Manta, Ecuador - Pt. 2

We had an excursion in the afternoon to hike in the Pacoche Reserve. The reserve is about 20 minutes from Manta and is located in one of the last remaining semi-dry tropical forests along the Ecuadorian coast. Our guide, Jonathan, is a language teacher (English/French) so we had no trouble understanding him. There were only 5 of us who had signed up for that excursion so it was almost like a private tour. He taught us a lot of interesting things about his country on the drive out.

Jonathan, our Ecuadorian guide

The reserve is very dense and jungle-like and known for its howler monkeys and many species of birds, 55 of which are native to Ecuador. We didn't get close to any birds but the howler monkeys didn't like us being there and let it be known (loudly). We could see their movement in the trees but I wasn't able to get pictures of them.

The trails were steep and thankfully very dry (although they are a month into their rainy season, they have had no rain). The "steps" were sectioned off by pieces of bamboo and thankfully there was a railing of sorts with bamboo or plastic rope to hold on to, which was necessary much of the time. I had to stop and rest a few times because of the climbing. Our guide pointed out different plants along the way and what some of them were used for.

 

plantain tree (looks like banana)

bamboo "staircase"

 

dense forest

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tagua nut inside this spikey looking outer shell

One was the seed of the ivory palm called a Tagua nut, sometimes called "vegetable ivory." He showed us what it looks like on the tree, what is inside of it and how it resembles ivory in both hardness and color. The locals used them to make crafts and of course they had them for sale. I bought a couple of Christmas ornaments.

Tagua nut, seed of the ivory palm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

crafts from "vegetable" ivory

 We also learned how sugar cane is processed. He pointed out how it was growing there and then we saw the process demonstrated by a local man and his donkey, Maria.

Maria powers the mill that squeezes the sugar out of the cane

boiling the extracted juice

 

after 3 hours cooking - yummy!

We also learned how the toquilla straw hat, commonly known as the Panama hat is made. Fascinating! And so very time consuming! According to their literature, the art of weaving this Ecuadorian hat is included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. And it deserves to be. They are made completely by hand and can take anywhere from weeks to many months to make, depending on the size of the weave. The one with the finest weave sells for $1500 here (no telling what it would be in the US) and takes 8 months to make.

toquilla palm native to northern S. America

 

 

center stalk, splitting out each rib

A certain "thread" or fiber from the leaf of the iraca palm is used, but first it must go through a softening and bleaching process before it is ready for weaving. The young lady we watched was has been weaving for 8 years but it's getting harder to find weavers because the younger generation wants to work for higher wages.

weaver stays bent over a wooden platform

close up view of weave

boiling/softening the leaf

looking for that tiny fiber in the center

pressing, then trimming

 

After this, we saw how a typical dish of the area "tonga" is made and cooked in plantain leaf. All the ingredients (chicken, rice, peanut sauce, cilantro, plantain, yucca) were placed on top of the leaf, then folded and baked in the concrete "oven" (basically a well with fire underneath) for 30 minutes. She demonstrated how to assemble it and then offered us some of the one that was already cooked and waiting. While it looked delicious, I politely declined because after having had unpleasant experiences in Mexico and Indonesia, I'm somewhat leery of eating foods that my system is not accustomed to. However, I later drank the fresh passion fruit juice that was offered and took one bite of a "bolon de verde" made of green plantains, lard and stuffed with cheese. I'll just say that my tummy wasn't used to it.

looks good but I passed

After leaving the Pacoche Reserve, even though it wasn't on our tour description, our guide took us about 10 minutes away to see a beautiful beach where turtles lay their eggs although they usually are out at night (we didn't see any). Our guide told us that if you help the babies out to the sea, they won't remember their way back. If they make their own way, they will come back. It was hard to imagine we were in a jungle like setting when there was a beautiful beach only a few miles away.

what is he drawing in the sand?

 

aww...

                                                                San Lorenzo Beach

All in all it was a very enjoyable day!