January 11/2012: Manta, Ecuador
Dad went on a trip to a panama hat factory and bought himself a Panama hat. Did you know that real Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador, and they can take up to 6 months to make those of the best quality as they are all still made by hand?
I went on an excursion to a fishing village along the coastline and a 2 mile hike at a nature reserve in the cloud forest. It was fascinating! Carl, I saw 2 green Amazon parrots, some Ecuadorian turkeys, and some grey bird, as well as lots of plants. When we arrived we got a drink of fresh mango juice- mmm. Then we got to see how they used to crush the sugar cane (and at one time made it into moonshine), and had a drink of sugar cane juice, then how they boil down the juice to make raw cane sugar (of which we also got a sample). After that they showed us how they make the hat - by hand- by the native family that lives in the area. Then they served us a lunch with local foods baked in banana leaves. It was chicken, rice, veggies, and fresh fish- really tasty. The owner of the reserve and I were talking, and when she found out i had studied as a biologist too she invited me to come back in the future and help them as they are studying the habits of the howler and spider monkeys there, as well as cataloguing the animals in general. Dad said i should do it! Anyway, she gave me all the contact information if i really do want to pursue this. We`ll see.
that night we got another `pillow gift` - a panama hat for each of us to wear to dinner & to the panama hat party tomorrow night.
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