[Ecuador]

I observed a development project that was helping several communities of Afro-Ecuadorians living up a coastal river.

We had missed the plane to Esmeraldas from Quito. So then, in the enveloping equatorial darkness, we stuck all the video gear into one of the trucks and took off for the 12 hour climb over the 13,000 foot pass and down towards the Ecuadorian coast. Early morning had us climbing into a dugout canoe for a six hour trip up the Rio Santiago.

What a place. We look at the spiny rats (proechimys semispinosus) being domestically cultivated in cages for eating and increasing the community protein source. We survey the forest to locate sites for the eco-tourism huts that may be built. I find out how the satellite dish is used to mark property lines so that land can be registered with the government.

A guy gives me his rifle, points upwards, and I shoot down a coconut. We watch a soccer game played on a rough field carved out of the forest. Chiggers bite the hell out of my ankles.