Gold mining at Playa de Oro - Esmeraldas, Ecuador

by Reserva Ecologica Pachijal

The ancestors of the people of Playa de Oro were brought to this place (from Africa via Columbia) by a Spaniard who set them to work panning for gold in Rio Santiago. They probably didnt mind the gold panning too much, because they still do a fair amount of it today. But they didn't care much for slavery, and so, in secret, they built a cannon from a very hard black wood. One day when the slave master came paddling up in his canoe to collect the day's nuggets, they blasted him with the cannon, and that was the end of him. (They say the cannon is now in a museum in Guayaquil). Having no way back to Africa, the rebel slaves and their descendants remained there at Playa de Oro. As the furthest community in on Rio Santiago, they had only occasional contacts with the outside world throughout the years

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Travel & Events

Tags:

• esmeraldas
• ecuador
• playa
• de
• oro
• ecolodge
• community
• tourism
• adventures
• travel
• birdwatching