El Matal, Jama, Manabi, Ecuador
El Matal-Manabi Province- Ecuador
Once upon a time, a friend of mine gave me some advice that I carry with me every day. He said, “Lisa, remember to be on the offensive, so that you never find yourself in the defensive mode.” That advice from my Episcopalian priest-friend has been some of the best advice I’ve ever received.
I have watched my friends take a proactive role after Mother Ocean took her first big bites from El Matal 18 months ago. They researched, brought in engineers and specialists and selected the sand-bag approach based on the advice they were given.
From 2014: One line of bags below ground level and a second half in and half out…
“The sand bags will buy you time to put a more long-term solution in place,” Engineer Daniel Santana suggested at a public meeting in March 2014.
A summary of those meetings and work done on the bags can be found HERE.
How well I remember the beauty of this beach. Look at the image taken in June of 2012 during the post-painting competition…
From 2012.. Coco Beach entrance ahead… (From post-painting competition)
Mother Ocean played a sadistic card this past weekend, and the people of El Matal do not appreciate her sense of humor. The critical window during the high tides passed, and when everyone assumed there would be two weeks of relief, she played her trump card. Most of the following images were taken at the same spot as the image above.
Looking ‘down’ the beach…
