Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Hello again from Olon, Ecuador! It's been a few weeks since my last blog post, but I haven't stopped enjoying living here along the famous "Ruta del Spondylus." The Ruta is the highway that runs along the Pacific coast for several hundred miles. It's also known as the "Ruta del Sol," a name that I figured out pretty easily. It's the "Route of the Sun." But the more famous name baffled me for a while. What the hell was a spondylus, I asked?

A friend told me it was the local oyster, which made sense to me, since I've seen many oyster shells along the beach. I learned that the indigenous tribes of the coastal region depended on the harvest of spondylus, much as the native people did on our North American oysters. So, I filed that information away until recently.

Some friends and I were discussing shells that we had found along the beach when one of them started talking about a beautiful spondylus shell she had been given. She talked about it not being as pink as some of the ones she had seen, but her shell actually consisted of both upper and lower parts. It was a complete example of a spondylus.

Pink? I was confused; I had never seen a pink oyster shell either here, or in the States. What could she be talking about, I asked. It turns out that a spondylus is not an oyster at all; it's similar to an oyster as far as a food source goes, but that's where the similarities end. It has become so rare, where once there were millions, that the Ecuadorean government has laws about its protection. They've even started a re-seeding program, helping the mollusk to regenerate itself and be abundant once more.

My friend showed me her spondylus shell, and I have to say, I was quite impressed by it. It is very unique, and looks nothing like an oyster. It looks more like a clam on steroids. Instead of a smooth shell, it has spiny hackles all over it. It would not be something you'd want to step on as you walked along the beach.

A couple of roaming street artists spent a few days here in town a few weeks ago. They painted murals all over town, depicting both ancient and current scenes. Their work is quite good, and since they left town they've been traveling north, painting in other towns and cities as they go. I picked out some of their work, and wanted to share it with you. The first painting is a spondylus; you can see how unusual it really is. I've personally dubbed it the "smiling clam," since it appears to be quite happy. Its smile reflects the general feeling that most of the natives seem to have here; they're happy in this world they've grown up in. Many of us are blessed to be able to share it with them every day.


So, my friends, now you know what a spondylus is! You'll never find one of these on the beaches of North America; not on my favorite Plum Island, Massachusetts, or the famous Daytona Beach of Florida. Won't happen! But, with some hard work by the Ecuadorean government, we may see them flourish once again along the coast of this beautiful country.

Here's another photo of a couple of paintings from the ancient Valdivean culture, the dominant tribe along the coast many years ago. One is a tribal mask, and the other depicts a woman blowing a conch shell, used to call the people to gatherings. I think they're pretty cool; hope you do, too.


Have a great day! Hasta luego, see you later!


Mark


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