Western Slopes to the Pacific Coast - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 252

der the coastal Caras and, eventually, the people of the highlands. By
the time the Spanish arrived in the early 1500s, the Atacames peo-
ple in the area surrounding Esmeraldas had a fairly well-developed
and settled society in the La Tolita culture. They were particularly
adept at jewelry making - especially when it came to green emeralds
set in silver and gold. As a result, the Spanish named the area
Esmeraldas.
Soon after their arrival, the Spanish began to import African slaves to
replace the natives, who were already dying off. Some of these slaves
were sent to mine gold. A system of slavery, followed by debt tenancy,
continued until the end of the 19th century, and today the people here
are themost poverty-stricken and suppressed group in all of Ecuador.
The black communities nowmake up over 75% of the region's popula-
tion (10% of the country's population).
Today, although racism throughout Ecuador remains significant and
severe, the coastal black, white, and Indian communities do live next
to each other harmoniously in some areas. A unique mix of African
and Latin cultures is obvious in the music and dance of this beautiful
people, and they are truly some of the friendliest Ecuadorians you
will encounter.
Flora & Fauna
Weather patterns, including rainfall that in some places
exceeds even the levels of the Ecuadorian Amazon, com-
bine with a varied topography to create unique ecological
life zones. Flora and fauna in some areas are more typical
of Colombia and Central America. Endemic animal species abound
and tropical forests meet the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean.
This contrasts with the dry coastal communities to the south, which
result from the cooler Peruvian ocean currents.
Mangrove forests and estuaries were once common along the coast.
However, as is true in the south, many of these areas have been con-
verted to shrimp farms. The region inland fromBorbón, along the Río
Cayapas and within the Cotacachi-Cayapas Reserve, protects the
least-disturbed tropical lowland rainforest in western Ecuador,
which is home to species that exist only here. Heading south, the land
along the coast is much drier, although pockets of the less-developed
lowlands, just a bit inland, are covered with lush cloud forests, the re-
sult of thick coastal fog that inundates the land formanymonths each
year. Here, magnificent birds, many of them endemic, prosper along
with howler monkeys and the nocturnal kinkajou.