---

July 1, 2023

What lay in store on an Expedition in Ecuador, a country I had never visited?

And come to think of it, a country I knew very little about. Ecuador doesn’t have the high profile of its next-door neighbors, Peru and Colombia. It’s nowhere near the size of Argentina or Brazil. And its Pacific Coast is dwarfed in length by Chile’s. To tourists, Quito, its capital and Guayaquil, its largest city, are pretty much thought of as places to change planes en route to the Galapagos. Ecuador’s international travel reputation pretty much starts and ends there. That, I discovered, is a terrible mistake. Ecuador surprised and delighted at every turn. Quito alone is worth the trip. My Manta hotel stay was bliss. And then there were 5 days cruising the Pacific Coast of Ecuador aboard Kontiki Expedition’s yacht “M/Y Kontiki Wayra”.

M/Y Kontiki Wayra lives up to its reputation as a Small Luxury Hotel of the World

Billing themselves as “Neo-Luxury Sea Expeditions”, Kontiki is the brainchild of one Carlos Nuñez. He shares the devotion to country of every Ecuadorian I met. But Nuñez has a special passion for Ecuador’s largely untouched Pacific coast. It’s an area he knows well. His family fortune was made in tuna fishing in these waters. Last year, Nuñez converted a former scuba diving ship into a most luxurious yacht.

The 128-foot M/Y Kontiki Wayra has nine staterooms, a spa, a wine cellar and a top deck replete with Jacuzzi and a bar that provides an endless number of drinks in coconut shells. Below are truly luxurious accommodations with walk-in showers that feature living plants at their windowsills. And like the rest of the yacht, they are decorated with exquisite Ecuadorean handicrafts. Below the staterooms is a spacious lounge area. At one end, are two dining room set ups at the other, a bar. The stern of the ship has another outdoor lounge area. And steps down from there is the platform from which is launched an armada of water toys and even a netted swimming pool.

The pride in Ecuador is everywhere on the yacht and in its itineraries.

Kontiki founder Nuñez has a single goal: to bring sustainable tourism to the fascinating culture of mainland Ecuador, specifically its Pacific Coast. This is truly a tourist destination less traveled. While the Galapagos offer literally dozens of options in tours and cruises, Carlos Nuñez offers visitors unique opportunities for all manner of adventures…with nary another cruise ship in sight. While a devoted cabin crew cannot do enough for their passengers, Nuñez relies on an extraordinary guide, Raul “Ruli” Menoscal to guide the Expedition. A naturalist, “Ruli” once spent an entire 8 months on a Galapagos Island completely alone. Any comparison between that archipelago and our itinerary arouses his ire. Noting that there is indeed overlap in wildlife and flora, Ruli is proud that this route—and his home–will take us to one of the world’s finest sea bird sanctuaries, local cultures that are millennia old, jungle settings home to howler monkeys and deadly tarantulas, all while sailing in the supreme comfort of Kontiki Wayra. Ruli explains our route lacks for nothing: “It just suffers from lousy marketing.”

M/Y Kontiki Wayra combines Anthropology, Zoology, Native Crafts and Extraordinary Cuisine with just plain fun.

As I pored over the materials before setting foot on board, it became apparent that nothing would be left off the list of our shore excursions. Sailing from the booming seaport of Manta, in Ecuador’s Manabi Province, we settled into our staterooms and then assembled for Ruli’s nightly briefing. These quickly became dinner conversations as we were served menus completely made up of Ecuadoran cuisine. As this is a special interest of mine, I nonetheless was astonished at the variety of food we were served aboard Kontiki Wayra. Ecuadorian food has roots in Spanish, Andean, Amazonian cooking. Later arrivals of Italian, Lebanese, African and Chinese cooks all contributed to the incredible diversity of the food here. There are lots of carbohydrates –rice, lentils, pasta and above all plantains. We were served pork, chicken, beef and, of course, seafood so fresh it might have been caught off the stern of the yacht. At breakfast, the buffet overflowed with the freshest of fruits, eggs, breads and irresistible ‘rolls’ made with yucca flour. The bounty and variety of food served on board mirrored the best restaurants I’d eaten in ashore.

It might be possible to do absolutely nothing aboard Kontiki Wayra but who would?

It’s conceivable that you could take to your plush deck chair and soak up the plentiful Ecuadorian sunshine for the entire trip. But no one did. After all, there is a team of crewmembers whose entire job is to arrange kayaking, paddle boarding, and snorkeling. They also go to the trouble of setting up a three-story inflatable slide that became a point of pride for this writer to have swooshed down into the warm Pacific. And that’s all before even leaving the yacht. Once we boarded our Zodiac, the many sides of Ecuador awaited wherever we landed.

Overnight, we sailed the longest stretch of our voyage from Manta to Ayangue.

There was motion in the ocean for sure. Prepared in advance, we soon got our sea legs. Everyday provided a new adventure. Day one, we donned wet suits, spotting sea turtles on our way to our first scuba dive at El Pelado, a tiny islet. There to greet us was a colony of sea lions and hundreds of Blue footed Boobies. Ruli informed us that for past guests sailing from June until October, the islet is a perfect vantage point to watch humpback whales on their migratory journey. Back to a copious lunch and in the afternoon a visit to a local family making pottery with techniques that trace their roots back to 4500 BC. Talk about ‘hands-on’’! We worked the clay, formed bowls and decorated them! The technique however requires the pottery to cure in the sun. Our treasures were left behind while we bought far better examples to take home.

At our next stop, a Shaman blessed us all while his red motorcycle was hidden in the bushes.

Agua Blanca is a tiny settlement of one of the oldest civilizations in South America. The Manteño Culture dates to the year 1500. Ruli and our native guide led us to a clearing presided over by three men and and an ‘altar’ aflame with branches of palo santo which perfumes the air. The Shaman is a man named Plinio Merchán. He is a tribal leader of Agua Blanca. He invited us to join him in a circle, a configuration marked with sawdust. We are asked to make wish or say a silent prayer. Mechán then called out to the solstices and the winds blessing our families and ourselves and indeed the world both close and faraway. The ceremony ended with a cry from one of Mechán’s assistants made using a conch shell.

And so it went. Back to the yacht and a luncheon millenia away from the Manteños.

Every stop was a new adventure. Take Isla de la Plata. The island is part of the largest natural park in Ecuador, Machalilla National Park. It has a nickname: “Little Galapagos”. You’ll see seabird nesting grounds and a plethora of plants—both medicinal and absolutely beautiful. With luck you’ll come up close and personal with blue-footed boobies all the while taking in simply spectacular scenery as cormorants and frigate birds soar overhead. What you won’t see are Galapagos-like crowds: Isla de la Plata is restricted to just 50 tourists a day. We arrived early enough to beat the crowds completely. Then for the afternoon contrast: Fun with the water toys and then a beach swim and picnic with our on-board hostess, Valentina, a charming and gorgeous Chilean and Bartender Andres, assuring that no glass would remain empty.

There’s always an element of surprise that makes a Kontiki Expedition magical.

Take for instance, our trip to visit the howler monkeys. I must confess to having little desire to see the beasts having endured the howls during a visit to Nevis, W.I. that left me cold. Neverthless, and never wanting to be a killjoy, I joined the group as we explored.

Pacoche Reserve, a 25-acre (10 hectare) area within the enormous 33,223 acre Pacoche Marine Coastal Wildlife Refuge. We were led by a local guide through the forest—pointing out tarantula’s nests and poisonous plants. Then, a lone howler monkey was spotted with her very young baby. While we watched, the mother dropped the baby from quite a distance from the ground. We were discouraged from waiting to see if the baby survived or the mother found her baby. But later in the day, on the way back to Kontiki Wayra, our guide stopped to ask the fate of the baby and was reassured the two had been united. This is an example of how intimate Kontiki Wayra becomes. Or take the late afternoon when relaxing atop the yacht, we spotted an enormous pod of porpoises. The Captain literally repositioned Kontiki Wayra several times so that we could see more of them. Have you ever been on a cruise where that happened?

Ballet Folklorico, a surprise Seafood Luncheon catered in a casita, Panama Hat Making–theres’ no end to what’s in store for you on Kontiki Wayra

My trip was specifically designed for people like me to tell readers like you what a Kontiki Expedition is like. To give you a sample of what is yours if you are fortunate to step foot in Ecuador and even more fortunate to encounter the beauty and the adventure of her Pacific Coast on M/Y Kontiki Wayra. Deluxe and delightful. Adventurous and awe-inspiring. A once-in-a-lifetime trip or a game changer in how you see the world. I could only scratch the surface. For all you need to know go to https://kontikiexpeditions.com/

Don’t miss more updates, news and reviews on Cruising Journal with photos, videos and cruise offers.

Monte Mathews

Comments