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We are in a place called Comuna Las Tunas. The eco-lodge is called: Azuluna. Their website: www.azuluna-ecuador.com It's close to Puerto Lopez.
It’s a very cool place. Both in the meaning “hip” and “cool”! Kwesi and I have our own beach house complete with hammock. That’s where Kwesi is right now… He is trying to write his journal. ;-)
We can see the Pacific Ocean from our door. It’s a grey and drizzling day today. Yesterday was beautiful. I would guess it’s only about 20C outside. Kind of odd for being around the equator at sea level! We didn’t expect that. I think it’s because the cold water from the artic comes up here. Apparently we have a good chance of seeing some whales on Sunday during a boating trip. I can’t wait.
Yesterday we had a wonderful day. We left Guayaquil the biggest city Ecuador in the morning for San Pablo, a small fishing community along the coast. We spoke (through an interpreter) to four fishermen about their village, their co-operative and how they view their way of life. There were about 15 fishermen at the gathering. It was interesting. We learned that migration is not much
The pacific ocean from our balcony
The waves look pretty big! We woke up in the middle of the night and realized that we weren't used to hearing the waves...of a problem in this village as they said that most local people aren’t adventurous enough to give up what they have to try something new.
They have small boats and fish in the mornings and evenings. They make about $150/month, which is adequate to meet their needs. Most of their catch is sold on the local market, they don’t export. The village has about 8,000 people of which about 4,000 are fishermen.
The biggest complaints were against big corporations. Apparently there is an oil refinery nearby and people are getting skin cancer. They related that to the industry. There are also big fishing boats owned by multi-national corporations and they don’t obey the laws. These boats fish too close to the shore and impact the catch of the local fishermen and their livelihood.
They would like to have a refrigeration/freezer system so that they would save plentiful catches for times when there is much less. We hope they achieve that.
Tourism is coming to their village. We asked how they felt about that and they seemed pleased. They viewed it as a new challenge rather than just a new source of income. We hope they are
Kwesi in the hammock
Yes, he fell out the first time... able to adapt to tourism and not lose too much of their culture. The women are setting up restaurants etc. They were happy with the new education policies. Apparently public school is now free, including university. This they were excited about. There is a small university in the provincial capital about 10 minutes south of this village. They hoped their children would be able to take advantage of that.
After the fishing village, we went to the Museo Valdivia. It was interesting. The museum was on the archeological site where they found evidence of the Valdivia culture dating back 5-6,000 years. Very cool. There were other cultures that came after the Valdivia culture but I can’t remember the names. The cultures were tracked through their use of pottery. It was very evident from the introduction of colours and the changes in shapes that the cultures redefined themselves through time.
From the museum we went to visit the Maria Rosa Mistica. We will have to do more research online but it’s one of the statues that bled tears of blood. We saw the statue of Mary and the blood is still there. It was analyzed but we don’t know
Another "house" at Azuluna
Some of our travel mates are staying in this one. the results. It’s not relevant anyway, people come from all over the world to see the statue. The church was on the top of a cliff and the chapel was at the top with only a roof. Kwesi said anyone would attend mass if you got to go to a place like that!
We arrived at the Communa Las Tunas in the evening. We had a wonderful dinner and then passed out for the night. This morning we have free time and this afternoon we will be going to do some community work at a church. Apparently there is some painting to do and a garden to build. We are going to volunteer to do some gardening and also paint the newly built local church… Our rain boots might just come in handy yet!
This trip so far has been awesome. It’s quite different from anything we have ever done! We are learning lots and being exposed to opportunities that would have been very difficult to arrange on our own…
The guide this week is married to a Canadian from Montreal. Esteban went to school at McGill where he met his wife and they moved to Ecuador in 2005. Esteban is a very interesting person and it’s too bad we won’t get to meet his wife.
Meghan and Kwesi
PS This place is very similar to Ghana in a lot of ways…
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tiffany & eileen
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hello!
Meghan & Kwesi, thanks for including us in your blog updates! it looks like you're having a fantastic time. we look forward to following your upcoming adventures. (and eileen's very jealous of your hammock!)