Monday, June 12, 2006

Fish... and Hats

Manta´s a fishing town on the coast of Ecuador... each morning the local fisherman drag their catch onto the beach, and the whole shoreline turns into a bustling impromptu fish market. Perusing hundreds of pounds of fresh seafood (barracudas, marlins, shrimp, calamari, crab, tuna...) definitely gives you a hankering to enjoy some yourself...

Sharks...

And marlins...
And camorillo, oh my!
Yesterday we had camorillo (the fish I´m enjoying above). This morning we went back to the same place and asked if he had calamari... he scurried off to the market (a few steps away) and came back with a bag of totally fresh squid, which he proceeded to fry up for us. Absolutely delicious.
Yesterday we also visited Montecristi, a nearby town known world-wide as the home of... the Montecristi! (Also referred to, somewhat incorrectly, as the ¨Panama¨ hat. We wandered around a bit in some of the shops, where they were hand-making the hats... they´re all woven straw, but the more expensive ones (on the order of $300) were incredibly fine and soft and light... enough to be rolled up and passed through a man´s ring.

The hatmaker, himself.

The hat wearers, themselves. For a short time, at least.

2 comments:

Jenny said...

Well, it doesn't get much better than fish and hats. Great pictures Travis! I especially appreciate the one of the hat wearers ... looks like something from a movie. Enjoy your trip! I'm looking forward to hearing more about your excellent adventure

Anonymous said...

write again! write again! this is so great. how cool all the fish and the hats and everything! continue to enjoy yourself. practica tu espanol, no importa lo que diga la gente.
ciao. les mando abrazos!!!!
~alma