Manta and Easter Sunday

Saturday the 7^th of April 2012

This is Easter weekend and probably the first one we have had on board a ship and certainly the first in the Pacific. We went to Good Friday service yesterday which was exceptionally good. The minister on board is an excellent speaker and conducts the most interesting services with a sermon that is always challenging and inspirational. We look forward to Easter Day.

Today we were able to spend time in Manta and Monti Christi in Ecuador; another lovely country and in contrast to Peru our last stop. Ecuador is a smaller country than Peru and although it has some of the same characteristics, for instance 85% Catholic and with striking scenery with rain forest and mountains, it is very much different. With a population of 14,000,000 it is somewhat poorer than Peru. It exports bananas, tagua, coffee and caucau; the tourist industry like Vietnam is only just taking off and they get an increasing number of cruise ships in each year. The climate is the same as Peru with only two seasons, winter and summer but they have a little more rainfall than Peru.

We are here over Easter weekend and it was lovely to see families with their children enjoying the holiday weekend. These people are tremendously happy and welcoming and hopefully the advent of new wealth will not create in them the same greed as in western society. The more we are here the more I sometimes feel sad and despondent at the way of life that has emanated at home and the way no one seems to be satisfied with a standard of life that completely  puts those of the countries we have visited in the shade as far as opportunity is concerned.

Today our tour went to a number of places staring with a factory! Yes a factory but one that manufactures buttons and other items made from the tagua nut. This nut is very very hard and when these things are made they look remarkably similar to ivory; so similar in fact that it takes a practised eye to tell the difference.

We went on then to the memorial of the revolution that gave Ecuador its freedom and the mausoleum for the people who died in the effort to bring that freedom about.

Following that we spent time in a little town built on a hill called Monti Christi. In the hot mid-morning there were hundreds of people there enjoying the holiday with others selling their wares. Of course Ecuador is the home of the Panama Hat and this was one of the items being sold prolifically. There is a wonderful church here set on a hill built entirely of wood and although not very old (20^th Century) it is already proving to be an iconic building. We also then went on to another museum where once again perfect items dating from centuries BC are on display. This is another place that has been great to visit and would be worthy of a return trip in the future.

Sunday 08 of April 2012

Easter Day and this morning we spent time in a fantastic Easter Day Service which was very well attended. Later today at teatime everyone will partake of the beautiful Easter simmnel cake baked by the chefs here on board.

I get very sad sometimes at the obvious double standard attitudes of some people. This morning a man was berating the Maitre D over the triviality of green bananas! He was so aggressive and rude but yet later smiling sublimely during the church service while others there were later being so racist in their conversations. Will we ever be so human as to accept people as they are with different skin colours and cultures or will be forever damned as the race that will always think ourselves superior just because we are white Caucasians’?

Fd