Nature, culture and gastronomy in Northern Ecuadorian coast, Part one

January 21, 2012

We cross the long and modern bridge over the large Esmeraldas River, leaving behind the colorful skyline of the namesake city, capital of the province of Esmeraldas, in the northern coast of Ecuador.  We go past the city’s airport and soon we are riding on a new and modern road, the northern segment of Ecuador’s coastal motorway.  South of the Esmeraldas River’s delta; a long line of huge oil tankers queues to load on petroleum from Ecuador’s large coastal refinery.
The Pacific Ocean to the left and vast plains, exuberantly verdant, to the right, explain to us, without the need of words, why this part of coastal Ecuador is known as “the green province”: a fabulous mix of lush coastal rainforests plus large plantations of bananas, coffee, cocoa and African oil palms create a luxuriant mix of green colors.  Besides, the area was known, in the days of the colony, as a fountain of emerald mines, thus the province, river and city’s name. And to make it even more interesting, Esmeraldas is the main hub of Ecuador’s afro-descending population.
Our destination today is Rio Verde (green river, for a change….), some 30 minutes north of Esmeraldas city.  Andy, Cristina and I marvel at every turn of the road with new and amazing views as Patricio explains to us tons of facts and figures about the area’s agricultural richness. We leave the main road and go past two small towns, picturesque and quaint, where the predominantly afro-descending inhabitants, cheerful and colorfully dressed, wave at us as we go by.  Finally we reach a small settlement called “Vuelta Larga” (long curve); alongside the famed “Rio Verde”.  The river does have a dark green tone, due to the accumulation of plant sediments on its bottom and shores.  The tiny village has a small square with a thatch-roofed central hut and a small, white walled and nicely gardened waterfront.
Now we board a motorized dugout canoe where Carlos the motorist and Carlos the local native guide join us for a journey upriver…. There is a surprise at every bend: long-necked cormorants taking flight with the river’s surface serving them as a runway to take-off; dazzling white egrets and great blue herons roam the shores, lined with red mangroves, the perfect habitat for many crustaceans.  Small striated herons quietly stalk around for prey.  Two peregrine falcons hover above the green forest, dotted with some riverside ranches, growing bananas and cocoa…
We are headed to visit a long-time settler and owner of a pioneer “organic ranch”: Don Ignacio, a tall and dark-skinned, pleasant and hospitable elder, yet full of vitality, dreams and plans. His relatively small estate is a haven for the production of cocoa, coffee, plantain and bananas, as well as ornamental plants and flowers.  The difference is that he uses no chemicals at all; his production is one hundred percent clean and environmentally friendly.  His wooden home looks modest, but he is proud of what he does and tries to motivate the ranchers and settlers of the area, to follow his example. His philosophy is “by preserving nature, we preserve our future”.  One of his assistants points out the amazing production of oranges, literally falling from the trees and hands out incredibly sweet and refreshing oranges, ideal for the morning heat on the humid and warm atmosphere of this hidden corner, alongside the shores of the ”Green  River.  Don Ignacio plans to build a small facility to meet tourists eager to learn about the unique lifestyle on a coastal forest and how to produce abundant crops, without damaging the natural habitat… His property includes a small greenhouse and an equally small but effective plant producing cocoa nectar, the raw material for preparing delicious tasting chocolate, some of which is exported out of the country’s frontiers….  But there are still more discoveries for us to enjoy on this hot and pleasant day… We will tell you about them on the next issue…..

E   N   D     O   F     P   A   R   T     O   N   E

A unique community tourism experience on Ecuador´s Amazonian rainforest, part two

January 14, 2012

After our exciting two hours hike in the rainforest, covered in sweat and quite thirsty, we get back to the Shayari Community Tourism Center where the children are waiting to see us, urban creatures, return after a walk in the jungle.  They smile and wave at us, displaying that genuine hospitality of the inhabitants of these remote corners of the amazing Amazon basin.  We are offered a much welcome and refreshing orange juice and additional bottles of water to continue our journey.  Geovanny, the Community’s young President, joins me to host the rest of the day’s outing.
We travel through dense primary forests nestled along irregular mountainous ridges and we frequently stop to look at and photograph the brilliant yellow-rump cacique birds and their peculiar long and hanging nests, looking like Christmas decoration over large ficus and kapok trees. Another stop is to watch a small troupe of woolley monkeys performing their acrobatic maneuvers as they travel over the forest’s canopy, alongside the dirt road. A large rodent, most likely a young capybara, scurries across the road and rapidly disappears in the dense vegetation.  There is a pleasant scent of moisture, plant leafs and wood, a characteristic of such a pristine habitat.  From a vantage point along the narrow road we emerge over the Lumbaqui Valley and get a great panoramic view of the namesake village, one of the cross-roads of Ecuador’s rich petroleum-producing zone.
After a short stop for refreshments and a light snack, we continue on, towards another remote community, El Cedro, located on the Upper Agurarico River area.  Our first stop is at Santiago’s extremely modest home, surrounded by gardens, chicken all over the place and the backdrop of the omnipresent jungle behind.  He is a mestizo settler, who migrated from the Andes, decades ago and now lives in convivial harmony with the Kchwa native population of the area. His wife and five children busily prepare lunch for us, the “special guests” of the day.  Santiago’s dream, shared by many of the surrounding community members, is to create a “Sustainable Handicrafts Center”, which, by utilizing naturally decaying materials, would provide a decent source of income to the local inhabitants, otherwise dedicated to agriculture and farming, which often contributes to degrading and destroying the natural forests.  This activity, instead, helps preserve the forest.  He is a skilled artisan himself and shows us his most artistic lamps and decoration figures made of the fibers and materials of fallen trees and decaying tree barks.
While we share a succulent chicken soup, salad and lemonade around the dining table, we can feel the spirit of equity and hospitality which these people embrace… Opening the doors of their modest home is a demonstration of such spirit and we enjoy a memorable moment of true sharing the daily life of a local family.  After lunch, Santiago takes us to visit his elder colleague, Don Ivan, in the small El Cedro’s main square.  His driftwood handicrafts workshop is large and the amount and variety of objects, whether for decoration or for practical uses, is really amazing. Even though, the area is not one of high touristic visitation, they continue with their dream to convert their small community into a superb handicrafts center, characterized by the concept of preserving the rainforest, while recycling its natural materials into fantasy pieces of artisanal work.  To end the visit, we drive a short distance away to reach a huge bend of the large Aguarico River’s headwaters, where I am really stunned at the bizarre and unique geological formations which shape the rivers’ shorelines at this place, known as “Las Pizarras” (which would translate into “the blackboards”)… With no geologists around to ask, I can only speculate that these are stratified lava rivers, spilled from the neighboring Reventador Volcano and further shaped by the force of the river’s water crafting the lava into the most amazing shapes, a startling sight…..!!  As we make our way back to the petroleum hub city of Lago Agrio to catch my return flight to Quito, I tell Geovanny, my Kichwa host, how much I have enjoyed and learned on these days, sharing much of the daily life of these remote communities on Ecuador’s magic upper Amazonian rainforest…..

E   N   D     O   F     P   A   R   T     T   W   O

A Unique Community Tourism Experience in Ecuador´s upper Amazon Region, Part One

January 6, 2012

A more than pleasant, yet “déjà-vu” experience wakes me up to the loud sound of birds saluting a new and sunny morning on the remote community of Shayari, in Ecuador’s Upper Amazon basin. The beautifully chaotic concert put on by birds and myriads of other creatures, makes me realize that my bed is only separated from the “real” rainforest just by the thin walls of the native materials with which the community lodge’s cabins are built of.  Rustic and simple, the cabins have good beds, clean linen, mosquito netting, no electricity and yes, a small private toilet and wash basin.
Showers are communal and reachable just a one minute walk from the cabins.  Today, a pump has broken down, so, with due apologies from the Kichwa indigenous administrators, the “Plan B” shower turns to be a natural cascade, walking some hundred meters down a natural trail.  With the appropriate spirit for this kind of adventures, I find it a unique experience and think that, after all, that is and has been the natural shower for the jungle inhabitants, anyway…
Back into outdoor clothes and hiking shoes I join Guido, one of my local hosts, to the community’s main hut, where Guillermo has prepared a delicious breakfast which included yucca bread, fresh orange juice, almost-gourmet sweet plantain patties with melting cheese inside; chopped fresh papaya and bananas, along with a natural tea of fresh lemon grass herbs from their organic garden. The native children peek into the large thatch-roofed dining room, excited with the presence of visitors and bust into smiles, displaying their natural and candid hospitality.
We have a busy agenda so we immediately head for a two-hour nature trail excursion, with Guillermo as our native guide.  The rainforest is madly alive with its millions of creatures of all sorts, colors and sizes, with plants and insects leading the counts in numbers of species, yet closely followed by the bird’s population. In addition to learning the most amazing secrets of the jungle and the inter-relations of its inhabitants, we discover here the unique characteristics of a different ecosystem, being this a part of the Amazonian rainforest which stands higher above the vast plains, set between them and the lower eastern slopes of the Andean mountains.  The community has implemented a “Rescue Center” for several types of forest animals, mainly mammals, which are endangered or were found sick, captive or in precarious conditions.  Guillermo proudly shows us and explains the functioning of the center, which is dispersed along the nature trail and consists of large, fenced (yet natural) enclosures to look after these animals, until they are found suitable to be released back to their fully natural life.
First to be seen are about a dozen collared-pecaris, a type of wild hog, which roams the forests. We can see the large chunk of upper lip that one of them seems to have lost on an encounter with some larger predator. Next are two female tapirs, mother and daughter, who rush to the voice of Guillermo who is bringing their daily breakfast of green plantains. The proximity of these rare and normally elusive animals is exciting, in spite of the fact that they live on a controlled captivity for recovery purposes.  Further along the trail we stop by a large pen hosting a half a dozen of brightly colored green and red macaws who put on their noisy show.  Then the trail gets steeper as we climb and descend the flanks of a small mountainous ridge, passing by small cascades, creeks and ravines.  On one of the ravines, a thin river of crystal clear waters, something catches the attention of Guillermo… He asks us to hush as we slowly approach the small waterway. The reason: a large, thick and unusually colorful (a mix of yellow and black striped) boa constrictor snake is slowly making its way upstream, most likely in search of food… I manage to take some good photo shots, until the reptile suddenly gets annoyed with our proximity and swings back with a threatening move to shows us its head sticking up on a clearly menacing signal…. Guillermo and I rush away as Guido, who is watching the show from a safer position, cracks into laughter at our unexpected scare, while the boa gets back to its whereabouts…. More to be told about this adventure on the next issue….

T   H   E     E   N   D     O   F      P   A   R   T     O   N   E