Manta Equador, This is the last of our tours that have been arranged by Sarah. We gather at the casino and all disembark together. It is a piece of cake. This is a port where they fish for tuna and the large tuna fleet is in port off loading their catch. They enjoy looking at the tourists and the tourists enjoy looking at them. Soon the bus arrives and away we go. The guide tells us that we will be given a short tour of the city itself before we head for the Hacienda San Antonio. We drive around and we see a place where they are ship building. The drive pulls a uie in the middle of the road and we stop so people can get out and take pictures. The ships are being built from native woods and bamboo. The methods are very primitive but they seem to be working well. We continue on our way and the bus climbs a thousand feet. It is not long before we discover that this is an older bus and the air conditioning is not working. The windows don’t seem to open either so we are not very comfortable. But it is not too far and within an hour we arrive. We are greeted with smiles and one of those artificial leis you get at home. They are passing out a really delicious passion fruit cocktail. We are ushered into a courtyard which has sun shades and soon a group of costumed young people begin to perform the local folk dances for us. They are very good and we enjoy the breeze even though it is very warm. After the dancing we are given a demonstration of how the Panama hat is made. The genuine article is amazing and very labor intensive. Next we are served a lunch, it is buffet style. After lunch and before we shopped for hats and for carvings made from the Ivory Nut. The workmanship is very special and the prices are not bad at all. We soon learn that the guide has contacted the company and requested a different bus and it will not be here for an hour. To fill the time the driver has decided to take us to a nearby fishing village where we can walk on the beach and enjoy a cool breeze. I wonder about this hill climbing with a not too great bus. But we climb aboard and discover that they have managed to use a hammer to loosen the catches on the windows on the left side of the bus so we at least have a breeze. The village was quaint and the seaside was magnificent. Several small children came out to look at us and before long each was wearing a plastic Lei that the passengers had given them. They certainly were a lot more impressed with them than we were. We made our way back up the mountain and as soon as we pulled into the Hacienda the new bus pulled in behind us. We returned to port in comfort. Because time had been used waiting for the bus there was no time to go to the market. I think most were tired and hot and hungry and were just as happy to return to the comfort and luxury of the ship. The day ended in the usual manner with a wonderful gourmet meal and a show in the Princess theatre. I think this group of singers has the best voices of any company that we have had the pleasure of listening to.