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Lovely day in Manta, Eucador! Cloudy so quite comfortable as we travel by Chivas, traditional bus, from the ship to Montecristi. Manta's the world leading supplier of tuna and the port is full of tuna boats. Montecristi is the home of the "Panama hat". Actually it's a Montecristi hat, supplied to Panama but know the world over as a Panama hat.
We visited a family owned business - the process is incredibly long. From timing the cutting of the raw palm to separating the fibres and the boiling and drying the material - everything is done by hand. Family members specialize in different parts of the process so everyone has a hand in the final product. It can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 5 months to make a hat - the tighter the weave the longer it takes and the more expensive the hat. What fun we had - Adrian and I each bought a hat and celebrated with a local beer.
We also bought a fridge magnet today - but for our door - each day more and more cabin doors have been decorated by passengers! Given the average age, some of the artwork likely helps folks with dementia find their door. Such a fun practice we decided to follow suit. Just like back in my university dorm days! Our magnet depicts a woman making a hat - perfect commemoration of our day here.
We're in cabin 7059 perfectly situated, starboard side, midship. Deck 7 is 2-3 flights below the pool, Terrace Cafe, walking track and so on and 2-4 flights above the Grand Dining Room, Boutiques, Baristas Coffee, reception and the gangway. While the elevators are well used by others we take full advantage of our location to get some exercise without having to officially workout.
We visited a family owned business - the process is incredibly long. From timing the cutting of the raw palm to separating the fibres and the boiling and drying the material - everything is done by hand. Family members specialize in different parts of the process so everyone has a hand in the final product. It can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 5 months to make a hat - the tighter the weave the longer it takes and the more expensive the hat. What fun we had - Adrian and I each bought a hat and celebrated with a local beer.
We also bought a fridge magnet today - but for our door - each day more and more cabin doors have been decorated by passengers! Given the average age, some of the artwork likely helps folks with dementia find their door. Such a fun practice we decided to follow suit. Just like back in my university dorm days! Our magnet depicts a woman making a hat - perfect commemoration of our day here.
We're in cabin 7059 perfectly situated, starboard side, midship. Deck 7 is 2-3 flights below the pool, Terrace Cafe, walking track and so on and 2-4 flights above the Grand Dining Room, Boutiques, Baristas Coffee, reception and the gangway. While the elevators are well used by others we take full advantage of our location to get some exercise without having to officially workout.
We're back in time for Adrian to watch the football game -
The ship across the wharf from our stateroom has been unloading tuna all day!
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