Goodbye South America

We had somehow thought that Ecuador would be a let-down, as it was the end of our South American sojourn, a country we knew little about, and a lesser city - Manta - that was not a capital or a large, well-known area such as Guayaquil. Instead, we found it a delightful place, with some of the friendliest people we have met, and wonderful weather. One thing we had not considered on the west coast of the continent was that, although it rarely rains, the coasts of both Chile and Peru are shrouded in fog for at least eight months of every year - an effect of the cold Humbolt current which comes up from the Antarctic. This means that all the coastal areas we visited were grey, and although we could see the Andes as we travelled, it was through a constant light haze.
The Humbolt current flows westward away from Ecuador, because of a drift on the equator, so we were greeted by sunny days, and sunny natures. Few cruise ships visit Manta, and we were welcomed warmly - we think it's because we're a change from the huge tuna that are the usual creatures which are brought in from the sea here - we watched at least ten ships unloading frozen tuna (each larger than we are) for eight hours straight ... apparently more canned tuna comes from Manta than anywhere else in the world.
Away from the beautiful beaches we visited tiny villages and small towns, and followed the life of Panama hats (which are NEVER made in Panama, only in Ecuador!) from palm frond to our heads. We visited a family cottage on a hillside where granny shredded the palm fronds (carried for 2 hours from the jungle by mule) and boiled the soft inner parts - the outer edges were kept as thatch for the roof. Then we watched the daughter carefully weaving the hat, and a grandson ironing one into shape with a "Mrs Potts" iron.
From there we went to Montecristo, where most of the hats were sold ... you can guess at which end of the price scale from US$15 to US$5,000 a hat our purchases came! Last night we sailed across the equator again, and we're now heading for Mexico, with three days at sea.
We're relieved that Cyclone Hamish appears to be calming down - hope that everyone is surviving with dry feet! Fond wishes to all of you, wherever you are.