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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KUANTAN, MALAYSIA

By Pat Patrick • October 12, 2026
Just the other day a friend asked me if I got enough down time while living this lifestyle. My answer was "you have to make it !" In the beginning, it was go, go, go, every port. We had lots of FOMO ( fear of missing out ) and we tried to cram in as much as possible at every port. Sea days, were our only down time and there were never enough. It was a tad exhausting. Now two years into this life, I can say there are some ports that just don't call me and I opt to get other things done. Kuantan, Malaysia was one of the Ports. I never got off the ship, either day we were here. I intended to this morning, but we had storms with loud thunder late into the night and then was awoken by a crew alarm around 6:45am. My energy was low, there were shuttle issues, town was an hour ride away and there is alot of air pollution, ( due to neighboring Indonesia burning organic materials, in preparation for the upcoming monsoon season ). So I bagged my plans and continued working on my never ending TO DO LIST!

Sad Passing of ODYSSEY Shipmate

By Pat Patrick • October 11, 2026
During our two years of sailing we have had several Shipmates come and go for a variety of reasons. Their health, has sadly been the reason for many departures. Cindy Harvey , would have loved to have lived out her days here on the Odyssey and even bought a second cabin and had an adjoining door added, to have a care provider, stay with her full time. However, Cindy's limited mobility, pain and confinement got to be too much - so she left us a few months ago. She went to an assisted living facility, on the coast of Oregon, to be near her family. Tragically she fell, was trying to recover, slipped into a coma and sadly passed away this week.

SANCTUARY OF TRUTH MUSEUM, CHONBURI, THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • October 8, 2026
The Sanctuary of Truth Museum is the world's largest hand carved wooden castle, located on the coast of Pattaya, Chonburi Province, Thailand . Conceived in 1981 by Thai visionary Khun Lek Viriyaphun the structure is built entirely from 4 types of wood - Teak, Mai Daeng, Mai Takien & Mai Panchaat and put together using Thai nailless wood joinery - mainly dovetails, carrying poles and tongue & groove. We started the tour in the workshop where the artisan, mainly woman, were hard at work. Since conception, the Museum has been an active construction site, thus we all wore hardhats! The artisans continue handcarving sculptures and columns, daily and will most likely continue for years to come.