Lost Treasures of Ecuador

[tintin_treasure]

thanks Crow..yeah I read sometime that in south east asia piracy is still present in some form...the piracy in the red sea and some parts of the indian ocean is a bit complex...the news media may no longer cover it but sometime back if you go off the coast of somalia ,at any given time you can actually see at least 100 ships of varying sizes seized by pirates and under negotiation and awaiting decisions .But the negotiation doesnt take place there,,,strangely enough the negotiation happens in Mombasa Kenya where there are underground go between brokers and contact men who strike a deal in millions to release the ships...the pirates have reaped hundreds of millions and at the end of the day it was the insurance companies that took the hit I guess.

tintin treasure

 

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[Crow]

thanks Crow..yeah I read sometime that in south east asia piracy is still present in some form...the piracy in the red sea and some parts of the indian ocean is a bit complex...the news media may no longer cover it but sometime back if you go off the coast of somalia ,at any given time you can actually see at least 100 ships of varying sizes seized by pirates and under negotiation and awaiting decisions .But the negotiation doesnt take place there,,,strangely enough the negotiation happens in Mombasa Kenya where there are underground go between brokers and contact men who strike a deal in millions to release the ships...the pirates have reaped hundreds of millions and at the end of the day it was the insurance companies that took the hit I guess.

tintin treasure

Yes it got bad a one stage. Now international community have navy ships working together on piracy patrol. In Indonesia it was most shore based from live hide away settlement on the coast of Java or Sumatra most robbing crews of ships and occasional robing off a private yacht. some Chinese pirates in 1990s stole whole ships took to china and rebirth the ships under a different name. What happened to the crews do not ask. Piracy has changed in modern era than the piratesof history. No longer do they roam the world like in the past.

Crow

 

[tintin_treasure]

Yes it got bad a one stage. Now international community have navy ships working together on piracy patrol. In Indonesia it was most shore based from live hide away settlement on the coast of Java or Sumatra most robbing crews of ships and occasional robing off a private yacht. some Chinese pirates in 1990s stole whole ships took to china and rebirth the ships under a different name. What happened to the crews do not ask. Piracy has changed in modern era than the piratesof history. No longer do they roam the world like in the past.

Crow

yeah it is declining but it is still there. There are also pirates off the coast of west africa,and strangely one american naval intel officer said he can not catagorize these as ''pirates'' like the somali pirates, as these west african ones do not operate in the high seas of international waters like the somalis. According to him an act can only be categorized as piracy if it is committed on international waters ,otherwise it is a local criminal activity.That is quite funny.In his catagory then the souh east asia shore pirates are not pirates

tintin treasure

 

[Crow]

El Crow, you never go wrong with superior firepower and the M-60 is an awesome weapon……
And the pirates are not limited to the seas……..same thing on land but called different names…...

Doc the m-60 was at the time of its invention was one of most successful weapons of its type. Still today used in 46 countries.

Crow

 

[Crow]

yeah it is declining but it is still there. There are also pirates off the coast of west africa,and strangely one american naval intel officer said he can not catagorize these as ''pirates'' like the somali pirates, as these west african ones do not operate in the high seas of international waters like the somalis. According to him an act can only be categorized as piracy if it is committed on international waters ,otherwise it is a local criminal activity.That is quite funny.In his catagory then the souh east asia shore pirates are not pirates

tintin treasure

Sounds A way of politicians to say they are winning by number crunching the figures by reclassifying the crimes.

Crow

 

[grantler]

Hi
here we have a few pictures from the expedition to Paititi
could not get all the fotos in one post .
could not work out how to transfere the pics into the thread . Attachment is not working and copy and past also not .

 

[doc-d]

I could not open pics, but they would be great to see…..thanks…..

 

[grantler]

Next try to post pictures.After 3 Weeks in the valley they found the first ruins

BL = Basecamp L= Camp R = ruins

 

[grantler]

Monika Ertl and her father working together in Brasilia ,He diet (92 years old) in 2000 in Bolivia and his younger daugther Beartiz still living in La Paz and taking care of Hans Ertl his Archiv .

​

 

[grantler]

Here we have the golden mask the found south east of the Cerro Paititi

 

[grantler]

How come I did see the pics yesterday and now they are gone ?
grantler
ps I know it is my unaware how to post .

 

[doc-d]

Safely back in Ecuador now for a few days……..one thing about here is that about every place has a long history to it……for the holiday weekend, we are heading north around Manta…….
Now the problem is the lack of Crow's library to better discern the history below…….yet there is ample history including large amounts of silver and gold…..and as history shows, there is always some missing, waiting to be found……..
Vaya con Dios mis amigos

During Ecuador’s Pre-Colombian history, Manta was home to at least seven different civilizations. According to some records, the Maya reached Manta around 500 A.D., but found it already inhabited by other groups, so they left. Little is known about the peoples who lived there between the Maya’s arrival there and the Inca Conquest, but there is concensus that the modern city of Manta – then known as Jocay – was used by the Inca and Manta indigenous groups as a trading center. In 1526, the Spanish explorer Bartolomé Ruiz was one of the first Europeans to arrive in Jocay. In 1534, Pedro de Alvarado arrived with his fleet in Bahía, where he he and his men set out on a conquest expedition. They encountered the indigenous population of Jocay by surprise and took Chief Ligua Tohallí prisoner. They also found large containers of gold, silver, emeralds, and precious stones. During Spanish colonial rule, the Parrish of Manta became part of the territory of Guayaquil, and remained so until the end of the 18th Century. From then until November 4, 1922, it was part of the Canton of Montecristi. Manta today belongs to the province of Manabí and is the third most important city in Ecuador economically (after Quito and Guayaquil).

 

[Mackaydon]

doc-d,
Since you are going to Manta, you may find entertaining a book entitled Women Can Find Shipwrecks Too by Margaret L. Brandeis ISBN 1-893181-28-6.Here's one sentence from the book: "I worked out ducats to ounces to pounds to tons and came up with 174 tons of silver and 11.9 tons of gold, not counting the stuff that might have been smuggled aboard."
HH and my Best,
Don......

 

[doc-d]

Gracias Senor Don……..

Also found this note in checking email today…..

"Lost Civilizations of the Andes," by David Pratt. Part 1: davidpratt.info/andes1.htm Part 2: davidpratt.info/andes2.htm Among other things in this long piece, there is this (and much more) on stone softening: "In an interview in 1983, Jorge A. Lira, a Catholic priest who was an expert in Andean folklore, said that he had rediscovered the ancient method of softening stone. According to a pre-Columbian legend the gods had given the Indians two gifts to enable them to build colossal architectural works such as Sacsayhuaman and Machu Picchu. The gifts were two plants with amazing properties. One of them was the coca plant, whose leaves enabled the workers to sustain the tremendous effort required. The other was a plant which, when mixed with other ingredients, turned hard stone into a malleable paste. Padre Lira said he had spent 14 years studying the legend and finally succeeded in identifying the plant in question, which he called "jotcha." He carried out several experiments and, although he managed to soften solid rock, he could not re-harden it, and therefore considered his experiments a failure. At present we do not know exactly how all the "Inca-style" structures were built. The use of stone-softening agents for softening the surface of stone blocks or for softening or disaggregating entire blocks prior to pouring or compacting the material into molds cannot be ruled out. The use of advanced tools is also a possibility. The only thing that is beyond doubt is that the primitive manual techniques favored by mainstream researchers cannot explain everything.

 

[Mackaydon]

doc-d,
I should have mentioned in that Brandeis referral that her efforts were concentrated off the shores of Manta and the surrounds.
Don......

 

[doc-d]

Senor Don, gratias de nuevo……
Leaving shortly for a few days…….will be taking at least one MD and likely my scuba stuff should the opportunity present itself…….
When we return I need to resume study of the rich history of Ecuador…..
Vaya con Dios todo

 

[doc-d]

Senor Don, gratias de nuevo……
Leaving shortly for a few days…….will be taking at least one MD and likely my scuba stuff should the opportunity present itself…….
When we return I need to resume study of the rich history of Ecuador…..
Vaya con Dios todo

 

[Mackaydon]

And if you get to my old area, off Chanduy, you might find a stray 8R that I overlooked from the Capitana (1654).
Don....

 

[doc-d]

Senor Mackaydon, perhaps I will find that stay real or two you so kindly left behind……it would seem that some make their way to shore now and again.

 

[Mackaydon]

doc-d
We decided not to use any extreme measures (C-4, etc) to remove some of the timbers so I'm sure we have left a few recuerdos for my friends. And if you are really in the area, I recommend you stay at the hotel mentioned in this visitor's note:

North of Santa Elena lies Ballenita with a fine beach area, fairly quiet for people wishing to get away. There is a comfortable place to stay here called Hosteria Farallón Dillon (Tel & Fax: 2786643-2785611) with spectacular views. Additionally, the place has a restaurant, museum (some Capitana souvenirs, for example) and a Gallery with antiques for sale.
English speakers. Wonderful staff, attentive, caring and informative. The Restaurant is marvelous. A great place to start from to see the surrounding area or just relax and refresh. (Say 'hello' to the owners, Capt. Alberto, his wife, Yolanda and their nephew, Johnathan for me and for my partner, Rob McClung, the actual finder of the "Capitana".)
All the best,
Don....
Owner: R/V Explorer (primary salvage and recovery vessel at that time)