15 THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT ECUADOR - Numbers 15-8

#15. TOILET PAPER?
This is going to sound bizarre, but one of the best inventions since sliced bread is the toilet paper in Ecuador.  Instead of a hollow middle with a cardboard tube, they start with a wrapped "mini" roll.  You just poke it out before placing your toilet paper on the holder, and then pop the mini roll into your bag or pocket when you go out.  Check any person's purse, backpack or beach bag and you'll find one of these little beauties tucked in somewhere. No more doing your business in a public washroom to find that someone has taken the last sheet off the roll. 

#14.  THE TOWN OF MONTE CRISTI 
This is the statue guarding the entrance to Montecristi where panama hats are actually made.  When U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal, he was photographed wearing one of the Ecuadorian hats that were commonly sold in the area. The photograph became famous (even before Twitter) and the hat was dubbed the "panama hat" even though it was, and still is, made in Ecuador.  The hats are hand-made in Montecristi and, depending on the quality and style, will sell for $20 to several hundred dollars.  The more expensive hats look and feel like silk and can be machine washed and re-shaped.  In addition to the traditional fedora, these beautiful hats come in all sorts of sizes, shapes and colors.  I bought a beach-walking hat with a wide brim and scarf for tying it on, and a "garden party" hat for dinners and more upscale outings.  In addition to hats, Montecristi boasts many shops with colorful woven goods and pure alpaca blankets and throws.  Prices are excellent and bargaining is expected.  A fun place to visit (and spend money).

#13.  THE BOATYARD
It was fascinating watching the Ecuadorian shipbuilders crafting these beautiful wooden ships by hand.  The wood for the keel is chosen based on the grain having the right bend, and then the ship is built from the ground up using mainly hand tools.  
We could spend hours just watching these master boatbuilders crafting these ships right on the beach in the same way their ancestors have done for centuries.  Sitting on the side of the beach, we could smell the sawdust and pitch used to coat the ropes (made out of de-husked coconut fibers) which were stuffed into any cracks between boards; hear the hand saws and hammers being used to size and fasten the boards; and watch the workers paint layers of fiberglass onto the wooden skins being fastened over the plank sides. 

The white boat in the picture here had just been completed and pushed out to await the high tide so it could be floated out into the harbour and anchored for the proud new owner.


 
#12.  THE FRESH FRUIT 
There are fruits available in Ecuador that I have not seen anywhere else in the world. Not knowing what to do with many of them, we decided that we'd buy a new one every time we went to the market or grocery store and experiment. Even though we went to market at least a couple of times a week during the two months we were there, we still haven't tried all the available fruits. 

Some fruits are good for juicing (eg. tree tomatoes and naranjilla) and some are yummy and fun to eat (like the baby bananas and sweet, yellow dragon fruit).  


One of our favorite fruits is the Granadilla.  Crack open the hard shell and inside is a green jelly full of seeds that looks just like a little brain. Then you dig in and eat the sweet and juicy fruit, seeds and all, with a spoon. I think of my late sister Karen, who was obsessed with Zombie movies, whenever I crack open one of these. She would laugh until her stomach hurt whenever the zombie "chased" a human (who had to run in slo-mo to ensure the zombie could keep up) so they could suck out their brains.  Weird, but fun. 

 



#11.  THE FISH MARKET
Every coastal town in Ecuador has a fish market, but Manta's may be the biggest and best.  The city is known as the "tuna capital of the world).  

It's a treat to be able to walk along and pick your fresh catch of the day, then have them filet it and provide you with what you want, all for about $3-5 a pound (or medio kilo).  Mahi-mahi, sea bass, shark, tuna, octopus, shrimp -everything you need to make a fresh grilled, steamed, baked, fried or stewed feast.

We also enjoyed watching the pelicans, herons and boobies enjoying the leftovers.

(Thanks to fellow travellers Dick Nash & Anita Oliver for letting us use the first photo in for this section. See their blog at No Particular Place to Go.)

#10.  TARQUI MARKET  

Right in the center of Manta is the busy Tarqui Market.  Extending over blocks, it is a cacophony of sights and sounds.  There are blocks of sidewalk displays of fresh produce where you can buy two whole pineapples for a dollar, or fresh made cheeses, eggs, peanut butters, jams and jellies, deep fried delights, or live chickens and ducks.  One of our favorite vendors walked around with huge loaves of fresh baked banana bread, still warm from the oven.  We always carried our backpacks when visiting Tarqui.

After finishing our "grocery shop", we would wander off to the other parts of the market, where there would be blocks of handcrafted hats, blankets, clothes, bags, backpacks, and shoes, more blocks of electronic gizmos, phones and various hardware supplies.  Whatever we needed, we could undoubtedly find at Tarqui Market. 

(Thanks to fellow travellers Dick Nash & Anita Oliver for letting us use their photos for this section. We forgot to take our camera with us on our market days).

#9. TRANSPORTATION
Although we didn't have a car in Ecuador, we never had a problem getting around.  Manta has a proliference of modern yellow cabs, with the typical fare being $1.   Just step out of your apartment building and raise a hand, and one will be at the curb before you get there. The highest cab fare we paid was $10, and that was to a town about half an hour outside Manta.

If you have to travel a longer distance, the bus service is good - fare between cities that may be hours away - $3 - in town it's .25 - half price for seniors.  Then there are the people movers; basically pick-up trucks with a covered back and bench seats on both sides.  And on the beaches you will have the motor transports shown here.


#8. SEA BIRDS
 We could spend hours watching the sea birds around the beach towns of Ecuador.  The blue footed boobies, tropical bird with their 3 ft long tail, herons walking the beach fishing for little fish and crabs left behind in pools at low tide, frigate birds soaring high overhead, and of course the amazing pelicans gliding just above the waves, wing tips gently dipping into the spray.

 It was easy to tell the birds apart in the air simply by their hunting style.  Boobies dive into the water like a cruise missile - sleek and fast - then disappear for a while, finally bobbing up to the surface with their catch.   

Pelicans, while graceful gliding over the surface, would do an ungainly face plant to catch their prey just below the surface, then distend their gullet to swallow it whole.  

We never saw the giant frigate bird land.  They would soar high in the sky, then dive down with their talons extended and pluck their prey from the water and quickly soar up to the sky again.  Even when the boobies, herons and pelicans would surround the fish vendors, stealing scraps from the scrap pile, the frigates would simply swoop down and grab something from the top of the pile in mid-flight, then with one flap of their giant wings be off again.