Bahía de Caráquez

Introducing Bahía de Caráquez

Chalk-colored high-rises and red-tile roofs fill this tiny peninsula, whose manicured yards and swept sidewalks give a tidy impression. In the first half of the 20th century, the city was Ecuador’s principal port, but eroding sandbanks let the honor drift to Guayaquil and Manta, and Bahía (as the locals call it) was left to its housekeeping.

Calamities seem to collect here. When the 1998 El Niño hit Bahía particularly badly it was cut off by landslides, and streets turned into rivers of mud. In the same year an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale toppled or severely damaged some buildings. Only one person was killed in the quake, but at least 20 died in the horrendous mudslides that followed, literally wiping out the poorer neighborhoods on the edge of town.

However dismal things get, Bahía’s buoyant nature is to reinvent itself after each knock. When President Sixto Durán (1992–96) got a holiday home here, many upper-class Ecuadorians followed suit. Most recently, in 1999, the city declared itself an ‘ecocity, ’ creating a community culture of recycling and sustainable living that has attracted worldwide attention.

Bahíans get an ecocity pamphlet with environmental tips for everyone – from children to taxi drivers. The market re- cycles and organic farms are within a stone’s throw of town. Reforestation projects target hillsides damaged after 1998’s El Niño and mangroves desiccated by shrimp farming. Various other agroecological and recycling ventures are promoted by a handful of visionary locals.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009