I’ve been asked about my writings for The Ecuador Reporter, and in some cases the truly curious and Internet-capable have already tracked them down own their own.  One thing that people lacking the hard copy might’ve missed (besides a much cleaner format — the webpage really isn’t laid out very attractively, hence my omission of a URL in any blog posts) is that in my first month here, yours truly made the front page, though not for my stellar journalism.  For whatever reason, the editor’s favorite picture that month involved me, worn down from a day of intense hiking, trudging up a hillside in Chone.  For your enjoyment and for the enjoyment of my ego, I have taken a picture to share with my sweet blog:

Me, bottom right. I'm the thing in the picture that isn't intense, unyielding greenery

Via instant messages, my mother had the following comment:

Did you like the advice that your blog was more exciting than your published column? Any chance you will color future reports in same vein as blog?

Writing in first person tends to be frowned upon in most publications.  It’s definitely done by some journalistic “personalities,” but the editor of the Reporter let me know in no uncertain terms that such a style wouldn’t fit with the vibe he was going for.  The Chone article, then, had to be absent of any flair and written as neutrally as possible.  More difficult, I’d be writing a fluff piece attempting to convince people to vacation in a region whose inchoate tourism industry was not only unprepared for even the smallest influx of people, but came close to killing and/or maiming me a few times.

The blog allows me to carelessly say “My trip to Chone left me dangling from a vine on the side of a mountain while my dirt foothold gradually crumbled away, leaving me cursing, in fear for my life.”  And I can see how my mother would find this “more exciting.”  Yet a fluff article encouraging hapless travelers to come and explore Chone’s majesty probably should shy away from the “you’re gonna die” rhetoric.

I’m fairly content with how the article turned out, though feel free to comment or critique.  I broke a few grammar rules, which I don’t mind doing at all in the blog, though I should probably avoid that habit with any “real” writing I might do.

The article, in its full color glory

Chone opens its doors to a new world

Travelling through the unexplored cloud forests that stretch across much of the Chone cantone of Ecuador’s Manabi province, it’s often easy to forget the sweeping vistas just beyond the dense green canopy.  After several skyless hours spent cresting a single apex in Chone’s endless sea of lush mountains and valleys, the tree line crashes open revealing impossibly resplendent landscapes stretching to the horizon in every direction.  Sunset on the mountain bathes the countryside in rich greens, yellows and oranges that are almost too vivid for words.

For the off-the-beaten path tourist in Ecuador, there are few outdoor attractions more enticing than Chone (pronounced “CHO-nay”) for eco-tourism and exploration.  Within a year, trails of varying lengths and difficulty will be carved out across the region leading to an inexhaustible supply of caves, waterfalls, naturally occurring fruits in countless varieties and untold other natural beauty. For now, though, unique experiences are open to adventurous travellers looking to venture through trails so unexplored that they might be the first to set foot on them.

Take note that while Chone’s local tourism department is very much in favour of travellers coming in to assist with trailblasing, such experiences do come with an implied air of danger and uncertainty.  It’s not uncommon to hang precariously from loose vines along a fairly steep incline with insecure footing steadily disintegrating minute by minute while the expedition leaders — generally local hunters or mountain farmers — argue over which seemingly impossible path upwards is the most feasible.  Machete novices may find their skills greatly improved after a weekend in the mountains above Ricaurte.

One of the greatest marks against Chone’s undeveloped tourism industry is a shortage of proper travel lodging for travellers, its few hostels existing more for locals looking for short term tryst lodging than for proper traveller accommodation.  To counter this, the tourism department has arranged for a selection of homestays on local farms, giving visitors an uncommon glimpse into farm life in 21st century Ecuador.  Vast, vibrant dairy farms — Chone boasts a 2:1 ratio of cows to humans across the entire region and is known nationally for its cattle supply — stretch across the province, many willing to take on guests, hopeful at the chance of sharing the traditional Ecuadorian way of life with visiting outsiders.

Vast stretches of bananas, plantains, oranges and countless other fruits are literally ripe for the picking.  Perhaps the most famous crop is the cacao, a recently built processing yard that handles the cultivation and mass fermentation of perhaps the world’s most famous sweet. The plant doubles as an attraction for tourists, curious in the preparation process of cacaos, and the brown field of drying beans laid out in the sun is a sight — and smell — to behold.

Something as seminal a farm activity as milking a cow, long replaced by cold, mechanical efficiency in many countries, is still carried out quite traditionally every morning throughout the region.  Waking at dawn to stumble out into a dark potrero, or cow field, while the field hands perform a brief, pantomimed lesson in udder handling, only to help fill a large tin milk pail with the help of a mostly disinterested cow is an experience like no other.

Directly carried into the homestead, the milk is transformed into a variety of dairy goods, from fresh cheese and butter, ready later in the day in time for dinner, to creamy manjar.  Mixed with sugar and various sweet ingredients, manjar is a sweet local tradition made in chocolate and caramel varieties and sold in local markets.  The food throughout the Manabi region has widely been considered among the best in Ecuador, and alone well worth the trip.  Thick, creamy corn soups, often with tuna or the more locally popular fish chame, are widely available.  And tonga, a mixture of chicken, plantains, rice and spices, wrapped in leaves and left to stew inside a backpack during a particularly exhausting climb, might be the greatest trail food ever conceived.

Driven by an almost unbridled hospitality from the locals and a passionate willingness to share of its rich culture, foods and natural beauty, Chone truly is a treat for tourists looking to feel a little bit less like a turista.  Spend a few days taking it all in, and the Chone experience is not likely to be forgotten any time soon.

Note the spelling of “travelling” early on with the double-L — Started by Brits, the paper goes with UK spelling at all time to maintain a common look and feel.  So basically, for the next two months I’ll be spelling color “colour.”

Admittedly, it’s a bit heavy-handed at times, bordering on “flowery.” The editor loved it, but tossed out that it seemed “written by a chick,” which did wonders for my general sense of masculinity.  I don’t really know how to dude it up more, other than tossing in a few arbitrary explosions, sticking to sports metaphors and dedicating more time in the future to Miss Chone’s “sweet tits.”  But as a hyper-analytic person, I’m sure I’ll read over every line I submit in the future for the slightest possible hint of estrogen.

Shortly after my return to Quito, I was given the role of “bar and restaurant critic” as well, though no one explained that any review I might write should be 100% fluff, which led to a bit of trouble.  Basically, we only review places that advertise with us, making anything I write a glorified ad.  As I describe their leathery burger as “dry and overdone,” despite the rest of the review being extremely kind, the proprietors were not terribly happy with us.  The Reina Victoria pub in central Quito has been around for close to thirty years now, and in 1998 was voted one of the top 25 pubs in the world by Newsday.

Much has changed since 1998, however.  The bar’s got good food and great pub atmosphere, but a new plaza built nearby within the past ten years shifted the flow of tourists five blocks away, and crime’s bad enough that most people don’t wander about at night looking for interestings new places to drink.  Because of this, we were the lone patrons on the Friday night I dropped in to review the place, and as I didn’t have to pay a cent for any food or drinks, it probably wasn’t one of Reina Vic’s most profitable nights.  None of this stopped me from enjoying myself, but it did make it difficult to promote the place as a “happening” hangout, as absolutely nothing was happening there.

I didn't write the title

Quito’s English pub grub

Far from being one of the only pubs in Quito, Reina Victoria is easily one of the first, with a rich, warm atmosphere that conjures up an older time and place.  Everything about the pub evokes the perfect blend of austere English style nestled into lively Ecuadorian culture, straight down to the name — cleverly taken from the street on which the pub is located, the English translation is “Queen Victoria.”  Established in 1982 by Dorothy Albright, the 110 year old building has been co-owned by Dorothy and her husband, Gary Parkin, whom she actually met within the pub by way of a freak dancing accident.

Menu items are standard pub fare, with some American standards, like pizza and hamburgers, thrown in for good measure.  The burger, while far more meaty than the paper-thin style of hamburguesa that dominates Quito’s local restaurants, was a bit dry and overdone.  However, it’s the pub classics like Shepherd’s Pie and Fish and Chips where Reina Victoria really shines.  The pie is impossibly rich, with a soft, cloud-like layer of mashed potatoes topped by a perfectly melted covering of fresh cheese.  The fish is fried to perfection and complemented beautifully with Reina’s homemade tartar sauce and chips that are crisp on the outside, yet absolutely perfect within.

Selected as one of the “22 greatest restaurants and nightspots in the world” by a reader’s poll in Newsweek in 1998, business has slowed a bit in recent years, likely due to the pub’s just-off-the-beaten path location five blocks from the plaza.  Recent changes, though, have caused locals and tourists alike to take note and rediscover this international gem.  SAE holds their pub quiz at the Reina the first and third Wednesday of every month, and the recent acquisition of microbrewing equipment adds a stout and a bitter to the standard selection of local beers and spirits.

Whether you’re an avid darts player, an ex-pat looking to be reminded of home or simply someone that enjoys drinking with friends by a warm fireplace until the late hours of night, Reina Victoria is the perfect place to spend an evening.

I really did love the other two menu items I tried there, but most fossils are chewier than that burger.  Cuisine-wise, Ecuador definitely has some  things going for it, but I’ve yet to sample a burger anywhere worthy of the name, despite their ubiquity on nearly every street corner.

The Day of the Dead being on November second, I offered to write an article about Latin America’s most morbidly named holiday for that month’s addition, kicking my number of submissions for the month up to three.  The last line of the articlee is hokey as hell, but a major figure in the local ex-pat community and friend to almost everyone I know down here had just been killed, so I was going for the “uplifting” angle.

Ecuador’s unique take on the holiday involves a thick purple drink that sadly is non-alcoholic, named Colada Morada.  I did some research and grabbed a recipe for it, which is printed to the right of the main article, though even in my most ambitious cooking days I never would’ve touched this one.

Page 7 used to be "Environment" articles, as evidenced by the word at the top of the page. We forgot to change it before this went to press.

What is the Day of the Dead

While the arrival of November heralds the celebration of Halloween through much of North America and Europe, it has a far more somber portence throughout Latin America. La Dia de los Muertos, celebrated on November 2nd each year, is both one of the most significant Catholic holidays of the year and an opportunity for friends and family to gather together and reflect.  While a calm, mournful air often hangs over the day, the opportunity to remember the best of those no longer with us is anything but a depressing occasion.

Much like Halloween — though over a thousand years older — La Dia was an ancient tradition by indigenous cultures that the Catholic church co-opted in an effort to make Christianity more appealing, modifying the dates to match All Souls’ and All Saints’ Day.  Anthropologists have found examples of similar festivals held by Aztecs, Mayas, Purepecha and Nahua Totonacas, all coinciding withing weeks of the current dates.  Three thousand years ago, the holiday coincided with a seasonal corn festival, where food from a plentiful harvest was set aside to share with the dead as a means of honoring them, and was presided over by Mictecacihuatl, the Goddess of Death.  Added to the traditional means of celebration was one of the more noteworthy church masses of the year, and festival foods now took on a secondary role as Eucharist.

Ecuador is a country rich with its own traditions, going so far as to use a different term entirely for the holiday — Dia de los Difuntos or “Deceased” — deeming Muertos too crude a term for such an austere occcasion.  November 2 in Quito finds the streets occupied with celebrants dressed in black and both corner vendors and restaurants selling the customary food and drink of the day: Guagua de Pan and Colada Morada. Guagua, a Kichwa term for “young,” are small loaves of bread in the shape of children, generally with raisins for eyes. Colada Morada is a rich, purple drink similar to chicha, made from blue corn.  Purple plays heavily in Ecuador’s celebration, with purple flowers lining gravesites throughout the country.

As with other countries, the cemetary plays a large role in the holiday, as families arrive as early as possible to pay their respects.  The morning mass, one of the more significant ones of the year, actually takes place in the cemetary, the lone time in the year this occurs outside of the church.  Around urban areas, the cemetary gathering has a somber tone, as families bring foods and items beloved by their deceased and spend time with one another remembering.  In more rural pueblos, the tone at cemetaries is quite the opposite as the lost are honored with joy and sometimes riotous celebration.

Regardless of how Dia de los Difuntos is observed, the holiday allows us a time for reflection and togetherness.  Things change and people come into and out of our lives, but for thousands of years the holiday has understood that no one remembered can ever truly be gone.

Sure, there’s more cheese spread through those articles than you’d find in the dairy section at Whole Foods (and I do miss the option of having good cheeses.  There are only about four cheese you can count on finding at most stores.  I had to go to a specialty store for feta.), but for my first three articles I’m content.