new zone of the restaurant last night, so new server. We ordered (no adaptation to the menu I hasten to add) and within 2 minutes of us ordering, our server came back and asked if I was on a “special diet”. It’s not often I’m lost for words, but I was a little flummoxed by said question. I’d ordered a veggie starter and a fish main and not faffed with the menu in any way. For want of not having a clue how to respond to him, I told him I was on the “stay slim diet” which he thought was highly amusing.

I think I must have been on one last night, as I then pondered to Nick how weird it was that it was perfectly acceptable, on a cruise, to opt to sit with entire strangers and do so every evening. Well, you wouldn’t do that if you were going out for a meal back home, so why do it on a cruise? The other morning when we were actually up early enough to go to the main restaurant for breakfast, some folks were doing it then. I mean, breakfast? Chatting to strangers? I can just about summon up a grunt and a groan to my bloke at that hour of the day. In my defence though, my grumpiness is usually down to his volume of snoring and thus keeping me awake most of the night. 

We topped Celebration Night off with a diversion into The Glass House and a particularly lovely glass of Madeira. I had forgotten how very nice Madeira is. We’ve booked a wine-tasting event there in a couple of days’ time. That should be fun.

This morning our first view was of a fairly cloudy sky, but land. Manta port loomed and as ports go, it didn’t seem too bad. We have definitely had worse views, however, it will be too noisy to have the balcony doors open tonight. No container ships, just heavy-duty tuna trawlers and smaller fishing boats. There’s an all-pervading smell of (what I believe to be) rotting vegetation. Not entirely unpleasant, just slightly alien. The other thing I woke up to this morning, was a cold. A belated Valentine’s gift from my dear beloved.

Tuna trawler with helicopter and speedboats. Nets on the stern

The tuna trawler unloading right outside our balcony

Manta, we found out later, is the capital of tuna. Not surprising, given the volume of tuna trawlers there were in the port, all unloading their haul into waiting trucks. They were impressive with huge derricks for hauling in the long nets, a very high conning tower from which to spot the tuna shoals and the support of helicopter, speedboats and the latest technology. It's a massive business and the fish are unloaded, frozen and steaming, into waiting lorries.

After a late breakfast, with most folk having left for the day on trips, we had a wander around the top deck, just so we could take in the views of the city and then caught the shuttle to the terminal. No walking was allowed in the port. The terminal was clean, relaxed and modern. Manta is Spanish-speaking, so we realised we’d be able to get by. There were Hawkers outside the terminal building, lining the pavements for those doing the walk into town. There were some lovely straw-covered huts by the beach. The buildings were modern without being flashy and the general area was clean and tidy.

Although I’d thought I’d brought enough lotions and potions for this trip, I am fast running out of the second jar/tub/tube of all my beautification gadgets, so felt Manta might be the place to replenish those items. We found a pharmacy in a shopping centre which had everything I needed. I swear we spent longer at the till than we did searching for my items. Maybe the guy was new, but everything he did, he had to do again. Then when he wanted us to pay, which was through debit card, he wouldn’t or couldn’t give us the value. Trying to explain to someone that we weren’t parting with our PIN details until we knew the value with which we were parting, turned into a bit of a farce. Thankfully his colleague in the next till understood what we were getting at and gave us the amount. Job done, PIN details entered, receipt accepted and off we went.

We decided that as the beach was so close, we’d have an explore in that area. Again, lots of hawkers and everyone trying to encourage us into their beachside restaurants. We weren’t ready for lunch at this point and actually just wanted a coffee. However, with temperatures of 29 degrees, we found a shack along the prom and had a cold, salty, limey Corona in the bottle instead. It was perfect sitting by the sea with a breeze coming off the sea.

Eventually, lunch beckoned and there was a myriad of restaurants to choose from. All the restaurant owners, plying for our business. Salad? I asked. Yes of course came the reply. He lied. We did a rapid translation of the menu and chose prawn omelettes in lieu of a salad. We asked for rosé wine. Nope, they only did beers and cocktails. Ok, no worries beers it is and then 5 minutes later they rocked up to the neighbouring table with a bottle of wine! And we’d asked in our very best Spanish.

Conversation between us was pointless as all the restaurants were competing to have their music heard over the next restaurant. Then of course there were the inevitable hawkers coming and trying to sell their wares. Then there were more musicians coming to do a turn at each restaurant. Then there were the beggars. It’s back to the whole cycle of sensory overload after being in a peaceful environment for so many days. Eventually, the heat got the better of us and we returned to the ship late afternoon, knowing we were having an early start tomorrow for a full day trip to Machalilla National Park. 

Pelicans on the quayside

On our way back to the ship, on the quayside, we noticed there were some pelican-type birds we’d not been able to identify earlier in the day when they were flying around the town. And here they are for your delectation! More stories tomorrow.