Tuna Capital Of The World
Manta is known as the “Tuna capital of the world” due to its main industry: fishing. Ecuador is one of the main suppliers of tuna to the world.
January 11, 2014
Manta, Ecuador
A friend of ours wrote, “ Charlotte, it seem as though you have a Mama, or auntie at every port.
”Between myself, and my husband, it is true. We have friends all over the world. It is with this thought that I heard my name mentioned out loud after I got off the shuttle bus from the Port of Manta, to the central plaza, “Charlotte!” I heard an excited voice. “Claudia,” I replied while hugging my Ecuadorian friend. Next, I hugged her two boys, Yawirick aged 10 years old, and Israel who is six years old. Behind them was Jaime,my friend's husband. We hugged each other like long lost family. Four years had lapsed since we last saw each other. The kids had grown taller and at first glance looked more handsome.
My friend Claudia was wearing the traditional embroidered white blouse, with matching colorful waistband, and skirt. She hasn't changed much, and looked exactly the way I remembered her.
They drove eleven hours from their home in Otavalo (600 km.) to come to Manta, the tuna capital of the world,to meet us; and also to set up their stall in the market. Jaime and Claudia sell beautiful alpaca sweaters, scarves, bags, ponchos and other souvenir items.
Manta, Ecuador was our first South American port stop. Being the tuna capital of the world, their main export is of course tuna. There are three kinds of Tuna; yellow fin,big-eyed tuna and the most delicate one which is the blue fin tuna. Tuna can grow very big and can weigh as much as 200 lbs. Aside from tuna, Manta has a coastline with beautiful beaches, fishing villages,modern cities and protected forests.
The sea, the unspoiled beaches, and the tropical forest intertwine with the Pre-Columbian culture make Manta a lovely and unique coastal town.
“Where do you want to go today?”Claudia asked us.
“Anywhere you want to take us,” we replied.
For two hours we spent the time watching the Ecuadorian cultural presentation held at the central square right next to us which was to the left of the many colorful stalls. Once in a while, I would go meander around various shops and look at souvenir items. It was a dizzying array of bags, sweaters, blouses, blankets, ponchos, scarves, hats, paintings, magnets and key chains. In between surveying what to buy, I would emerge taking photos of the locals and their wares. This was a hard thing to do, by asking them to pose for a photo, even if I wasn't intending to buy. But Ecuadorians are honest and friendly people always wanting to please their tourist guests.
Photo ops done, I moved on to priority number two, shop for those beautiful alpaca sweaters. Claudia had already given us sweaters to take home for my grandson Darell and Dylan. She also gave me a hand embroidered table cloth and a few other beautiful items for my daughter Charelle.
She introduced us to her Uncle Alberto where we purchased red alpaca poncho for Bert's daughter, Heather. We also met Claudia's sister in-law and Jaime's cousin, Luis, Richard and Arnold as well as cousin Christian who was manning their shop temporarily while they showed us around. For lunch, Claudia took us to an outdoor seafood restaurant on the beach. We had our taste of delicious Ecuadorian food with matching serenade from two local guitarists.
Lunch done, Jaime picked us up and we went to Pacoche Forest. The kids, and Claudia, and two cousins,Richard and Ronald jumped into the back of the pick-up truck. It was a 45 minute drive but because Jaime is not familiar with the road, we took a wrong turn three times.
Pacoche is a reserve located in the hills overlooking the beautiful coastline. We passed through some of the most picturesque towns before arriving there. We met our guide, 63 year-old, Alvia Reyes. He agreed to take all eight of us to the trail for only US$15.00 for a one and half hour hike. We kept to the trail brimming with towering red and yellow haliconias, orchids and bromeliads. At a clearing, we came upon huge bamboos, the poles were as big as my thighs. To our left was a huge tree similar to a banyan with trunks as wide as two meters. In just five minutes, with our luck, we got our first sighting of howler monkeys with their brown backs in the dense shadows of the trees. They are permanent residents of the Pacoche reserve and live in groups of eight with one alpha male.
Pacoche is well-known for the howler monkeys, and over 250 species of birds, from which, 55 are endemic.
“Mira, Mira, agila,” Alvia whispered, pointing to an eagle perched just above our heads. It was a big eagle and Alvia said that this was the kind that eat the monkeys. For several more minutes we walked in between walls of haliconias and tangled vegetation. Then he showed us what looked like palm leaves. It is the paja toquillo, the material used for weaving Panama hats. He picked a few leaves and after stripping and twisting the reed, he demonstrated how to weave a hat. Most people do not know that the unique Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador, not in Panama as the name would imply. These hats were the backbone of the Ecuadorian economy in the 1960's.
Alvia proceeded to explain how the ladies will boil the fiber in huge pots in order to soften the material. After drying the fiber, the hard work starts by forming it row by row. The finer the hat, the longer it takes to finish. A super fine hat may take from three months to six months to weave. When it is done and rolled, it will fit through a wedding ring. Once the weaving is done, the hat needs to be shaped and finally the traditional black band is fitted and the hat is completed.
“Once, there was a man who requested a superfino hat and it took a year to finish it. It cost him twenty five thousand dollars!” declared Alvia.
“What?” “Just for a hat,” I responded.
After rewarding us with his demonstration, we continued the hike and emerged into a group of monkeys happily swinging from branch to branch. We were spell bound when we saw the baby monkey only as big as a small stuffed toy. It wasn't very far from the mother monkey. We watched without talking,creeping close to the tree, listening for several minutes. We were so close we could see its features and the way they hung on to the branches. For a moment they huddled together then they both leaped to another branch to another tree with graceful movement. Then the others joined them. For a few more minutes we feasted our eyes upon this group of monkeys, playing, eating and grooming. We stood silently all looking up with curiosity and amusement. None of us dared moved, fearing that we might spook the throng.
From colorful butterflies to loud birds, howling monkey’s and from giant trees to small mammals, the Pacoche forest is full of life.
After we left the monkeys, we came upon the Tagua, (vegetable ivory) palm plant. These are only found in Ecuador and Colombia. Alvia explained that the Tagua nut is peeled,cut, and made into buttons, sculptures and souvenirs.
“At the market, we saw those sculptures shaped as dolphins, turtles, and fish. They look like ivory wood but they are actually the Tagua nuts,” Claudia said.
“The seed of the Tagua palm in its rough state is roughly the size of an egg. When first processed, it is soft and workable, but later becomes as hard as ivory,” she continues.
We were on our way out to the parking lot when we heard a deep loud growl of the alpha male monkey as if expressing his delight that we are now out of his domain. It was a remarkable experience to see and hear them. We responded by saying,“ adios, mono!”
Our next tour was at the colonial town of Montecristi founded in 1628 and located below an imposing hill. It is renowned as the center of the Panama hat industry. Eloy Alfaro, the former President was born here and we saw his statue in the main square. His ashes are kept in the mausoleum at the Alfarocentre, which, on top of the hill, is a good lookout over the town of Montecristi.
“He joined the mountain ranges and the coast by building a railroad across the country. Some people loved him, some people hated him. It is a split. He is considered the father of Ecuador,” described Luis while we admire the view of Montecristi.
“Ecuador is unique. We have twenty-two provinces. We have the Amazon, the Andes, the Pacific Coast and the Galapagos Islands,” continued Luis.
“It is beautiful,” I said while hoping we could come back and stay for a longer period.
Claudia and Jaime took us back to the port shortly before 10:00 pm. We had an amazing visit with them. The excitement of the whole day and then suddenly saying goodbye caused me to forget about the waiting shuttle bus behind the port gates. We were still hugging each other when the guard called to us.
“Please hurry up, that's the last shuttle to the cruzero!” he called.With that I said, “Adios, vaya condios, mi amiga.” “Keep in touch, “ I uttered.This was another beautiful experience in our first port stop in South America. The joy of seeing my friend and her family was truly a happy occasion.
To Claudia and Jaime, muchas gracias, mi amigos! No other message could have been sweetly translated from one friend to another.