Qualla: Manta, Ecuador https://qualla.com/manta-ecuador en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:08 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/y/d/manta-ecuador-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Manta, Ecuador https://qualla.com/manta-ecuador Manta, Ecuador: Introduction https://qualla.com/manta-ecuador/ Photo credit Public domain. In 1736, a French scientist named Charles Marie de La Condamine stepped off his ship here on a mission to do something no one had ever done: measure the exact shape of the Earth. La Condamine was a leading member of the French Geodesic Mission, which had set sail in 1735 and would eventually prove the planet bulges at the equator and flattens at the poles. His point of entry was Manta, then a minor port on Ecuador's Pacific coast, now the country's seventh-largest city and home to 258,697 people according to the 2022 census. Manta is older than its colonial disguise suggests: the Manteno people, a pre-Columbian trading culture, used this bay as their hub for centuries before any European ship arrived.

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/y/d/manta-ecuador-wp/6pyd-manta-ecuador-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Manta, Ecuador: The Tuna Capital https://qualla.com/manta-ecuador/ Photo credit David C. S., CC BY-SA 4.0. If bananas built Machala, tuna built Manta. The city has the largest seaport in Ecuador by some measures, and tuna fishing and processing drive its economy. International tuna corporations including Bumble Bee, Van Camps, British Columbia Packers, and Conservas Isabel maintain si...

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Image: David C. S. | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/y/d/manta-ecuador-wp/6pyd-manta-ecuador-the-tuna-capital.mp3 0:06 2 full Manta, Ecuador: The Condamine Landing https://qualla.com/manta-ecuador/ Photo credit U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos, Public domain. Charles Marie de La Condamine arrived here in March 1736 with one of the most ambitious scientific expeditions of the 18th century. The French Academy of Sciences had dispatched him to South America to measure a degree of latitude at the equator, part of a continental debate abou...

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Image: U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos | Public domain

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/y/d/manta-ecuador-wp/6pyd-manta-ecuador-the-condamine-landing.mp3 0:06 3 full Manta, Ecuador: The American Years https://qualla.com/manta-ecuador/ Photo credit DHSgov, Public domain. Between 1999 and 2009, Manta Air Base operated under a shared-use arrangement between Ecuador and the United States. American aircraft used the base to fly anti-narcotics surveillance missions against Colombian drug trafficking cartels, patrolling Pacific shipping lanes and monit...

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Image: DHSgov | Public domain

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/y/d/manta-ecuador-wp/6pyd-manta-ecuador-the-american-years.mp3 0:06 4 full Manta, Ecuador: Surf, Kitesurf, and the World Cup https://qualla.com/manta-ecuador/ Photo credit Monserrate Carrillo, Public domain. Manta has hosted serious water sports competitions. The 2004 Bodyboarding World Cup came here. The sixth South American Windsurfing Championship came here. Nearby Salinas hosted the ISA World Junior Surfing Games in 2009. Several beaches define the area: El Murcielago is the main...

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Image: Monserrate Carrillo | Public domain

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/y/d/manta-ecuador-wp/6pyd-manta-ecuador-surf-kitesurf-and-the-world-cup.mp3 0:06 5 full Manta, Ecuador: Panama Hats from Ecuador https://qualla.com/manta-ecuador/ Photo credit U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos, Public domain. The hats Theodore Roosevelt wore during the Panama Canal construction came from Ecuador. Specifically, they came from Montecristi, a small town a few kilometers from Manta where weavers have produced what the world calls Panama hats since the early 17th century. The name is a mar...

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Image: U.S. Department of Defense Current Photos | Public domain

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/y/d/manta-ecuador-wp/6pyd-manta-ecuador-panama-hats-from-ecuador.mp3 0:06 6 full