Manta, Ecuador has existed since pre-Columbian times, and is this small country's fifth largest city, 250,000 inhabitants. It is known as the "Tuna Capital of the World". We watched as they unloaded frozen tuna from large fishing boats opposite our ship. We also saw that many of the smaller fishing boats in the harbor had small helicopters on them, which we learned were used to fly out to find schools of dolphins. Wherever there are dolphins, there are tuna.
Since 1999 this largest seaport has been used as a military location for U.S. forces in supporting anti-drug trafficking by the Colombian cartels. It is also a regular stop for U.S. Navy warships, and is a popular tourist stop.
We spent our day ashore shopping in their wonderful handicraft market, and bargained for the popular Panama hats manufactured in the nearby town of Montecristi, and were happy to leave the 90 degree heat to return to the comfort of our air conditioned ship!
No comments:
Post a Comment