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3 Stars - 17 Opinions
Ruta del Sol - Machalilla, Puerto Rico Community, Manabi, Manta, Ecuador
of people enjoy staying here
17 Opinions
Harbor light in the morning
Oceanographic ship
Sailing dinghy
Lighthouse and oceanic survey ship
We are scheduled to do two stops in Manta on a cruise ship
Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008 6:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thursday, Nov 27, 2008 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
We will also be in Guayaquil, Ecuador on November 26th where we are doing the Guayaquil City & Historical Park tour.
The only tour the ship lists for Manta is one that deals with the manufacture of Panama hats. Is that a worthwhile activity? Is there anything else I should try to see or do in Manta or nearby that would give us a good view of Ecuador?
The Panama hat thing is pretty touristy. Equatorianos don't really wear them, they're mostly for export.
If you're feeling adventurous, there's a little shipbuilding/fishing village just north/east of Manta called Jaramijo (20 min by taxi) with a sleepier feeling than the city. There's a great restaurant just east of the square with a beautiful open-air patio view of the coast.
If you like seafood, you should seek out a bowl (or two) of the local pre-Columbian soup called Encebollado. Because Manta has a large fish industry, fresh fish is abundant. Encebollado is a Tuna steak soup with cilantro, onion, tomatoes, yucca and a mild chile broth. The portions of tuna that you get in the soup can be astounding considering the low price. You can find it in the better seafood restaurants or from the food carts on the street.
Also, Ecuador is one of a handful of countries that claim Ceviche (fish cooked in citrus juice) as a national invention. Their version is less of a salad like the Peruvians make and is more of a light cold soup. I prefer the Ecuadorian version myself.
Ecuador is a beautiful country with very friendly people. The coast tends to get overlooked because most visitors to Ecuador visit the mountains and/or Amazon and skip the coast and go on to the Galapagos. As a result. Ecuador's coast is extremely beautiful and largely unspoiled. Manta is one of the largest cities on the coast, so you may want take a short daytrip away to get more diverse feel for the country.
Guayaquil is great as well. Artur's Cafe in Las Peñas is the best dining experience in town (and it's a big town.)
The Manta Harbor is a commercial port first of all. It is a big port and easy to get into for the cruise ships, but you can't walk on the pier because of all the commercial port activity. But I had a good time standing on the deck and watching all the activity.
We didn't really see much of the city of Manta aside from the port area. It is a commercial city and does not have much in the way of tourist facilities.
Although I understand that in the Province of Manabí are 300 kilometers of some of South America's most breathtaking beaches, which led to Manta being selected as the site of the sixth South American Windsurfing Championship.
This visit we got outside the port gates, and I was able to take pictures of local scenery. The picture of Bob waiting for me was really so that I could take a picture of the chess players in the background.
I also have pictures of the ceramic for sale on the museum steps, the port entrance from the city side, and an advertisement for Lighthouse Kindergarten.
There is an information place just about a block away from the port. They were able to tell us where the museum we were looking for was (across the street) and they had A/C in there.
I don't know what other information they have.
I took a picture of an explanation of the exhibits and this is the translation of it.
Ceramics and Custom of offering food to the Dead
MILESTONE
Valdivia, one of the oldest pottery traditions of the New World
Valdivia ceramics was 6000 years ago, one of the oldest pottery traditions and highlights of the continent incorporating religious concepts which were later used by other societies in the Americas
Since then, the use of social, ceremonial and utilitarian ceramics has been an outstanding dimension in Native American culture, it is the expression for ceremonial meals, which even today, is part of events central to the social and religious life of indigenous groups
The habit of giving food and drink in special pots aims to communicate the affection felt for the community of the ancestors and the guardian spirits of plants and animals which mean fertility and abundance
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A: "Manta is generally sunny, sometimes slightly rainy, but most probably cloudy from May to October. It's really hot and wet from November to March... This is a tip for the..."
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