On Monday, the Santa Elena peninsula celebrated its "discovery" 487 years ago. You see it in quotes quite a bit. The reason is interesting. Ecuador is a mix of several ethnic groups. By far, the largest group is mestizos, who are a mix of the indigenous population, and the European latecomers. When you look at all the dark hair in the attached pictures, you will realize that the indigenous part of the mix is pretty strong. It's hard to pretend the peninsula was discovered by the Spanish when most everyone here has ancestors that were around a lot longer than 487 years ago.
As you might expect, I was looking forward to seeing what the bands in the parade were like. Most marching "bands" here consist of drums (lots of drums), some bells (metal xylophone like instruments) and sometimes some herald trumpets. Even some military units use that instrumentation. The Scots have their bagpipes, and Ecuador marches to tinkly little bells (and lots of drums).
The first picture shows a glimpse of a high school age "band". I chose this one because of the familiar pink figure in the background. He wasn't in the parade. That is one of the ubiquitous vendors.
The next photo is of some cartoon characters. I wish I could tell you more about them, but I couldn't read the sign if there was one.
Photo three is an example of some of the footwear some of the ladies marching in the parade chose to wear. There were lots of similar choices.
Photo number four is of a dance troupe, one of only a few. They are creating a ship to reflect the importance of fishing in the local culture and economy. Note the fragment of some interesting artwork on the government building in the background.
The final photo is of the crowd that gathered in the town park during and after the parade. You can see one of the church towers in the background. Somewhere in that crowd were a few clowns with an incredible sound system.
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