#237. 7/12/04 Manta

The town of Manta lies in a bay on the pacific coast and is Ecuador's second biggest port city. It's hot and noisy and comes with a beautiful beach and rude people. Our host family excluded, people here think it's ok to stare at the two bearded, purple headed gringos. Every empty taxi that passes assumes we want a ride, stops and honks profusely at us. Add to that the oppresive heat, large insects and habit of dousing every meal in that horrid herb celantro, and I don't think it's a town I could live in.

Despite all that, nothing can beat sitting on the beach on a hot day in the shade of a palm tree watching the wheeling frigate birds and pelicans and scurrying lizards. The local speciality here is cerviche; raw sea food marinated in lemon juice and spices and is great with a cool Pilsener brand beer. All topped off with plenty of nice refreshing cold showers.

The heat makes it hard to pay attention in school. In spite of this, I am learning and have reach the milestone of being able to say the "Little Piggies" nursery rhyme in Spanish to the kids in our family. At night we do our homework or head into town to drink in a pub shaped like a big pirate boat. Arrr. It's nice to sit in the stern and watch the very strange world go by. We witnessed an entire family of 6 on a single motorcycle. All without helmets. Loco! Surprisingly the pubs here all sell Franciskaner. Tasty, but very expensive and Ecuador's national beer "Pilsener" is growing on me.

While we're here we endevour to take day trips here and there. One day in a banana farm another in another beach town. Cruzita is near Manta and has a beach full of dead pufferfish. Whilst there, we met a bearded traveller from Venezuela. He's cycling down the Andean coast selling bracelets and working on construction sites while living under a plastic sheet. I'm reading "Motorcycle Diaries" at the moment and this encounter dovetailed nicely into my current frame of mind.