Mar 10 - Quito (Manta), Ecuador

DONNA PHILLIPS : The recent series of late night hangs and back to back ports have reintroduced a milder version of the coughing virus to Studio 6453. Our hearty friends from the ship's crew have her on a steady dose of hot Cognac and Lime Juice and my Dad has taken the cue but added honey to his after dinner drink. On the first leg we slept long hours and took plenty of Vit C, the bug latched on for 3 weeks. This time, we're staying out late laughing with friends in the Cigar Latin Jazz Bar drinking Cognac (myself Guiness) and the bug doesn't have nearly the grip this time - I find this point very interesting. The crew doesn't let colds and flu stop them with only 4-6 hrs of sleep on most nights, so I figure, why should we.

Regardless, Sandy decided to hang back on the ship after we pulled into one of the hottest ports so far - not surprising since Ecuador literally means Equator. So here we are at the center of the Earth again. Some of the guests chartered a plane for the longer trip to Quito, however most of us stayed in the port city of Manta and went to the beach.

A few facts about Manta, the second largest port of Ecuador behind Guayaquil. It is the fifth largest city in Ecuador and it's named for the Manta culture. It is the sister city to Long Beach, CA with an average temp of 80-85º and the local currency is the US dollar.

Montecristi is noted for it's colonial architecture and famed for its wickerwork weaving and birthplace of Panama hats. One famous episode in Manta history occurred when a Boeing 707 carrying cargo crashed into the town's wooden church in 1996. Amazingly, the statue of the Virgin Mary survived intact.

Playa Murcielago is Manta's most popluar beach and was located right next to the ship's pier making it a popular choice for the port weary crew and passengers. Tina, the supper club hostess from Macedonia, and I found ourselves on the shuttle bus together so we decided to hangout on the beach together to people water, drink beer and swim. We found a nice set of wooden lounges under and umbrella for $2, two large local Pilsners for $1.50 ea and settled in to our decompression session. The water was the perfect, the breeze refreshing, the overall effect was extremely relaxing.

I heard raves from some crew members about the local seafood at the ocean side restaurants. I heard from my Dad that downtown was cute, hot and sticky and was glad I didn't try to brave it. For me it was the perfect port for winding down this exhaustive trip of South America.

We set sail at 8pm for Acupulco, MX - one Equator Crossing and three Sea days away. As fabulous as all this has been, I am needing to get back to that blue line horizon for a little necessito perspectivo. Ola! ~dkp