Ecotourism
Ecotourism in Ecuador.
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Preserving Ecuador’s Tsachila Indigenous Customs Through Heritage Center #WATWB
Indigenous Tsachila Tribe  The Tsachila people are an indigenous tribe in Ecuador with under 3000 people remaining. They are located in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas (highlighted on map here). Albertina, a Shaman living in one of their communities runs a Tsachila heritage center in an effort to introduce their culture and traditions to world travelers. She is helping prevent the loss of their old way of life as technology and other cultures blend with theirs. Albertina’s Story Excerpt from the story on South American Backpacker, which you can read in its entirety here: Contently sitting next to the fire, Albertina began sharing her own story. At a young age she…
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Palo Santo products made in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador #AtoZChallenge
For centuries, Palo Santo has been used for it’s healing and cleansing properties. The tree grows in coastal areas of South America, is in the citrus family, and smells of pine, mint and lemon. It is a relative of Frankincense, Myrrh and Copal. Palo Santo translates to “Holy Wood” or “Sacred Wood” in English. Dante Bolcato (top photo, lower left) makes products sold on his website, El Artesan, in Puerto Lopez. While walking along the malecon, you can find his store by following your nose – there is always Palo Santo wood smoking on the front sidewalk. In fact, in the evenings, you will smell Palo Santo smoking in many Puerto Lopez…
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Revitalizing an Ecuadorian Coastal Village #WATWB
Residents of La Entrada are revitalizing their poor Ecuadorian village with a new destination wedding church, artwork and town improvements. Shell and Marsha Spivey, expat owners of a popular bed and breakfast, Villa de Los Sueños, have been vital to the efforts. From this article about the revitalization: From March 5 to March 11, artists from all over Ecuador came to La Entrada to paint giant murals throughout the village, in what is Phase 2 of an innovative renewal project for the small town aimed at revitalizing the spirit of the people and the town’s economy. Artwork in La Entrada Photo from CuencaHighLife article Later in the article:…
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39,000 Volunteers Clean Ecuador Beaches, Rivers, and Ocean Floors
“Think globally, act locally.” — Origins of the phrase are disputed according to Wikipedia Ecuador Environmental Protection In 2008, Ecuador became the first country in the world to provide constitutional protection for the environment. This does not mean that garbage is always deposited in a receptacle nor that all packaging is biodegradable. What it does mean, among many other things, is that students learn about the negative impact plastic in oceans and rivers have on the planet. Rings on beverage cans can kill marine life. From Manabi Province Environment Ministry Tweet Since 2010, Ecuador’s Environment Ministry has been leading a September cleanup as part of International Beach Cleaning Day, promoted…
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Baby Llama at the Inca Ruins
“Mama Llama’s always near, even if she’s not right here.” — Anna Dewdney, Llama Lama Red Pajama Llamas and Inca Ruins A baby llama (a cria) running around Inca ruins adds lively entertainment to a leisurely stroll through history. Cria at the Inca Ruins The terraces in Cuenca’s Pumapungo Inca ruins (which I wrote about here) are filled in with grass. Llamas tethered to the ground are moved around the grounds to keep the grass short. Like most baby animals, crias stay close to their mother so they are not tethered. They are able to run and bounce around, learning about the world around them and making friends. On this day,…
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DoMinga – Volunteers Cleaning Beaches #WATWB
Welcome to August’s installment of the We Are The World Blogfest, when we share positive news on the last Friday of each month. Thank you to this month’s WATWB co-hosts: Simon Falk, Roshan Radhakrishnan, Inderpreet Uppal, Lynn Hallbrooks, Eric Lahti, and Mary J Giese. DoMinga – Weekly Puerto Lopez beach cleanup This month I am writing about a weekly Puerto Lopez, Ecuador beach cleanup effort. I have no article to link to so I will just tell you about it. Where plastic bags thrown on the ground go Dead or dying whales, dolphins and sea turtles periodically wash up on shore, stomachs full of plastic. A plastic bag tossed out a car window miles from shore flows…
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Inca Ruins in Cuenca, Ecuador
“Everything has crumbled and in ruins but you can still appreciate how grand it was.” — Pedro Cieza de León, 1547, chronicler of the Spanish conquest, speaking about Tomebamba Visiting Inca ruins in Cuenca, Ecuador by city bus is easy because they are in the middle of the city. Northern Inca Capital The Inca conquered the Cañari people in 1470 and established the city-state of Tomebamba (Large Plateau) high in the Andes mountains. Emperor Huayna Capac (ruled 1493-1525) selected Tomebamba, where he was born, to be the Inca northern capital. It was a short lived capital. A civil war between Incan brothers in the 1520s led to it’s destruction.…
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Agua Blanca – Living History
Ecotourism: Tourism directed toward exotic, often threatened, natural environments, especially to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife. — Oxford Living Dictionaries Agua Blanca Community Agua Blanca is a friendly historic community five minutes northeast of Puerto Lopez. Some residents are direct descendants of the Manteño civilization, who lived here between 800 and 1532 A.D. Community members keep their history alive with their lifestyle. They enjoy sharing their history with the public via tourism and a full time archaeology project in which anyone can participate. I wrote about my digging day here. The small community has several hundred residents and several thousand goats. The goats wander around everywhere except crop fields,…
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Digging up Manteño history #AtoZChallenge
An archaeology dig guaranteeing every participant would find something from the Manteño civilization? When I saw the offer by Archaeology Vacations, I could not pass up a chance to dig up history. I became an archaeologist for a day! You can be an archaeologist for a day Canadian Luke Dalla Bona is leading an archaeological dig in the indigenous community of Agua Blanca. He lives in the community, 10 minutes north of Puerto Lopez. He is training the next generation of archaeologists right in their own backyard. Before Luke joined them, the community identified some areas where ancient structures once stood. They built a roof over one of the homes…
