December 30, 2024

MANTA FISH MARKET

Today we had 2 busloads of residents doing this tour, very popular. The first stop for us was the Manta Port Fish Market. Fisherman had just brought in their catches of the day - mainly tuna and sadly sharks caught in process of tuna haul. This area is the TUNA capital of the world and there is a cannery right in town. Ironically the local people don't like to eat tuna, they view it as an inferior fish because of it's dark color, they pay more for white flaky fishes, brought in from other regions. I was itching for some amazing sushi grade tuna!  

The Fish Market has tons of vendors selling every type of seafood desired along with fresh peanut butter, chickens, vegetables,etc.

Next, we drove about 30 minutes to the famous town of Montecristi, Ecuador inland, in the hills. Teddy Roosevelt came here when he was President and wore one of the handmade artisan hats, to the Panama Canal construction site the next day and it was in photographs all over and dubbed The Panama Hat by all the news outlets. So, the authentic Panama Hats are actually made in Ecuador!

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Next, we drove to the overlook of Montechristo and looked down at the town. We did some shopping but sadly, we had no time to explore the town. Our bus got blocked on one of the roads and we wasted 20 minutes dealing with that and had to take others back to the ship. Lesson learned, we don't like to be part of big group excursions!     

The final stop was the Pacoche Rainforest National Park with a chance of seeing Howler Monkeys. We scored big here !!

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WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 4, 2026
We had a beautiful sunny day to explore Wellington ! Was a very nice change from the stormy, big swells weather we have had the last two days! Wellington is the Capital city of New Zealand and the CBD is nice and big with lots of shops and museums. We didn't make it to the LOTR studios due to the time crunch but we took the cable car up to the top, for a scenic overlook of the port and then leisurley walk down through the Botantical Gardens, parks and historical cemetary.

ROTORUA CITY HIGHLIGHTS - NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua became a bonus city for us. Our Port stay in Tauranga got cut down to one day, due to NZ biosecurity regulations and since we really wanted to do Hobbiton, we decided to get off the ship and stay in hotels and get back on the ship, in a few days. Due to a variety of factors, the Ship ended up doing a quick pick up of us in Tauranga, three days later. The Kiwi's we encountered along the way, who helped with all our last minute details, were amazingly kind, hospitable and generous. Below is our tired, chilly group huddled at the security shed, outside the Port in the wee hours (1:30 am) Monday morning, awaiting our final hurdle of getting back on our Home. Home sweet home! What an adventure!

ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua, New Zealand is known for it's geothermal activity ( geysers, mud pools, hot springs) and rich Maori culture . I saw lots of that last time I was here in 2016, so this time I wanted to see their Redwoods in Whakarewarewa Forest. John and Colleen joined me in exploring. Their redwoods are smaller than the ones in Muir Woods California, but still impressive. Both are planted forest dating back to around 1908.