Roaming South America

Manta, Ecuador

December 14, 2022

Manta, Ecuador: Population: around 200,000. Founded in:1563. Manta is the largest shipping port in Ecuador and it has been in use since the early 1700s. It is also known as the "tuna capital of the world" due to its large tuna-fishing industry. At least four international tuna canning companies have processing plants in Manta. The climate is quite nice with an average daily high in the low '80s F and the average nightly low in the low 70s F. There are only a couple of beaches here in the city and they are okay, with more gravel than sand it appeared to me. To get to the nice beaches you have to leave the city and go either north or south.

So, my impressions: Manta is a small city so it has all the characteristics of cities - noise, pollution, traffic, etc. Plus, being on the coast, you can smell the sea air and of course, the salty climate causes corrosion like there's no tomorrow. The downtown area is nice, it's walkable. Though there are few decent parks in the city. They are in the process of building a big waterfront tourist area, with the malecon (boardwalk) finished and open. There are pics in the photo album. I didn't find any particularly beautiful neighborhoods, no particularly interesting architecture (even though Manta is listed by Ecuador as a "Pueblo Magico"). Could I live here? There would be a small chance, so this town will be at the bottom of the top-20 list, for the time being.

This is my goal: to find a new place to live. So to reach that goal I am traveling most of South America, visiting the countries of Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, and Chile, passing through Argentina, visiting Paraguay, passing through a bit of Brazil, and finally visiting Uruguay. I have a list of towns, about 70 towns, that meet these qualifications: Cities with average day temperatures of 22-28° C (72-83° F) and night temps of 14° C (57° F) and higher; and a population between 28,000-300,000 (preferably under 100,000). I analyzed climate and population data of around 700 towns in the above-mentioned countries and then pulled out the ones that meet the previously mentioned criteria, which leaves about 70. My preference leans towards towns of less than 100,000 people. Of the 70 towns, about 20 have populations of 100,000 - 300,000. And, now that I've been here on the coast for a few days I've decided I will probably want a town more inland. I love the beach and walking in the warm water, but, getting sunburned is just too easy, even on a cloudy day. At least, here in Ecuador.

Next up: Jipijapa.