Bit of a snack to get us through the evening; stalls set up by the Pro

Highlighting the issue of giant tortoises being hit by cars on the road

A group of artists put this together - basically against overharvesting of marine species

This was the most spectacular scene I saw: drugs, politics, illegal timber, cars hitting tortoises..

Mucking around with the año viejo; Ivone in entertainer mode

Relaxed start to 2025; laying around enjoying each other's company

Our 'grounded intentions'. My words for past/present/future: unsettled, anticipatory, growing

Old year, new year

January 1 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

The new year's celebration in Ecuador is called Año Viejo; old year. People make up effigies of clothes, paper and sawdust that represent the past year; to be burnt just before midnight. People jump over the burning 'año viejo' to symbolise cleansing and jumping into the new year with fresh energy (thanks Colette for this explanation).

There were plenty more elaborate & complex scenes (also 'años viejos') about town; on issues such as overfishing, bad politics, plastic contamination, drug trafficking, and more. This is the one time of year when it's appropriate to denounce all the shitty things! The idea is to leave these all behind in the past year.

We had fun looking around town, then partying at Gabi and Paul's house (like old times) and burning the Año Viejo. I went to the main square for midnight and over the other side to The Point for dancing with familiar faces; it was a fun way to see out 2024. And the next evening Molly coordinated a little gathering of women to set 2025 off to a great start - it was lovely.Read more