Wednesday 30th March - Manta, Ecuador

Today we acted as escorts on a tour to Machaililla National Park. It's down as an extended half day tour, and the park is supposed to incorporate all sorts of environments including fog forest and dry forest. There was a chance of seeing some of the wildlife of Ecuador, with a little bit of walking and a visit to a hotel where we could enjoy the beach. and perhaps a swim.

We're getting to be old hats at this. After breakfast, Peter grabbed the rucksacks and all the necessary bits n pieces like clipboard, first aid kit etc - we collected our lunches and towels from the main lounge, and were ready at the buses at 8.30 ready to welcome the passengers.

It takes two hours to get from port to the park by bus. On my bus, the guides provided various bits of information about Ecuador, and sent round samples of various things, like old ecuadorian money, shells, and fibres used to make Panama hats. That filled an hour of the journey, the second was spent looking out of the window.

At the park we got to see a very small museum and take a very short walk. The two busloads of passengers had ended up splitting into three groups. Peter went with one on a "hike" to look at a sulphur lake. I stayed with the "short walk" group that then split into two. Due to the way things panned out, it ended up with one of the short walk groups crossing a creek, seeing a few birds and having a whale of time, the second short walk group didn't cross the creek or see much, but were given a lot of information about the plants, particularly the algarroba tree. The sulphur lake group didn't really get much of a much of a hike, and the participants couldn't understand how the short walk group seemed to have had more fun and adventure than they had. Confused? So were a few of the passengers.

Everybody got back on the bus, and we were then taken to a hotel on Los Frailes Beach. It was a secure hotel, with 8 foot high metal fencing, the gate of which was opened to us by an armed guard! It was very nice inside though, and from the hotel grounds we could go out onto the beach for a wander.

A very happy hour and three quarters followed, We sat and ate our packed lunch - not exactly gourmet I'm afraid, but it kept hunger at bay until dinner. Peter and I walked along the beach and practiced zooming in with our cameras on the several brown pelicans which were perched on fishing boats. And back in the hotel I tried to capture the swifts drinking the swimming pool water on camera. All very civilised.

A turkey vulture on the beach

Los Frailes Beach

So many of us would love to travel the world in one of these. 

We might not have seen much wildlife in the park, but we saw plenty on the beach

I'm quite proud having captured a picture of this swift getting a drink from the hotel pool. 

Another two hours on the bus and we were back at the ship and reporting in. Then straight up to the pool deck to enjoy a cup of tea. Peter went off to work, and I spent a little time up there with my binoculars and camera. Pelicans, gulls, and royal terns kept me entertained, as well as a shoal of quite large fish that that toured the harbour. The fish kept leaping out of the water and drawing attention to themselves, but neither the birds nor the fishermen took any notice. Quite amazing.

Looking out of the window on the bus, poverty is obvious. 

I haven't got access to a decent bird book to check these out.  I think the ones with the black caps are Royal Terns, and I'm not sure about the gulls.  I'll find out when I get home.  

Later in the evening we enjoyed dinner in the Veranda Restaurant and watched the show in the Darwin Lounge. All very relaxed and holiday like. Cool eh. Tomorrow we don't have a tour and will probably take a walk into Manta and maybe check out the beach. Even more holiday like. (Don't tell Peter though, cos actually, he has to work for this.)