Thursday 31st March - Manta Day 2

The view of Manta from the back of our ship

It's incredibly hot here, apparently it's an "El Nino" year, and temperatures in the area are the highest on record. It's also very, very muggy. But today is a lazy day, no tours and only ourselves to please, so we decided to go into Manta to see what was about.

I still have a red v at the bottom of my neck where I'd been caught out by the sun a couple of days ago, so I was well covered up with a hat and some sunscreen in my bag. Peter, as usual, wore a hat but left his arms exposed. We'd got some info about the city from reception, and shortly after breakfast we were out in the baking sun exploring the streets of Manta.

The main coastal road in Manta.

It's a busy place - traffic is as manic as we'd seen in Guayaquil but with less dents. We managed to avoid getting run over as we headed towards where we'd been told there was a market and a cathedral. We didn't find a market or a cathedral, but we did find a little park - with iguana's. Naturally, we were delighted and spent a good 20 minutes or so taking pictures.

This magnificent tree was also in the park, I don't know what type it is, but I loved it.

Also seen in the park was this little flock of geese, goslings and ducklings.  There were being herded through the park by their owner.  So cute. 

The park was surrounded by shops and we then spent a little time looking for a carabina clip for Peter, but by now the heat was getting to us, so we headed back to the ship and the beach that was right alongside.

We had swimming costumes underneath our clothes, so we hired a couple of shaded sunbeds, stripped off and were straight into the water. The sea was shallow for a long way out but the waves were quite forceful, knocking us over. As we moved further out into deeper water, I noticed the sunbed seller waving us back. I thought someone had tried to take our bags or something, so I called Peter and then, luckily I remembered something we'd been told by Neil Bonner yesterday, along the lines of "quite an undercurrent". Looking across the beach and the sea, it was obvious that no-one was heading into deep water to swim, so we guessed that the undercurrent was probably a real problem. We moved a little closer to the shore and then spent 20mins or so messing around in the waves, the water no more than waist deep.

Then it was another hour or so on the sun beds to dry off. The sun was really strong and I could feel it burning my feet which weren't under the shade of the parasol thing over our heads, so I covered them with a towel. A guy wandering the beach sold us chilled drinks, and a cool breeze coming off the sea made the moment perfect.

The beach at Manta, right next to the port

A little before 2 o'clock we decided to get back to the ship for a late lunch. The sun felt hotter and brighter than ever, so I lathered up sunscreen. It was that hot, even Peter wanted to use the sunscreen!

It turned out that we'd missed lunch, so we headed for a shower instead. Stripped off, neither of us could believe the colour of our skin. It was very, very red, and getting angrier by the minute. We were both well burnt, but couldn't understand why? The only time we'd could have caught the sun was when we were swimming. Either we were in the water a lot longer than 20 minutes, or that sun was really, really strong. My neck, ears, shoulders, back and arms were well overcooked. Peter could add the whole of his front to that list, and his arms were the worst.

So we spent the rest of the day covered up and feeling a little bit delicate, or tingly as Peter describes it. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot that can be done about it. I plastered aftersun moisturiser all over (Peter is too manly for the stuff), but we were both glowing red and generating enough heat to boil a bath of water by night time. We're going to feel sore for a couple of days, and I'm quite miffed with myself over it. I was being so careful!

Tomorrow is going to be a restful sea day. Peter will be doing his first class, and we can both hide inside in the air conditioned cool for a day or so and give our skin a chance to heal. Fingers crossed eh?