Suzi Travels

Day 25, Saturday, March 29, 2025

Manta, Ecuador

Ecuador has 4 regions: Highlands, Coastal, Amazon and Galapagos. It got it’s name because of location on the Equator. The population is 17.8 million people. Ecuador is a democratic country, and they hold elections every four years and you are required to vote and in person. If you don’t vote, you are fined $75.00 and if it happens often, could be a prosecuted. Current elections will be held the first Sunday in April and for the first time there is a male and female candidate.

Manta, also known as San Pablo de Manta, is the seventh most populous city in the country. Manta has existed since Pre-Columbian times. It was a trading post for the Manta, also known as Manteños. Located on the Pacific coast, Manta has the largest seaport in Ecuador.

The city had a population of 350,000. It’s main economic activity is tuna fishing and they currently have 21 tuna canneries. Other economic activities include tourism and a chemical industry, with products ranging from cleaning supplies to oils and margarine.

First, we visited a family owned Tagua factory, but factory is a loose term. It was a large area, covered on the ground with Tagua seeds, drying in the sun, and we drove our bus over them!!! Then a few stations under a tented area. Like really ???? a factory ??? This ended up being one the best artisan spots. Tagua nut, also known as vegetable ivory, is a product made from the very hard white endosperm of the seeds of certain palm trees. Vegetable ivory is named for its resemblance to animal ivory. Vegetable ivory is naturally white with a fine marbled grain structure. It can be dyed; dyeing often brings out the grain. It is still commonly used in buttons, jewelry, and artistic carving.

We ventured on to the “Panama” hat center of the world…Montecristi. As most people know, the so-called Panama hat originated in Ecuador not Panama. President Roosevelt bought an Ecuadorian hat in Panama and hence called it by the wrong name and it stuck all these years. The family demonstration was something to see, so lots of pictures. The weaving is fast becoming a lost art. Our guide was happy to see some younger weavers. And I was so impressed, I bought a hat.

Off to a restaurant in the rain forest for a cooking lesson. Patrick was our table’s voted chef. He prepared our Bolon de Verde. The base is plantain, yes – I tasted it, yes – it was delicious, yes – we plan on making it at home.

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We’ve arrived in Manta, Ecuador
Boat building is a big business
the pod that contains many smaller pods and each have 7-10 seeds.
Our tour guide John interpreted for Romero, a master weaver. They hand cut only certain, unopened palm fronds. Palms are not cultivated; they are grown naturally. No easy task.
each frond is then boiled in water for about 5 minutes to remove the chlorophyll. Then the frond is dried for about 12 hours. They can be dyed at this point. Notice all the fronds drying in the background.
the crown is the most important start of the hat. The lady doing this one has been weaving for over 30 years. She must be very picky and choose all the threads for this hat that are the same size. I’ve worked with fabrics and threads for the better part of my life — I couldn’t do it. Can you even count the threads ???
Hat production. Still done in the traditional way.
after the hat and brim are complete, it gets a trim
Homage to the tuna
This palm grows in a few areas of South America and produces the pods that contain the tagua seed.
seeds are dried (in the parking lot), then they are cut in slices, then put through a lathe to remove a button size circle. From here, they are sent out to be finished into buttons. The ladies that ran these two old machines can process about 57 pounds of nuts per day for about $25.00
this man would strip off the outer green leaves and left the center light green leaves that are still connected at the stem
After drying, Romero used a needle to separate each thin strand into maybe 4 – 5 thread like strands.
Bent over a form of two blocks of balsa wood. They work in about 4 hour shifts. One hat could take months for one person to make. The finer the weave, the longer it takes, the more money. Some of these hats are woven so tight they can hold water
Completed hats are washed and then sent to the pounder to make it softer. From here, it is sent out to be blocked (formed and shaped)
Huge fresh fish shopping area
The drying area of the Tagua nut, also the drive way and parking area
The nut is not sliced if they plan on carving it.
I’m sure somewhere they have a machine to do the work, but this family still does much of it by hand. My Nativity set from tagua nut. It is my favorite souvenir. Only carried a small amount of cash and didn’t realize they took credit cards. Probably a good thing. I would have bought a whole lot more.
large statue to honor weavers.
Patrick smelling the freshly peeled palm frond
all palm fronds must be bleached to produce the well know hat color. Romero made this bleaching box, where they use sulfur to bleach. John is holding three stages of frond processing: fresh, dried and bleached
Patrick enjoying his local COLD beer while I shopped.

Off to the beach and then Pacoche’s restaurant

many burros on the side of the road. There were about 5 carrying palm fronds, but I was unable to get a picture of them
fishing boats
large turtle sculpture for Juli
get those hands in there to work all the ingredients together to form a ball that holds together.
more of the port from our balcony
big beach
beautiful surf
Chef Patrick mashing boiled plantain
Manta from our balcony
Good night from Manta. Sweet dreams
heading to the beach. How the bus driver managed all the turns on this small village roads — glad I wasn’t driving
beach village of San Lorenzo
Make a hole with your thumb and stuff it with cheese.
Deep fry it for about 5 minutes. The kitchen magically produced fresh, hot Bolons for all of us

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