Have spend about a week on the coast, south of Esmeraldas. And again...the country has such a big diversity!!! In this area is a lot of black culture: there ancestors were slaves who came from Africa. But besides the black culture there are also different indigenous cultures: one of the most important are the Chachis in Esmeraldas.
The Pacific coast south of Atacames is really beautifull. The coast lines are kilometers and kilometers long. So you can walk along the beach for hours and hours and find lots of crabs running around on the beach, seastars, shellfish and lots of other sea animals, shells and stones.
There are a lot of small villages along the coast. A lot do not have more then a couple of hundred inhabitants. The people live mainly from fish, but because of the high fertility of the soil there are also communal gardens (shared by a couple of families).
Almost all the villages have a small primary (escuela) or secondary (collegio)school. Furthermore there is a health program, sponsored by Canadians, which is increasing the health situation for the people and children in the different villages.
