Joe just Loves this Chocolate

Do you like unsweetened dark chocolate? Joe does. When we were staying in Manta Joe found this unsweetened chocolate in Super Maxi. I think in the states it’s just called cacao – no sugar OR milk solids/fats added.

He would buy several bags and each evening he would sit and have just one of the disks.  It is not for me, unsweetened chocolate – can you say WHAT? That is for making brownies or hot chocolate but eating it straight from the bag?  Not for me!!  But Joe may have something here. All the news you hear about superfoods, chocolate is supposed to lower blood pressure, lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease. Another reason that dark chocolate is especially heart-healthy it has inflammation fighting properties, which reduce cardiovascular risk.  We do not know if that is true or not but Joe loves it and it really helps him from having other snacks after dinner.

While in Manta last week at the SuperMaxi I found a shelf full, I think I picked up 10 packages.  Joe will just love it and of course he will think I am the greatest for picking it up for him.

Laughter is Great Medicine

Our friends Leigh and Rick took me into Manta with them yesterday.  We told stories, laughed having a great time. We had breakfast at a local restaurant with Angie and Raphael, the restaurant served Llapingachos – but not with potato – with yuca, they have a different name which I failed to catch. They also serve the traditional Ecuadorian breakfast meals from Chicken and Rice to Encebollado which is a soup of Albacore Tuna with onions as well as over-easy eggs.  My kind of place. I love encebollado but had to have the over-easy eggs with the llapingachos and a café con leche.

Of course we had to take a few of the llapingachos to go. They are now in the freezer waiting for the perfect day to bring them out for another feast.

We then went to the mall and SuperMaxi for some shopping while Rick took his truck in to get detailed -you cannot call it washed as it looked like a new truck when he came to pick us up.

We then went out to lunch, fish ceviche, excellent.

It was a laughter filled busy day, thanks Leigh and Rick for such a fun day.

Parasailing Drop on Murcielago Beach, Manta

Parasailing demonstrations on the beach for the next several days.

http://www.eldiario.ec/noticias-manabi-ecuador/384697-james-bond-en-festival-de-paracaidismo/

My camera is not the best for distance but you can see those tiny specks are the parasailers. Yesterday we watched four drops.

Cruise Ship Ready to Depart

Had to share, such a beautiful sight.

Have a great evening.

Boat Tours and More

There are several activities that are available here on the beach.  One of those activities are boat tours. A small boat with a canopy backs up the beach near the shore and loads up somewhere from 8 to 10 people for a short tour. Each person is given a life vest and they are off bouncing over the incoming waves for a short tour.

I am pretty much a chicken when it comes to small boats. I remember when we were living in Florida and Joe wanted to take Jennifer and I out in a canoe on the Rainbow River, I did it once and that was it. Just not my thing.  Both Jennifer and Joe loved it. And they would go often without me, until Joe found out there were alligators in that river.

To see the waves lift the front of the boat out of the water and slam it down makes my stomach queasy… The set up here is very similar to other places we have lived on the water. They have the banana. It could actually look like a banana all in bright yellow or could be orange or blue but it is always called the banana. The ride starts out nice and calm but when the ride is finished the boat makes a very sharp turn and dumps everyone on the banana in the water. They even have one that looks like a huge tube but no hole in the middle, it has a bunch of handles at the top and you bounce over the water while you are hanging on for dear life, screaming the entire time. Then the boat makes a sharp turn and flings you into the air into the water…as you can see my idea of fun is not getting flung around on a piece of rubber to land on my face in the water.  I know you are all saying she is SO OLD, no it is not that, well I am old but…when I was young I would never have done any of these activities either.

There are other quiet more calming activities you can enjoy on the beach.  My next post will show a few of those.

Have a blessed day.

Making Palm Frond Hats

While out for Valentine’s Day lunch we saw this young man, Christopher, making palm frond hats.

He is pretty talented. I wonder if he was the same young man making hats when the palm trees fell over with the high tides?

Momma Duck with Ducklings, or Boats in a Row

We see some odd things from our patio. Today’s photo looks like a mother duck with her ducklings following behind but in truth it is a bigger boat with smaller boats tied behind.

I wish I understood the logic, maybe someone can tell me the reason for this set up.

My neighbors in San Clemente Paola and Bart have given me the explanation to this mystery, I have cut their comments on Facebook and posted it below:

Maria Paola Bravo Centeno el grande es un barco de pesca y los mas pequeños se les llama pangas y sirven para descargar las pescas osea llevar el pescado a tierra sra Nancy Kowalczyk Levin

The big one is a fishing boat and the smaller they are called pangas and serve to download the fish I mean take the fish to earth Mrs Nancy Kowalczyk LevinAutomatically Translated

Like · Reply · 1 · 11 hrs

Bart El Unico Maria is right, the smaller boats take the fish, shrimp etc off the larger boat and take it to shore. Many times they buy it to resell and also take supplies to the bigger boat. I used to go out to a boat with Ramon at 5AM. We would eat breakfast on the boat, drop off supplies and buy shrimp and fish.

Like · Reply · 1 · 9 hrs

Downing of Palm Trees

I have seen on the news the damage done in San Alejo, San Jacinto and San Clemente from the high tides this past few weeks.  We did have some damage on the property next door to where we are staying in Manta. The property facing the ocean was lined with beautiful large palm trees.First two fell over, then the next high tide 5 more. It was sad to see such beautiful trees tossed into a truck and hauled away.  Mother Nature, what can I say.

 

Rainbow off the Balcony

Too pretty not to share.  Have a blessed day!

What a Difference a Day Makes

For the past week the beaches have been filled with people. Enjoying the surf and sun.

Here is the beach this morning.