Beautiful, Brown Afro ECUADOR!
Two good friends of mine moved to Ecuador for a sabbatical and invited me to hang out for a few days. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity and was in Quito the next month. Because my dear friends lived on the coast in a town called Esmeraldas, we had a hellacious trek from the capital city of Quito to the coast. Anywhoo. Upon arriving at Esmeraldas, I noticed a lot of brown faces! In fact, most of the people we encountered were Black – that was incredible! In fact, we blended in so well with the residence, which often we were engaged in friendly conversation and surprised the locals when they realized we were not from the area.
Because of the town’s coastal environment, the local story is that Africans were being brought over to the coast specifically because they were familiar with growing crops in a tropical climate, while the Native Ecuadorians were familiar with mountainous regions. The legend goes on to say, a ship carrying the cargo of soon to be enslaved Africans created a rebellion and ended up killing the captain and his crew!  They landed the ship in the town of what is now Esmeraldas. The Africans then settled there, where they have thrived and lived for years. While I am unsure of the historical facts to validate the story, it is fascinating and gives bases on how so many decedents of Africans ended up here. Of course, as time went on, the Africans began to intermingle with the Native people of the land. Check out this article for more in-depth information on the Black History of Esmeraldas.
Afro- Ecuadorians still adapt some of the same culture and customs of their ancestors, which can be seen in the music, cuisine, and dance! I love beautiful, brown Afro Ecuador! If you have the opportunity to travel to the country, make sure to spend a few days in this sleepy beach town and mingle with the locals!
While the featured video is in Spanish, it is one of the best documentaries out on the Afro – Latino community in Ecuador specifically!
Have you ever gone to Ecuador?
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We live in Esmeraldas Ecuador for most of the year. We have been living here on and off for the past 5 to 6 years. You are right. It was a very pleasant surprise to see such beautiful black people. We felt very welcome there the minute we got off the bus that warm evening so many years ago. They always mistake us for ”Esmeraldanos” until we start with our broken Spanish.
The culture is very much like that of the Caribbean. I think that is one of the reasons why we feel so at home here. The food is rich and plentiful. The weather is warm and humid.
We are enjoying the experience.
Oh wow!That’s pretty cool!
Thank you for allowing us to stay at your place and experience the culture in the area!
This sounds like a wonderful place to visit and I love to read and learn about people who have African roots in different parts of the world đ
Thanks sis!
Very interesting! It’s so funny, I think every Afro community in Latin America has the same story. It is the same for my cousins in Honduras! They were brought over as slaves but overtook the captain and crew and ended up making it to the country. Maybe it happened multiple times? haha! đ thanks for sharing
I am sure it happened more often than the history books explain!
Hi I’m planning to go to Ecuador with an organized tour, and have one week extra. I would love to go to Esmeraldas, do you have tips where to stay?
We stayed with my friend’s parents! They offer an AirBnB, but I don’t have the link unfortunately.
Wow! I love your thoughts about Esmeraldas! I’m from Ecuador and have visited the coast of Ecuador, it’s amazing and spectacular.I didn’t know about the history of African people, i’ts really interesting! and I hope that you can visit again my beauiful Ecuador.
Yes! There is a lot of history not too far from Quito!
It was an fascinating blog about our country, you describe so nice the AfroEcuadorians culture.But it is just a little thing of all Ecuador. you should visit other beautiful town. I hope you to come back to Ecuador and know new places!
I plan on visiting other parts of the country soon! Any recommendations?
I am from Ecuador and Esmeraldas is located six hours from my city which is Quito and I can say that it is a very nice town where people are very kind and humble, I can also say that the food is very delicious is one of the best places to enjoy the delights of the Ecuadorian coastIt is a place where you can go with the whole family and you will definitely have a very nice trip.
Yes! I agree that the people are amazing and the food is delicious!
So interesting. The story about the africans is so sad, because their color condemed them, but this thing made they stronger to overcome difficulties. I know several african people and I can say that they are so cute and good people with awesome joy
It is sad and unfortunate. But it’s history!
OHHH! That was incredible I never thought on my life who the people comes to Ecuador, and should be very interesting that historians could continue to investigate the origins of all these people who are part of our country, and are part of our national history, in addition to finding the origins of such an extensive culture.
I thought it was quite interesting too!
i think that was awsome all the history and i learn much about this. thanks
Glad you learned a lot!
I think is interesting, the story of the black people and the origin of how the settled in there place overall, what is now is Esmeraldas, maybe can be true, I don’t know, but I go to investigate, thank for share.
Yes, it is quite interesting for sure!
I really like to know how I created Esmeraldas because I am from the coast and I think they are similar in some aspects, the emeralds are very cheerful and although I was not visited I would love to meet him someday
You should definitely visit some time soon!