Lunch time

We had walked the beach in front of the fishing village about a mile south of our house, but decided to revisit using the main road. Small brick and concrete homes lined both sides of the road with dirt side streets branching off on the steep hill.

We joined Linda, a German couple, and another American couple for lunch in a small beach restaurant. It was part of a line of 8 tiny restaurants on the beach between Linda's house and the fishing village. As one might expect the menu was seafood. The restaurant floor was packed dirt, the structure was bamboo supports, with split bamboo walls and a thatched roof.

I had the fried shrimp which was at least a pound of shrimp very lightly battered. It included rice, salad, fried plantains, and a local beer for five dollars. Lunches in Ecuador are a long, leisurely, social affair. Just another sunset:

Fishing village

The south side of the beach has a small fishing village. When idle, the boats rest on big logs. Launching involves rolling the boats from the logs on to a trailer for a short trip to the waters edge. Pushing the boats around then out through the surf takes several people. Men, women, and the occasional child pitch in to help. Once floating the boats are poled out far enough to lower the 75hp outboard.

Some of these boats might go off fishing alone, but most tie off to larger fishing boats waiting just offshore. When 6 to 8 smaller boats are tied to the mother ship in two rows it is off to sea. The smaller boats tend the fishing nets of the big vessel.

When we asked what they were fishing for - the answer was: "Anything they can catch". De Anne and I will visit the local fish market this week and next door is the boat building yard where the fishing boats are constructed with hand tools and wood.

Our place

We are quite comfortable in our little studio apartment on the beach - especially the view from our porch.

The front yard:

This weekend is the Ecuador independence day celebrations so we are braced for the loud, and exciting crowds to hit the beach.

Beach walk

We strolled down the beach yesterday. The beach is about 3 miles of sand between 2 rocky points. The northern point is a rocky, tidal pool area teeming with wild life. Except for a couple fishermen we had it all to ourselves. Note the mini-lighthouse on the bluff:

Looking back down the beach from the point:

De Anne inspecting the tidal pools:

Looking down

De Anne and I walked up the road this morning and out on to the bluff overlooking the beach to enjoy the vista. Sunday was a busy, party day at the beach for the locals. Today we have it all to ourselves. Click on any picture to enlarge. The inland view:

Sea view:

Our house with the white roof:

Picture quality for this trip is greatly improved thanks to our youngest son, Theron. He gave us a new camera for Christmas.

New friends

Linda invited us to join the ex-pat group for lunch in town Saturday. We all met at a Manta beach cafe. Since this is a major fishing port I decided to throw caution to the wind and have the grilled tuna steak. Those aware of my feelings about eating any fish not deep-fried will be impressed. I even ate my plantains and snacked on some interesting chips until I found out they were fried banana chips. By that time it was too late - I don't like bananas, but made an exception this once. All the folks we met were friendly and fun. They made us feel part of the group right away. It was a fun 4 hour lunch.

The worse we can say at this point is that the condition of the roads (I use the term loosely) is bad. A couple paved miles littered with deep potholes, then a couple miles of dirt road, then gravel sprayed with a thin asphalt coating, then back to pavement for a while.

Arriving in Manta

We had an uneventful bus ride (the best kind) to Manta. On the bus, while viewing the sights we were entertained by a combo of salsa music and Chinese martial arts movies dubbed in Spanish. Both were at full volume - at the same time. Helped to keep me from falling asleep. Linda, our landlord for the month, picked us up at the Supermaxi supermarket. We arrived at the beach house in time to unwind before sunset.

Linda has a number of dogs and cats. Splash, one of the cats, fell in love with me at first sight. It's just the kind of guy I am (he stated modestly).

The beach is great, and Linda has already introduced us to about 20 ex-pats in town.

In Ecuador

Arrived this evening in Guayaquil and spending the night before catching a morning bus to Manta. Hopefully a picture of the sun setting over the Pacific tomorrow.