Wait! Where’s the road?!
Manabi Province, Ecuador
This past weekend I visited the fishing village of El Matal and found ample material for this week’s Photo Challenge of ‘STREET LIFE.’ On Saturday, the high tide washed across areas of the front street, where fishing boats trumped automobiles for use of the road!
First-aid options for the vanishing beach are tied up in red tape. Concerned locals watch as each wave brings the next spring tide a bit closer. How much longer will there be room for boats and autos?
How much longer will it be before the ocean gobbles the sand beneath the road and advances to the front line of houses, restaurants and sheds?
There was once a scrimmage soccer field on the beach side of the road! Only ghost memories remain of the restaurants that perched on the beach near the intersection. Most boat shelters have vanished with the approaching tides,and the boats now preside over the street. No one grumbles about the boats blocking the road.
Many people feel as if the municipality has abandoned them.
Even though the ocean continues to nibble away more of the beach, the locals have an amazing gift of greeting others with a smile!
In a year, will this street still preside along the beach? Will there be enough beach left for the fishermen, or will they be forced to relocate?
Thanks for strolling with me! z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
Yes. You have shown us time and again the local people’s ability to take things in stride and smile in the face of adversity. Remarkable folks!
thanks hugh! you are one who appreciates those sparkling qualities that many in our country have lost. one can admit loss with a shrug and a smile as easily as one can grumble. if nothing can be done to help, then why do the latter when smiling is so beneficial?!
I absolutely love these shots, because they capture the heart and soul of El Matal.
thank you amiga.. and you would know!!!! hopefully it transported you to el matal for a short while!
it´s raining here in jama!
z
Will be interesting to see if local municipality will ever address the situation, or just watch the beach disappear. Good photo journal.
thanks amiga
i uploaded the photos late late last night and was so tired i feared i´d not make much sense! i´m in town now and trying to catch up.
seeing your posts is always a treat!
z
This is an excellent response to the challenge, Z. Whatever the conflict, it’s still true that in our part of the world a beach can BE a street.
By the way, we leave for the beach on Saturday.
I don’t know how many posts I may have missed, but it’s going to be a busy month for me–traveling to the beach, teaching a week-long workshop, and having friends visit from the US. Fun, but YIKES!
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
your trip through the cajas park will be enjoyable, unless you fly! have a great time and enjoy the pacific coast! z
A sad commentary that municipal responses seem consistently slow and muddled, no matter where in the world they are located. Lets hope the solutions come in time to matter.
yes, the muni where i lived in costa rica often caused painfully’long periods between ´tramites-steps´ and years later i don´t see where they´ve moved forward one inch!
i hope that el matal gets attention soon. they were told that specialists adivsed a year ago (or longer_) to act fast or el matal would lose their beach..
thanks for your feedback!
z
Thank you for today’s post, and for all of the information that you provide. May our Lord Jesus richly bless you..
thank you for always having time to comment, and for leaving kind comments! z
You are very welcome.
I am not sure the “powers that be” can do much about beach erosion and rising sea levels. We are having exactly the same problem in Jamaica all around our coastline. The next hurricane we get is likely to wreak even more havoc… Solutions to the problem are costly and only have limited success. I think the fishing boats will have to relocate – and perhaps some of those buildings, too!
thanks for your feedback, and your posts help keep me informed on what´s happening there …-‘ though i´m not often able to comment… you are tireless with your activism for your country.
if the el nino awakens, i´m told that takes pressure off of your area, while the ocean currents let loose a little devil in ours.
we´re watching the ocean temperatures and hoping the little boy rolls over and goes to sleep.
thanks again for networking and helping others see a larger picture.
z
This is happening all over the world. Hopefully, if the beach goes, the people will not have too much trouble relocating and continuing their lives in another place. I feel differently about people in this country who build unnecessarily huge houses too close to the beach and expect the government to help them out when they get into trouble.
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