As we cruise from Florida toward Chile aboard the beautiful, new Silver Muse, you might well observe that we seem to have gotten ourselves from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific without further detail. Well, we navigated through the Panama Canal. However, that was such a singular experience, that we’ll wait until we get home to tell you a story. That said, we spent the day in Ecuador.

We arrived in Manta, an industrial fishing port on Ecuador’s coast to be greeted by a cadre of modern-looking coaches at the ready to take passengers to various expeditions. We traveled inland and then back along the coast to visit an archaeological site in a place called Aqua Blanca, White Water. A remote commune of pure indigenous people, the village is home to a small dig evidently led by a Canadian archeologist. Sadly, he was nowhere to be found…we would have loved to have had his commentary. But our guide did his best.

We then hiked 3 km through the well-worn, back woods trails of this village stopping (a few too many times it has to be said) to observe this or that bird.

One of the striking things about this part of Ecuador is the changing vistas: one minute you’re driving through a dry forest, then the next the greenery tells you that you’ve arrived in the cloud forest. But the best vistas of all are the long views of endless beaches, most of which have far too dangerous tides and surf to venture into. But the one beach we did visit was clearly one where you could enjoy the water. Well, the fact that we had to sit in the sand to eat our lunch was a story for another day!

Now it’s on to Peru…