Over the mountains and through the jungle of Ecuador, there lives a man. A man named Fausto Ayala. Fausto lives on several congested hectares of farmland outside Perucho village. His interesting personality allows him to live a solitary life. On his remote farm, he has a number of different things growing including shade grown coffee. On this visit I learned about Fausto’s way of life and personality.
Fausto is a quiet, hardworking man, living and working as a caretaker for 100 hectares of land. Over time he saved money and bought 10 of these hectares for his own. He lives all by himself in a three room adobe shack, with no one in sight. Although Fausto does mason work in Perucho and has some contact with people then, he still leads a very secluded lifestyle. When he does have human contact, he loves to talk. Another indication of his remoteness is that he has very little gas and no electricity. He has to carry the gas for 2 hrs on his back over the rough landscape.
The scenery leading to his farm is very amazing. There are small mountains surrounding the farm which makes the hike 1-3 hours from Perucho. We think Fausto scampers because he usually takes only one hour. Once you arrive, every thing is wild. It is more like a jungle than a farm, as you can't see the production until you walk right up to it. One of the cool features that you might stumble across is a waterfall that has so many minerals in the water, leaves and sticks are calcified in time as the water flows over them. The effect is similar to freezing, except it hardens the material with minerals instead of temperature change. All of the fields are weed filled but products are still growing.
Fausto has a lot of production but not much variety. There are a number of coffee plants intermixed with large trees that give shade. Mandarin trees are growing in patches that get more sun. Sugar cane makes up most of the land like a jammed “forest”. Off to the side, there are a few papaya and banana trees, but a type of cat has been eating them so the fruit is scarce. Unfortunately, Fausto does not have a good system for harvesting, storing, transporting and selling his products. As a result, he doesn’t make money off of his farm. Even though Fausto eats what he can from his farm, he still buys other food, like tuna and grains.
I am very impressed by Fausto and his solitary skills. I find it amazing that he can work and live all by himself. The landscape is very beautiful and it is a perfect place to have a farm. However, it is so far away he needs a better system for organizing the sale of his production to get more buck for his bang. After this dazzling visit to Fausto’s farm, I had a better understanding of living by oneself, away from civilization and being resourceful.
Carsen
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