As we sailed into Manta I saw a church tower in front of what looked like an arched roof quasit style sports arena. I was curious about what it was. When I got into town in the afternoon, after I had been released from isolation, the cab driver took me there on the way to the boat yard. It is Iglesia La Dolorosa, The Church of Our Virgin of Sorrows. Dolorosa is the name of the parish surrounding the church and its name is sadly appropriate. In October 1996 Millon Air flight 406, a Boeing 747 freighter carrying frozen fish had an engine flame out seven seconds into the flight. The plane struck the bell tower of the original Iglesia La Dolorosa and crashed into the neighborhood killing the parish priest and at least 29 other people on the ground and all four people on the plane. This church was built on the rubble of the old church. The statue on the bell tower survived as did some of the bells. At 7 PM each night the bells ring.
This is not the only tragedy that Manta has suffered. In 2016, a year after we visited this town, a 7.8 earthquake destroyed much of the town and killed nearly 700. I was interested in riding around the town to see how it had changed since I was last here. Some of the old buildings obviously survived. By the way, nearby Manta is the town of Montecristi where the Panama hat originated. They are not from Panama. I wrote a blog post about it 10 years ago. Below are a few pictures of that drive and a hat maker in the cruise ship terminal.
Finally, we were able to watch the sunset from our cabin balcony as it went down over Manta.
Rich, we’ve been to Manta, too, and we visited the
Sorry but my finger hit the wrong button. Anyway, in the small Panama hat town, it was lots of fun picking one out. We saw a lengthy presentation about how they were made, too. I’m glad you and Suzi are free! Get stronger little by little.
Sharon and Larry, Tallahassee