Hello again! Haven’t written in a while because I’ve spent the past few weeks blissfully hanging out in the tiny outpost of Vilcabamba. It’s a small town (only 6,000 souls in the entire valley) located in the far south of Ecuador. It’s the kind of town where you could lie down in the street for half an hour before being run over.. by a horse. Unusual for such a small town, there is a strong community of expats and tourists – which results in a variety of dining options, massage, internet, and other amenities. The climate is perfect – as high as 90° (32C) on hot days, dipping to the 50′s (13C) on cool nights; but generally the temperature hovers in the 60′s to 70′s (18-24C). We’re currently in the dry season, so the surrounding hills and mountains are fairly brown, looking a lot like Montana or Mediterranean Greece or Italy. But I’m told the rainy season turns everything lush and verdant, akin to Ireland. The hiking is superb – I keep discovering new trails leading to stunning vistas. Incredible sunsets every night and five rivers criss-crossing the valley add to the feeling of paradise.
Unfortunately, all is not well in paradise. Occasional xenophobia towards foreigners. Armed robberies on the sacred mountain of Mandango, which used to be the prime hiking spot. There was a town rapist until he was finally run out of town by Gavin the Kiwi. [An awful saga - the former owner of a hostel in town, he would prey on blond-haired blue-eyed women tourists arriving on the bus and convince them to stay at his place; later that night he would slip horse tranquilizers into their drinks, use his master key to get into their rooms after they passed out, then rape them. Incredibly, the whole town knew what was going on for years. It even made the Lonely Planet guidebook, and still he was not prosecuted. The problem with small towns in corrupt countries is the police will just as often cover up problems, or be on the side of powerful and/or rich people, as actually meting out justice.]
And of course, real estate prices are skyrocketing thanks to exposure in magazines like International Living (which ranked Ecuador the second-best country to retire to, after New Zealand), thereby pricing out the locals. 20 years ago one could buy 100 hectares for $3,000; now, 5 acres is going for $300,000 and up. [The rapist's hotel has been court-ordered to be sold, and is currently listing for $650k. That's quite a deal, actually - it has a pool, spa, jacuzzis, pool table, disco, bars, the works.] A lot of the local kids move away after growing up leaving no one to work the land, thus accelerating further change to the way of life here.
Vilcabamba was put first put on the gringo map in the 1960′s by Johnny Lovewisdom, a somewhat troubled spiritual seeker who promoted vitarianism and breatharianism (the incredible belief that one can live on air alone. Is it any wonder he died of malnutrition?) For a while Johnny lived up at Lake Quilotoa and Cotopaxi Volcano where he did a series of seven-month fasts. Johnny founded his churches with creative names, my favorite being the Pristine Order of Paradisian Perfection (POOPP). A lot of hippies and followers of Johnny arrived in the ensuing years, some drawn by the legendary shamanic use of the San Pedro cactus. I’ve recently met some of his disciples who are still here.
Many people have come for health reasons – the valley has long been known for the longevity of it’s residents. Although it’s difficult to prove since birth records were not common until recently, many of the residents claim to be centenarians. In a 1970 interview for a British television programme, a man who purported to be 123 at the time was asked what his secret to a long life was. He replied that it was due to his continuing to work in the fields, smoking natural tobacco, drinking aguadiente (pure cane alcohol), and lots of good sex. When this man died a few years later he was survived by 14 children, 90 grandchildren, and 56 great-grandchildren. Another man supposedly fathered children at age 105. In 1992, Wellbeing magazine wrote that only two other places in the world had residents with such longevity – the Abkhazia of Russia and the Hunzas of Pakistan.
Various scientists have investigated over the years and conclude the residents’ longevity to be a combination of factors: the chelating effect of the negative ions produced by the charged air; an ideal balance of minerals found in the water (including magnesium, selenium, zinc, manganese, and calcium which helps bone calcification preventing osteoporosis as well as prevents hardening of the arteries by breaking up saturated fats. Manganese is also a chelating agent – it chemically binds with metals, including toxic heavy metals such as lead and mercury, so that they are neutralized and are more easily flushed from the body); as well as basic clean living with a good diet. The average daily caloric intake here has traditionally been 1200, compared to the 2400 daily calories recommended in the U.S. for persons over 55. Locals traditionally eat half the meat that Americans do. One Japanese doctor who recuperated from his longer-suffering heart condition simply by living here for a few months was so grateful that he donated all new cardiac equipment to the hospital. It’s interesting to note that residents are not living nearly as long nowadays as they were 50 years ago. Some say this is due to the introduction of modern chemicals (such as fertilizers and chlorine) into the formerly pristine environment.
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