13 Feb - Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Hot, humid, chaos with tenders, but some great dancing and museum exhibitions.

Today we landed in Esmeraldas in 'Ecuador' (spelling it right now). Again, just like many of the South American countries we have visited, it's like a third world country and you have to wonder how people put up with such conditions. I would say its a powder keg ready to go off. 

The main produce of Esmeraldas is oil - and part of our tour was to go and see the oil refineries. What an eye sore! It is situated in rain forest up in the hills - not a pretty site. 

The ship anchored this morning off the port and passengers had to be tendered in to port. We had an afternoon tour which was just as well as the port just wasn't big enough to handle 3000 people landing at once. Apparently there was nothing short of chaos on shore with huge delays. Luckily the problems were solved before our tour and it was only delayed by half an hour. 

We arrived on shore to a muggy drizzly humid day. Can you remember the episode of "Friends" where Monica has a bad hair episode due to the humidity - well Ann's hair is somewhat akin to that at the moment!!!! We boarded the bus amidst an armed guard and proceeded to a lovely catholic church in the heart of the town. It was really beautiful - made more so by the poor surroundings. We had a few minutes there and Ann lit a candle and said a prayer for the family and others. 

The next stop was the museum again escorted by armed police and we saw some more Inca artifacts. This time there was some gold on display and it was spectacular. The museum was only open to our tour and there were a lot of onlookers curious to see the passengers from the Queen Mary. The guide informed us that as it is the first time the QM2 has been to these parts and everyone was looking forward to seeing it and indeed everyone was waving to the bus as we passed by ( celebrity status at last) . 

We then traveled up the mountain through a rain forest to view the oil refinery ( don't know why) but it was an interesting drive, we saw lots of trees and clouds.

Finally we ended up in a very secure Naval base where we were treated to a spectacle of Marimba music and dance - very good . 

I think the authorities were a bit edgy about so many tourist visiting and felt the need to make the experience as safe as possible so that future visits would not be marred.- hence all the security. Needless to say there was no shopping or anything like that and we were escorted back to the ship with minimum encounters with the locals. It did look a rough place though - not somewhere you go walking on your own. 

Esmeraldas started life as a runaway slave refuge hence all the people here are of African origin and this is reflected in the music and dance. The people were coming out to the ship in all kinds of boats all day to wave and see the ship - and at the sail away there was a huge fireworks display in the port - great!!!!! 

Oh yes, we got the tender back to the ship as the tide was coming in and the sea was getting really choppy - when we approached the ship it was breaking over the bow of the tender - a bit like a fair ride. Anyway it was very tricky getting off the tender and onto the ship and you had to time your steps. Unfortunately a Japanese woman got her foot caught between the tender and the ship - ouch- it was a horrible sight and she was crying out. Ann was standing in the tender watching this when another big wave hit and she was hurled backwards and nearly went through the open hatch into the sea!!!!!

Luckily for her, she was able to grab a handful of my waistline fat and save herself!!!!! Good job "I" ate all the pies!!!!! However, I'm now missing around 5lb of flesh and will need quite a few G&T's to recover from the shock.

When we finally boarded the ship, the poor woman was sitting on the floor in pain just inside the hull landing door. We last saw her as she was being wheel chaired up to the medical centre - We're going to be extra cautious in future. 

Anyway that's all for now - have to go to trivia - we have a rival team and so its imperative that we go so that we have a chance of beating them. They win by 1 point every time and there are rumors of cheating abroad. Serious stuff you know. As Ed the host says, "It's only a game, not a religion".

Our dinner companions have gone now and we are all alone for dinner - ahhh.

Modern church set in an area of great poverty. I lit a candle, and Ann said a prayer.

Ancient pottery display, part of a great exhibition.

Gold mask, it's astonishing to think this was made thousands of years ago.

Modern art displayed by a very persistent street salesman! The 6 solders and policemen that followed me out into the street are not in the picture.

Statues that celebrate "Marimba" the local dance culture.

Ann nearly disappeared through this open hatch in the bow of the Tender. One of the many outboard motorboats can be seen in the background.

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