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ECUADORLINE |
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ECUADORLINE |
NEWSLETTER APRIL 2005 |
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Dear friends of Ecuador, In this new edition you will explore the route of the cascades, in the province of Esmeraldas, and get involved into the mystical environment surrounding this place. Then, you will travel to the Highlands and you´ll get to know the vast consequences that the rail company brought to the city of Riobamba. After having a nice trip on train, you might travel all along the fantastic waters of the Napo River, an ideal place for rafting! Then, you´ll be taken to the wonderful Galapagos Islands, where you´ll get to know how to preserve its unique flora and fauna threatened by the overcrowded tourist activity. Besides, you'll know more about the social implications of the prawn rearing economic activity. Enjoy your reading!
Esmeraldas encloses a fabulous and exotic vegetation full of legends and myths
Prawns, a culinary delight - Part 4 of our series about the foreign trade products of Ecuador
The Ecuadorian cacao: one of the most requested in the world
Europe consumes the largest quantity of cacao in the world with 50 grams per person every day. Germany industrializes 10% of the worldwide chocolate production. This fact encourages our country to continue and intensify its production. So the next time you try a chocolate think that it could have been made from one of the best and most delicious aromatic cacao from Ecuador.
The strike of workers in the health sector continues
At the moment, 1668 public hospitals and health public centres are closed. Around 25,000 doctors working at the public health sector participate on the strike. The objective of the strike is to make the government aware of the health sector necessities and the lack of resources to attend all citizens. Maybe now it is time that the government starts thinking more about the Ecuadorian health system.
Peace and adventure - both is still waiting for you
HIGHLANDS: The train brought a new life style to Riobamba
Most of the monuments and buildings of Riobamba, considered nowadays as national treasures, were built by these wealthy families. Their mansions have all kind of eccentric designs and give a new appearance to the city. For example, in the southern part of the city the Levi-Hill brothers designed its own Beverly Hills, and a lot of monuments were built at downtown. Fortunately, at present we can enjoy the spectacular landscape of Ecuador having a trip on the train that departs from Riobamba and goes to the south.
RAINFOREST: The Napo River is an excellent place for rafting
But this is not the only attraction of this magnificent place. The enormous variety of plants and animals, such as the jaguar, harpy eagle, puma and tapir captivates all tourists and invites them to go deep into the rainforest and discover the treasure that is hidden behind this wonderful scenery, almost inhabited. Nowadays, the communities that live along the river are getting involved in the guidance of tourists, so they can show foreign people the rainforest and a little bit of their lifestyle.
GALÁPAGOS: There is little control on the arrivals to the islands
A dilemma arises when most of the tourists arrive on the same season, and the authorities of the Galapagos National Park have some difficulty to control the visits to the park. Fortunately, everybody is interested in the preservation of these wonderful islands. Many tourism enterprises are modifying their itineraries so the places that are visited do not get so crowded and tourists can enjoy in a better way the magnificent landscape and fascinating animals. This measure intends to create an equilibrium between sustainable tourism and the preservation of the Galapagos Islands.
My day without a shadow (written by Iris Wöbking, Ulm)
The local people don't really seem to notice this special event, but
I have to admit that all the other visitors including myself are even
more excited. After all it doesn´ t happen too often that you
participate the birth of a new sun year - and also being without a shadow
is rarely, I guess. Already on my way to the museum Solar Inti Nan I
realize "something is wrong" or better said "something
is missing". Well, it´ s my permanent attendant that is getting
smaller minute by minute until it hardly can be seen.
... that prawns drop their shell during their period of growth just right before full moon and that's why full moon nights are the best harvest time for reaping the shellfish? ... that petrol, which is Ecuador's´ main export product, was used for medical intentions according to old chronicles? ... that from the 4,1 million tons of bananas that are consumed every year in the European Union, 79.9642 tons come from Ecuador, the main exporter in the banana sector?
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With kind regards from Quito, |
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TOP
TOPIC
The
province of Esmeraldas is located on the Ecuadorian coast. This beautiful
and exotic province has spectacular beaches, a magical cloud forest and
thousands of legends and myths, which give rise to a mystical environment.
One of the most visited places is the Chuchubí cloud forest, situated
in the villages of Alto Tambo and Durango. There we can find the most
beautiful vegetation and a spectacular landscape full of magnificent cascades.
The
chirping of crickets welcomes all visitors who travel to the route of
the cascades. The first cascade that we can observe is the Piguambí
Cascade, also called "Cascada de las Pavas" (Cascade of the
female turkeys) where turkeys go to nest. This quiet place engages you
in the magical character of the cascade which water sound enchants you.
Continuing on the route, we find the Cascade of the Goblin, which is also
called "Biringo". The legend told by many natives of the zone
says that in this place a goblin frequently takes baths all naked and
tries to win the heart of single young women that have pretty eyes and
long hair. This is the reason why many young women go to this place with
somebody else, so the goblin does not put his eyes on them. Besides, some
people say that in this place a mythical animal called "Tunda"
can often be seen. It merges with the jungle and becomes human, so he
can scare people when he turns back into an animal. 
On
this part of the route we can perceive the different climates that this
spectacular forest offers us. It changes from hot to humid and cold. This
makes us experience a whole range of different landscapes along with a
broad variety of flora and fauna all in the same place. The nature seduces
its visitors with its splendor and exuberance, where beautiful flowers
like the bromeliads and sounds of animals such as toucans, parrots, monkeys,
squirrels, snakes, mosquitoes and small lizards surround the natural environment.
A
quite new branch of economic activity, which is getting more and more
important in Ecuador, is prawn rearing. Ecuador has been able to reach
international status as being the second most important prawn exporter.
It
must be mentioned that the boom of prawns, in the 80ies, was meant to
be an easy and safe way for prawn breeders to earn a lot of money. However,
a large part of the natural landscape all together with people's habitat
has been destroyed. In addition to the dramatic prawn export decline,
prawn breeders have to deal with low prices, small quantities of prawn
and poor grounds. 
During
the 19th century, Ecuador became the world's largest producer and exporter
of cacao. Afterwards, the country specialized in the production of aromatic
cacao (a different type of cacao), becoming the world's largest producer.
The Ecuadorian cacao is recognized because of its high quality. Ecuador
produces 170,000 tons of aromatic cacao every year and encloses a cultivated
area of 243,059 hectares, which represents 170 millions dollars. Nowadays,
the country is trying to look up for new markets that may be interested
in this product. India, China, Russia and the new members of the European
Union could be potential customers.
The
situation of the Ecuadorian health sector is critical because of the lack
of resources given by the government. Thousands of doctors working at
the public sector have been on strike for more than one month. They demand
a rise in their salaries, but the government budget can not cover this
sum of money. Unfortunately, the amount of money given by the government
is not enough to cover all the necessities of public hospitals. Some of
the hospitals do not even have the main medical equipment to attend people
coming to emergency rooms. Besides, there is not a relation between what
workers are actually being paid and their professional qualification.
Some of them have another job so they can earn a remuneration that can
let them have a respectable living standard
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If you feel like having one of the most exciting adventures in the Rainforest,
then come to Kapawi Ecolodge and Reserve and profit from its 
In
1905, the train arrived for the first time in Riobamba thanks to the
"Quito and Guayaquil Rail Company" service. This new event
brought to the city a lot of changes on its lifestyle. For instance,
the crops produced in Riobamba were transported to the coast by railway,
resulting in a vast development to the city. Also, many wealthy families
from Guayaquil, the United States, Germany, Suisse, France, England,
Colombia, 
China,
and Syria wanted to profit from the several advantages that this growing
city offered, andthey decided to establish their companies here. 
The
Napo River encloses a broad area full of natural beauty that comes from
its unique landscape and the force of its waters. This small piece of
paradise invites its visitors to travel across the waters of the Napo
River. Everyone that has practiced rafting here says that it is the
most exciting experience. This river is internationally ranked as one
of the top places for practicing this activity. 
The
Galapagos Islands are one of the main tourist attractions in Ecuador.
Its natural landscape and the great variety of animals captivate all
visitors coming to this spectacular place. Every year, the number of
people arriving to the islands increases. That is why there have been
many ecological groups that worry about the preservation of the flora
and fauna of the islands. During the year 2004, 68,316 foreign tourists
and 30,515 national tourists came to the islands, and it must be underlined
that these numbers are close to the limit permitted by law (100,000).
Every
day has 24 hours? That´ s what I thought as well - until I reached
the middle of the world in order to get to the bottom of this popular
fallacy. Measured more exactly, it is only 23 hours and 56 minutes.
We don´ t really realize those missing four minutes because they
don' t exist! 
There
are many questions that Manolo has to answer, because not all of those
oddities of the nature are always really obvious for us. Not without
cause some famous physicists such as Coriolis were necessary in order
to explain the water phenomenon between the Southern and Northern hemisphere
because of centrifugal forces. However it´ s a fact that on the
northern hemisphere the water in a sink runs off anticlockwise and on
the southern hemisphere clockwise. Along the equator somehow the water
flows upright and falls straight down. Also fascinating is the loss
of weight of one kilogram along the equator line. In addition to that
we also have less power on that so called point of energy. Even stronger
seems to feel the Canadian visitor in my group when he manages to balance
an egg on a nail. A certificate awards him for his success and is also
a nice memory of this special day. Another highlight of our tour is
the modern solar clock in form of a lens. With the breaking sun rays,
paper can be burnt very exactly on the spot which says 12 o` clock.
And that´ s what we watch closely with marvel and sweating, because
with the vertical sun position of today, the sun is also burning down
on us very strongly.