The Canton of Jama (Manabi Province) steps in to help the fishing village of El Matal. (Ecuador)
(Ecuador) After a month in the USA and another five days searching for missing luggage, I reached home sweet Jama last week. Before making that last five-kilometer trip to the riverhouse, I visited the fishing village of El Matal to photograph the changes in the beach. Instead of taking a quick ten-minute tour, I spent hours and juggled emotions that ranged from sadness to anger and also hope.
The photos need little explanation.
I bailed out of the collectivo pickup truck and began my walk on the lower end of the beach.
As always, the fishermen politely acknowledged my presence while preparing for the next outing.
After cleaning the catch, the fishermen (and women!) dump the fish remains at the water’s edge.
One sometimes forgets about the ocean’s wrath when surrounded by so many birds.
After an overdose of bird watching, I began my customary beach walk.
Many of the fishermen seemed more somber than usual.
He seemed to enjoy the company of the greedy birds!
How about grilled fresh fish of the day?
These two worked in loving harmony and continued working while the gringa intruded with her camera.
I recalled Daniel Santana’s warning (February 2014) that action should be taken immediately, and eight months later under a new mayor’s leadership, the municipality seems to have awakened. Although some think the work will not be effective, it serves as a tourniquet to staunch the loss of the remaining beach.
I recalled how a few people publicly criticized those who sounded the alarm and called for help in January and February. Reality soberly stared back in mid October, and the entire front line of properties bears serious wounds. Could this truly be only an issue for a few property owners and their pools?
Black plastic protects a double row of sand bags.
Daniel Santana stressed in February that the over-sized sand bags would buy time until sand-building geo tubes could be approved, funded and installed. Various organizations played hot potato with responsibility as each new and full moons brought another series of high tides. The sand bagged area in front of Coco Beach Village halted the advance, while other areas continued to erode.
In September, one property owner placed sand bags in front of his restaurant. The effort was effective, though about a ten-foot section washed away on each end of the bags, true to Danie Santana’s prediction. (See Beach Loss Reaches Critical Status) The sandbags did indeed slow the waves’ destruction, and now the municipality is working diligently to protect a much-larger strip of beach.
For a glimpse of how this beach looked in 2010, go to 1:05 on this youtube video of El Matal.
The fishermen land their boats on available sections of the beach while the municipality advances with sandbags, lastre and rocks. Will the fishermen anchor their boats in the water after the entire long wall is finished?
Heavy equipment works on the middle section of the beach while the sand-bag project from earlier in the year continues to protect the upper end.
We can hope that the community will continue to show a united front so that the beach can heal and the normal rhythms will resume.
Thanks to all of you who have shown concern and have shared links to solutions from other areas of the world.
Z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
My thoughts and prayers are with you….
thank you; it was encouraging to see the municipality taking an active stance and working so hard.
Life this close to nature must always be perilous, Lisa, but it was tragic to see. Love the photo of the little boy working the nets with his Dad. 🙂
Hope is the word. All the best for you and your local community, Z.
heartbreaking pictures and with the rainy season soon upon us along with the high tides , hope by finally focusing on this area will be in time to save the rest of the beach
What huge changes for this community! It is so wonderful that they people came together, determined to save their beach, I surely hope this works.
What a mixture of emotions for you on your return Lisa. At least some thing is being done, but how effective do you think it will be. Your local friends look pleased to see you and I love to see their happy smiling faces.
It looks messy but the good news is that there is some action. The bird life is amazing!
The disappearing beaches are sad to see! My prayers t out to the town and all effected! Hugs to you Z! ^..^
Unfortunately it seems that adaptation will be the “wave” of the future. It’s refreshing to see real people doing real everyday things but discouraging to know that they will have to regroup and probably relocate in order to keep doing the work that provides common necessities.
Well finally they are taking action, but we hold our breath for what they haven’t gotten done and whether this is going to work. Amazing they let it get as bad as it did, can’t recover what’s been lost. Glad to hear you are home again and with luggage.
Whoa! From the video, I see a road. Is the road gone? What a sight to see upon your return. If there is one thing I’ve learned through the tragedies that we’ve experienced due to the Ometepe landlsides, it’s that a community can do wonders and pull together to slow the advance of destruction. YIKES! It’s hard to fight with mother nature. Thinking of these hard working families and sending strength and perseverance for the rainy season soon to start.
I’m so glad for the update. Despite the problems, there clearly has been action, and action helps to sustain hope as well as beaches!
I’m extraordinarily concerned to see some of the same dynamics at work here in the States, regarding Ebola. There’s a lot of denial, even among those who should know better. Dr. Nancy Snyderman, the NBC health correspondent and a physician, did not keep to her 21 day voluntary isolation, but went out for soup. The doctor who was hospitalized overnight in NYC with confirmed Ebola had just come back from Guinea, and despite feeling poorly traveled by subway to go bowling.
Both of them remind me of teenagers who live with the premise that “it can’t happen to me.” It certainly can, and I hope we don’t see our health system eroding before a tide of disease, just because people’s denial of the threat decline to take action.
Well! Enough of that. Here’s to people doing what they can do, and succeeding — as in El Matal!
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I sincerely hope that the efforts being made make a difference.
Wow, it’s so sad to see this happen to our beautiful surroundings.. We have traveled to Playa del Carman, MX a lot over the years and we have watched the destruction of the beautiful beaches there. In some areas, there is actually a 5 foot “cliff wall” like in your photos. Hope they can get it under control in El Matal.