(“I hope so!” A common Spanish expression obviously derived at the time of the Moorish occupation from Arabic, “As Allah will have it.”)  Leonidas Plaza—Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador The morning of Revegetation Day I began with a round of sweeping up crickets, the mound only slightly smaller than the day before. There’s a barrel of rain water on the roof-patio (a typical Ecuadorean amenity even […]

Leonidas Plaza This may be completely to the side of everything else that is going on with the eco-city process in Bahía de Caráquez, or it may be part of the core. I’m too personally involved to know. It has to do with the close-to-the-bone experience of occupying Planet Drum’s new office/apartment in Leonidas Plaza.  Although a first and last month’s rent was paid along […]

Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador The rainy season seems to have begun in earnest. A light sprinkle two days ago may have been the actual starting point, and last night’s downpour that continues into the morning appears to remove any question about an end to the annual coastal drought. The revegetation of Maria Auxiliadora barrio can get underway soon now that the soil is damp and […]

Ecuador is exiting the past in Quito, and it is coming into important aspects of the future in Bahia de Caraquez. Last night, national television showed the capitol with lights glaring into packed throngs in the street, smiling men and women wearing ponchos and indigenous hats, soldiers with rifles slung from their shoulders walking casually beside student protesters waving Ecuadorean flags. CONAIE, the confederation of […]

Ecuador Eco-Gathering Report #7San Francisco, California It’s a few days after the vernal equinox in San Francisco, a date when the equal length of days and nights is the same here as it is all year in Ecuador. How remarkable to find anything similar to what happened there just three weeks ago. The festivities for Bahia de Caraquez’s Declaration as a “Ciudad Ecologica” (Ecological City) […]

Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador Eco-gathering (This is probably the last account of events here until after the Eco-Gathering February 27-28. In fact, there may not be a chance to send another before leaving Ecuador March 6 because of uncertainty about travel and e-capability.) The barrio of Santa Martinita is a workers’ district of cement block houses near the center of town that rises on a […]

Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador Eco-gathering Report #5 Our species has probably been as intelligent, creative and physically similar for at least the last 100,000 years. Agriculture has been practiced for only about the last 10,000 years, or one-tenth of that time. The Industrial Era probably began in the middle of the 17th Century, but has been prominent for only the last 200 years, or just […]

Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador Letter #2 Dear Friends, If you are part of an informal group or belong to an organization that is associated with bioregional activities or sustainability in any form, please write an e-letter of congratulations and support to Patricio Tamariz and the Ecuador Eco-Gathering in Bahia de Caraquez at archtour@srv1.telconet.netso that it can make an impression on the national and other officials who […]

Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador Eco-gathering Report #4 Finding enjoyable aspects of Bahia is as easy for a stranger as anywhere I’ve been. All of the most populous areas of the city — market, ferry landing, municipal building and downtown businesses — are within a few blocks of each other. Walking to them is so full of contact with residents and visitors that it can’t be […]