In the small village of Canoa, off the coast of the Pacific ocean in Ecuador, a beautiful tree with an immense root called Samango, grew for 15 years next to the Muchacho River. The crown of the tree had the look of a rasta (reggae) with an afro.
Immense and once mature, Samango was cut down into little pieces with a chainsaw by wood hunters.
Samango screamed and remained a mutilated trunk without head or feet.
Then he started to feel angry and thought, ‘I won’t stay here in this spot anymore. I will make my dream journey before dying of madness. Now I will change the horizon of my life and travel the Pacific’.
What luck he had.
The warm current El Niño arrived in Canoa (ten years ago) with all the force of an earthquake. And Samango said with all his fury, “Now I am going to shake the earth here to get rid of my prison.” So his trunk left the ground that had been absorbing him in the sandy mud.
Samango laughed in the middle of the earthquake and said, ‘I will learn to swim, taste seawater and meet the fishes…it doesn’t matter where I will arrive’.
While the earthquake destroyed many cement houses in Canoa, Samango took advantage of the first waves from the Muchacho River. The mutilated trunk transformed himself into a surfer and floated from the mouth of the river into the ocean.
The sea travel started without problems.
The first spot Samango arrived to was the Cave of Love (La Cueva del Amor) near the river Canoa. In that intimate place he learned to love himself. Through his self-love he attracted a serpent, an enormous boa (Anaconda) that lived in the cave. She fell in love with Samango.
Anaconda mounted the trunk of Samango and there she remained, watching the fishing village of Canoa. Happy with his new life, Samango floated towards the Mangroves (Manglares), where at first glance a young puma saw him and ran away back into the rain forest. But then the big brown cat looked back with her burning eyes. She liked the energy of Samango’s body.
Samango continued his trip into the Pacific with his two lovers, surfing the waves of the silver blue sea assisted by El Niño, passing the river Canoa and going into the open sea in the opposite direction of the village of Briceño.
During this journey Samango was surfing the waves, chatting with dolphins, pelicans, flying fishes and the humpback whale.
Swimming near the mouth of the river Estero Cruzado, he met a seal (foca) that embraced him in his middle.
So the former tree was with his lovers and full of happiness. He wanted to return with his lovers to the Cave of Love to look for shade and have more pleasure. But that was no longer possible. El Niño had increased the level of the sea so high that the Cave of Love was submerged.
Samango began to feel sad. He couldn’t return to that beautiful place, discover life with his lovers and share dignity. He remained bathing on the border of the sea for almost 10 years in the mouth of the Estero Cruzado, hoping for a new trip towards the ocean.
After these years, the fisherman of Canoa had compassion for Samango because he was often knocked down by the little fishing boats (pangas) when they returned daily from the open sea.
Samango also got sick after swallowing too much salt water in those 10 destitute years. Anaconda, with the other lovers, also wanted to step on to the earth at the beach.
The fishermen discussed what to do and decided to take Samango with Anaconda, Puma and Seal sitting on him. They arrived at the beach with the trunk in front of their houses in the village of Canoa. Samango remained there, in a beautiful spot beyond the palm trees on the border of the beach, protected by families of Canoa after many years wandering in the middle of nowhere.
EL DESCANSO DE SAMANGO: A mutilated tree that fell in love and relived in Canoa, by Harrie Derks (edited in English for fluidity by us).
Samango now stands in front of the Hostal Posada Olmito, owned by Harrie, a friendly and welcoming Dutchman, on the beachfront in Canoa.
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