Panama hats are made in Jipijapa, Ecuador in the Province of Manta.

First came to Ecuador in 1976….back in Guayaquil to visit with my wife’s (Ulvia) family.  Her family lives in Guayaquil.  The roads are now much better….a new 4 lane road is being built headed from Progresso to Playas and Pasorja. The beaches in Playas are very wide and nice.  We ate in Playas at a funky little restaurant called “Juan Ostra.”  I can say that this was the best fish I have ever had in Ecuador and I have eaten a lot of fish in Ecuador over the past 34 years.  Here is the story on Juan Ostra.  Juan, whose real name is Juan Reyes Torres, is a diver who dives down around 20 feet without tanks or equipment and brings up the huge Ostras.  And he also gets this own seafood fresh from the Pacific there.  In addition to the fresh seafood, one son has studied the culinary arts in 5 star restaurants and hotels.  He cooks the fresh “dorado” in olive oil and it makes a real difference in the taste. Ulvia had ostras.  Juan takes the ostra out to the sidewalk curb in front of his restaurant  and breaks them open right there, pours the natural juices back on the ostra and serves them on the half shell.  One ostra is about the size of 7 or 8 “normal” oysters.  The building itself is a bamboo and wood shack…one thing that is lacking though a window to see the ocean….it is very closed in and dark inside when I would like to be able to sit there and see something else. However, he has little choice since the restaurant is not in front of the ocean and if he opened up the windows one would only see another wall.  So maybe with some success in a few years he can move to have an ocean view.  And this is my only negative comment about Juan Ostra….he is very, very accomodating to his guests at the restaurant.  Go to Playas and give it a try.  You get there by going to the end of the road, take a left at the red light and follow the sign that says “Ostras que fuma.”  (Oysters that smoke)….you will find a treat there.