Los Colorados, Ecuador February 26, 1979

Rather than stay with the ‘Iguana’ for the three day trip back from the Galapagos to Guayaquil, I decided to catch a plane, which would take less than three hours.  The added bonus was that I also wouldn’t have to stay the night in Guayaquil, but could go directly to the bus station and get a bus to Cuenca.  The Galapagos airport is on Baltra Island, a short boat trip from Santa Cruz.  The planes are old army planes, old and a little sinister looking as all dark grey – no colourful lettering or logos.  But it was relatively cheap, and I hadn’t heard any awful stories.  When I got on I noticed there were two seats to a row on one side, and three seats to a row on the other side.  The aisle seats on that side were different from the others – they looked almost like temporary seats.  But as the plane was full (many of my boat mates had made the same decision I had), I ended up sitting in one of them.  Buckled up and off we went.  Smooth take off and according to the people in the window seats, a wonderful view. 

About half-way through the flight I had to go to the bathroom, and fortunately there was a bathroom on board.  But I forgot to undo my seatbelt before I got up.  It turned out that didn’t matter much, as when I rose, the seat came with me.  None of these temporary seats were secured to the plane!  There was a lot of astonished laughter, and many jokes about Ecuadorian air travel, and Ecuadorian efficiency in general – everything from banks to postal services to police.  Fortunately the rest of the trip was uneventful, and we had a smooth landing so the fact that my seat was free-floating didn’t matter ... much.

 

The bus ride from Guayaquil to Cuenca went through the same beautiful landscapes as the train.  

 

But the bus traveled through the canton of Santo Domingo, an area famous for a group of indigenous people known as ‘Los Colorados’ – ‘the coloured people’.  Their actual name is Tsachila.   They are colourful not only for their dress, but also for the lacquered red hair dressing applied, especially by men, to their helmet-shaped hair-cuts.   We stopped for lunch at the town of Santo Domingo de Los Colorados – the largest city and main hub of the area.

These two images are from post-cards I bought.

I wasn't lucky enough to see anyone quite this colourful.

 

Note:  To read more about ‘Los Colorados’, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsáchila 

Note:  Here’s some of what Wikipedia (June 2021) has to say about Los Colorados:  “Men of this ethnic group are easily distinguishable for an elaborate head decoration that they style by shaving the temporal areas of their heads and shaping the remaining hair into a helmet-like feature with a mixture of grease and annatto sap/seeds which is achiote.  This tradition is believed to have been a palliative measure from a time when the Tsachila's were exposed to the ravages of smallpox.  A Tsáchila Shaman asked a Spirit to guide them to a cure by ceremony and prayer. They were guided to an Achiote bush. They covered themselves completely with the red juices of the seed-pods and after a few days the mortality in the group was drastically reduced. They are forever grateful to this plant for the protection that it offered to the entire community from Smallpox. The shape of their hair style is fashioned to look like the seed pods.”    

Also according to Wikipedia: “The Spaniards called them "Colorado" (meaning colored red) because they used to cover their entire bodies in the red juices of the achiote seeds, for prevention against Smallpox, but the Spaniards thought red was indeed their true skin color.”