‘Just Back’ from 31-Day South American Cruise on the Oosterdam.

[REOVA]

1 hour ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

 

 

 

This is the hummingbird statue we purchased. It is about 5 inches tall and is carved out of a single piece of ironwood.

 

Just curious if you have to seal or coat the wood when you get home. I remember Barbara (HALs old excursion host - RIP) used to talk about buying wood carvings around the world and her annual ritual of sealing them. 

[GeorgeCharlie]

We also have wood carving from around the world, some of them close to 50 years old, and have never had to do anything to them. It may be because we live in a relatively low humidity area and they have always been kept inside the house. 

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

After lunch we were entertained with the Embera ladies Dance performance, which is part of healing ritual and part celebrations. The dances are based on birds, flowers, mountain, or local animals dance performances.

 

 

Following was a group of men playing local instruments, such as a flute made from Bamboo; drum covers made of wild leather (the chimbombo); the smaller the Requinta drum which is made of similar leather; the Maraca made of Gorge; the Wiro made from Gorge and Turtle shell.

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

As part of the last activities before departing back to city, we had to earn our return trip tickets by participating in a local dance. Each of us were paired up with one of the locals

 

 

- with Lynne and I getting a pair of cute younger dancers.

 

 

 

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

The return boat/van trip took about the same length of time as it did to go out.

 

 

Overall, even with the tour being rushed, the was very interesting and well worth the time to see.

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

In the early evening of Nov 25th, we waved goodbye to Panama City.

 

 

And started our first true cruise to South America.🤠

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

I forgot to mention one other thing about the Embera culture. 

 

One of the unique features of the Embera is the body painting that they do. The Embera use the inedible fruit JAGUA to create a black dye that is then used to paint their bodies. The pigment remains embedded in the skin until the external layer is naturally exfoliated, generally lasting between 10 to 12 days. 

 

It is done primarily for body ornamentation and each design has a meaning, and each is different for age as well as gender. The jagua body painting is still in use for all celebrations and is one of the most enduring and important customs for both Waounan and Embera people.

 

Another thing of note regarding their use of the dye, is that they apply it to babies - due to it being a natural insect repellant. 

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

In the early hours of November 27th, we crossed the Equator.

 

 

Although, the King Neptune Ceremony was carried out at the Sea View pool mid-day on the 26th. All cruisers were welcomed to kiss the fish, to signify that they had officially crossed the Equator and were no longer a pollywog.

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

We arrived in Manta, Ecuador, the morning of November 27th.

 

 

We had arranged a private tour for 10 people with Narwell Tours. The tour was called 'Taste of Ecuador' and covered the main tourist sights in that area of Ecuador. The sights covered were; Fish Market and Shipyard; Pacoche Wildlife Refuge; San Lorenzo's Lighthouse viewpoint; Cuidad Alfaro Museum & Mausoleum; along with a stop for shopping.

 

The local Tarqui Beach was across the harbour from where we docked.

 

This beach is adjacent to where the Fish Market and Shipyard are located.

 

The Oosterdam as seen from the Fish Market.

 

The market is similar to what we have seen in other fishing port towns. The fishermen bring in the fish from their morning catch and prepare them for sale. There is a wide variety of catch here and it is quite a show to watch – especially the birds. There was the expected large number of different birds, all looking for a free meal.

 

 

The roof of the market was covered with them.

 

 

Of course, as an open air fish market, you expect to see lax food handling standards. But seeing some large fish laid out in full sunlight on the beach, caused us to question if they were really there for sale as human food. Our guide assured us that people would be buying them and taking them home to eat, or resell.

 

Well, at least the birds had their fill first!!

 

Inside the market building were tables full of various catch.

 

 

 

Outside the market was a covered eating area where people were able to have food cooked for them.

 

 

Nearby, there were several trucks with large ice-filled containers being loaded with fish.

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

There were also small stands, where you could get the fish you have purchased cleaned and descaled for 50 cents a fish.

 

 

A short video showing the preparation and sale of some shrimp.

 

 

 

[seeriteR]

We have the same tour booked for our cruise in March! Thanks for the preview!

[GeorgeCharlie]

A few steps away from the Fish Market was the shipyard, where the construction and repairing of large wooden fishing boats was done. This is one of the few remaining large wooden fishing boat shipyards in South America. We were there on a Sunday so nothing was going on.

 

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

Manta was our first stop in South America and, seeing we were the first large cruise ship to visit a number of these ports for several years, we encountered some tourism start up hiccups. Here in Manta, our guide was struggling with English, as he had not been speaking it for over 2 years.

 

In addition, there was lack of organization with our scheduled visit to the nature park. Our guide mentioned several times that we had to be at the park at a certain time, as a park guide was necessary in order visit the park. When we got there at the scheduled time - there was no guide. After several phone calls, it seemed no one knew if a park guide had actually been booked and if so, where he was. This required us to wait around for over an hour, before a guide returning from another tour, was able to take us out. And, as he had another group to take out in about an half an hour, we ended up seeing only about a half of what the regular tour offered.

 

Again, even with getting a shortened tour, we found the park guide to very informative and the the park to be an interesting place to visit. The park guide only spoke Spanish and our guide then had to translate it to English. It was here where he was having a difficult time with his English. There were times where the park guide would give a rather lengthy presentation on a particular animal, or plant, and after our guide tried to translate it unsuccessfully - we didn't end up getting much out of it.

 

Fortunately, the park guide sometimes had pictures of he was talking about on his tablet, some with even English explanations.

 

 

The Pacoche Wildlife Refuge is about 30 minutes from Manta.

 

 

The facilities were actually reasonably good, with a regular flush toilet and sink with running water.

 

Once a guide arrived, we set off down the rather hilly trail. Some sections were reasonably steep and had crude steps which were difficult to navigate in some cases.

 

The park nature guide describing a tree.

 

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

From there we drove over a restaurant near our next stop, the San Lorenzo’s Lighthouse viewpoint.

 

Lunch was included in the tour cost and consisted of deep-fried fish with rice.

 

On the beach in front of the restaurant there were a number of fenced off turtle nesting areas, where turtle eggs had been laid and now waiting to hatch.

 

 

From there it was a short drive to the viewpoint.

 

The walk over to see the lighthouse was apparently very strenuous, so none of our group went any farther then the to top of the first hill.

 

 

 

[seeriteR]

Bill, your port review is full of information! I appreciate the detail, especially since we will be visiting the same ports in a few weeks! Thank you! 

Jim

[GeorgeCharlie]

Thanks. Now if I could just find the time to do more work on it.🙄

[GeorgeCharlie]

I missed mentioning about something else regarding the Pacoche Wildlife Refuge.

 

There is a roadside restaurant beside the entry to the refuge park.

 

 

While we were standing around waiting for a guide, I noticed staff coming out and getting things out of concrete vault with burning wood on top of it. So I wandered over to have a look at what they were doing.

 

It seemed it was acting as a warming oven for food wrapped in leaves. The temperature was not high enough to cook as they were able to remove the food packages with bare hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[St Pete Cruiser]

Thanks for sharing your adventures.  I did this cruise in reverse in 2016 on the Zaandam, and it was wonderful.

[GeorgeCharlie]

After the visiting the lighthouse viewpoint, we drove over to Montecristi, a small town on the eastern side of Manta.

 

On a hill overlooking the town is the local Civic Center building, which contains a museum.

 

On the grounds of the Civic Center is the Mausoleum of José Eloy Alfaro Delgado, who was born in Montecristi. He was president of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1911 and the leader of the Ecuadorian Liberal Revolution.

He credited for finishing the construction of the railroad connecting Guayaquil and Quito, the separation of church and state, establishment of many public schools, implementing civil rights (such as freedom of speech), and the legalization of civil marriages and divorce.

 

Inside the Mausoleum.

 

Outside the Mausoleum is the steam engine brought to Ecuador in 1907, which once operated along the railroad traversing the Andes Mountains, linking the once disconnected highlands to the Ecuadorian coast.

 

 

The Mausoleum is the red building behind the front end of the engine.

 

View of Montecristi from the Civic Center.

 

 

 

 

 

[lockefloyd]

How can I find your blog  from the SA cruise to Antarctica?

[GeorgeCharlie]

18 minutes ago, lockefloyd said:

How can I find your blog  from the SA cruise to Antarctica?

 

Not sure what blog you are referring too, as we didn't go to Antarctica?

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

Montecristi is famous for being the birthplace of the Sombrero de Paja Toquilla, more commonly known as the Panama Hat.

 

In the 1850's, several Ecuadorians went to Panama to sell their straw hats at the busy trade centers. 

 

As people from Panama travelled to California for the gold rush sporting their straw hats, they were often asked where they got their cool, breathable, shady sombreros.

 

Since the hats were purchased in Panama, people started calling them Panama Hats even though they originated in Montecristi, Ecuador in the early 1600's.
 

A lady demonstrating the traditional way Panama hats are made. 

 

Our guide and shop owner showing the different qualities in Panama hats.

 

Molding the crown of a Panama hat.

 

A statue commemorating women making Panama hats.

 

 

 

 

[seeriteR]

2 hours ago, lockefloyd said:

How can I find your blog  from the SA cruise to Antarctica?

Maybe you mean the "Somewhat Live" report? Click HERE

Edited January 22, 2023 by seeriteR

[GeorgeCharlie]

We then visited the downtown area of Montecristi.

 

First a church.

 

 

Then the town square.

 

There were a number of street vendors selling clothing and regular household goods to locals.

 

Including clothing you would not expect to see in a coastal town in the northern part of South America, but being Christmas time, I guess they may make a good gift. Lynne bought her 'Panama Hat' here - actually a Christmas toque!

 

Best to leave sleeping dogs lie.

 

[Roz]

On 12/29/2022 at 6:16 PM, GeorgeCharlie said:

 

Regrettably, we found almost all aspects of the shipboard experiences to be disappointing. Regardless, we travel for the destinations and, as such, we would readily recommend the cruise to other people - as it had a great itinerary. 😎

 

I'm doing the opposite itinerary starting March 10.  I would be interested in hearing more about what you found disappointing.  Looking forward to this cruise in about 45 days.