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Balsa Fishing
Another high adventure in Ecuador. We went to the beach to jog and look for sand dollars. We found the balsa fishers of the Asociación Costa Brava.
There are 18 rafts in the association. Three were working our section of the beach that morning. Only one caught fish.
They row out to sea, throw the net, then pull it to shore by hand. They know they are the descendants of the ancient people and this is an ancient tradition.
The Balsa raft could travel as far as the islands of Polynesia, 4000 miles away. When Francisco Pizarro left the Panama Isthmus in 1526 on his second voyage of discovery down the Pacific coast of South America; his expedition found Peruvian merchants sailors at sea long before he discovered their country.
The Manteño were a West-Ecuadorean maritime culture flourishing between the 800's and 1526AD. As early as 2400 B.C. the people of coastal Ecuador began to voyage on the ocean. The Manteño were mainly fishermen. They built small houses and rafts made of wood, and crafts in gold and silver. Their religion was based on a cult of snake, the jaguar or puma, and the goddess Umina, who was represented by a large emerald.
They encouraged us to take pictures, pull the ropes, and glean the small fish they did not want. That day we cleaned and froze over 200 fish.
Mostly I did video, which will appear later on http://www.youtube.com/drrhoward
The Manteño were a West-Ecuadorean maritime culture flourishing between the 800's and 1526AD. As early as 2400 B.C. the people of coastal Ecuador began to voyage on the ocean. The Manteño were mainly fishermen. They built small houses and rafts made of wood, and crafts in gold and silver. Their religion was based on a cult of snake, the jaguar or puma, and the goddess Umina, who was represented by a large emerald.
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