Another sea day, yesterday, after a brief but heavy rainfall in the early morning, the skies cleared and we had hot sunny weather most of the day. In the afternoon we crossed the equator and there was a traditional ceremony on board to mark the occasion, it was very entertaining as ‘volunteer’ passengers, first time crossers (known as pollywogs) were initiated into the select group of previous crossers (known as shellbacks). The ceremony was in the form of a messy ritual to placate King Neptune and his servants, all played by crew members and basically finished up with everyone covered in icecream, chocolate sauce, ketchup and various other food items… good fun. Wonder of wonders, I doubled my money playing blackjack last night, that puts me definitely on the plus side, but there’s still 101 days to go.
This morning we arrived in Manta, Ecuador, I pre-booked a Princess organized tour, ‘Ivory Nut Factory and Montecristi’. The distance from the pier to town is about 10 to 15 minutes by taxi, walking is not recommended due to security reasons and taxis are available pierside. If I’d known that the local authorities provided a free shuttle service from the ship to town, with several stops along the way, I might not have booked a tour, but as it worked out, we did enjoy the day. The town is typical third world, derelict lots, half finished buildings and garbage in abundance, but we found the people to be friendly and helpful. At our first stop, Montecristi, true home of the Panama hat, we each supported the local economy with the purchased of a fine hat, before settling on a seat in the main square talking to about 10 or 15 kids and adults, some trying to sell something, others just happy to sit and talk.
Leaving Montecristi, we stopped at an ivory nut factory, a cactus fiber weaving outfit and a shipbuilding site along the shoreline. We enjoyed the trip, mostly because of the people and the shipbuilding was very interesting. I’ve got a head cold developing so once back on board we had a late lunch then a snooze ‘til just before dinner. It amazes me at how quiet the ship is, this morning, I took some pictures on board, walking around the main decks, I hardly saw another person. There’s never any problem getting loungers around the pool and any evening after about 08.00pm there’s hardly more than a few people on deck. It’s quiet, just as I like it.