Qualla: Valencia, Ecuador https://qualla.com/valencia-ecuador en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:08 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/z/d/valencia-ecuador-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Valencia, Ecuador https://qualla.com/valencia-ecuador Valencia, Ecuador: Introduction https://qualla.com/valencia-ecuador/ Photo credit Litoalban, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 1887 a man named Gregorio Valencia built his house on the banks of an estuary in coastal Ecuador. He was known throughout the surrounding hamlets for practicing brujeria - sorcery. Neighbors came to him for consultations, for herbs, for whatever it was he offered. Before long the estuary itself was being called Estero Valencia after him, and when a town grew up at the water's edge it kept the name. That town is now the sixth most populous city in Los Rios Province, a commercial center shipping bananas, cocoa, and African palm to the world. It is still called Valencia, and the estuary still runs.

Read more: Valencia, Ecuador on Qualla

Image: Litoalban | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/z/d/valencia-ecuador-wp/6pzd-valencia-ecuador-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Valencia, Ecuador: Before Gregorio https://qualla.com/valencia-ecuador/ Photo credit Litoalban, CC BY-SA 3.0. The land was not empty before Valencia arrived. A village of Colorado people - the Tsachila, indigenous to Ecuador's coastal forests - had stood on the banks of the Pilalo River, taking the Spanish name San Pablo de los Colorados from missionary contact. When that town was destro...

Read more: Valencia, Ecuador on Qualla

Image: Litoalban | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/z/d/valencia-ecuador-wp/6pzd-valencia-ecuador-before-gregorio.mp3 0:06 2 full Valencia, Ecuador: Canton in the Banana Belt https://qualla.com/valencia-ecuador/ Photo credit Litoalban, CC BY-SA 3.0. Los Rios Province is one of Ecuador's agricultural engines, and Valencia sits near its heart. On December 29, 1995, under the government of President Sixto Duran Ballen, Valencia was elevated from parish to canton - granted its own municipal government and its own political ident...

Read more: Valencia, Ecuador on Qualla

Image: Litoalban | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/z/d/valencia-ecuador-wp/6pzd-valencia-ecuador-canton-in-the-banana-belt.mp3 0:06 3 full Valencia, Ecuador: African Palm and the Quevedo Orbit https://qualla.com/valencia-ecuador/ Photo credit Litoalban, CC BY-SA 3.0. The economy rests on agriculture so completely that it shapes the landscape visible from the air. Banana packing plants cluster near the main roads. African palm plantations - rows of tall, straight-stemmed trees that look like tropical colonnades from above - cover much of the c...

Read more: Valencia, Ecuador on Qualla

Image: Litoalban | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/z/d/valencia-ecuador-wp/6pzd-valencia-ecuador-african-palm-and-the-quevedo-orbit.mp3 0:06 4 full Valencia, Ecuador: The Rivers That Made It https://qualla.com/valencia-ecuador/ Photo credit Litoalban, CC BY-SA 3.0. Valencia sits at around 60 to 105 meters above sea level on a broad coastal plain. Several rivers drain the area: the San Pablo, the Quindigua, the Lulo, and the Manguila. In the dry season they are modest streams; in the rainy season - December through May - they can run strong ...

Read more: Valencia, Ecuador on Qualla

Image: Litoalban | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/z/d/valencia-ecuador-wp/6pzd-valencia-ecuador-the-rivers-that-made-it.mp3 0:06 5 full Valencia, Ecuador: Hornado, Tilapia, and Bulls https://qualla.com/valencia-ecuador/ Photo credit Litoalban, CC BY-SA 3.0. Valencia keeps the traditional rural-coastal cuisine of Ecuador intact. Hornado - slow-roasted pork, a dish that spread from the Andes to the coast - is a local specialty, served with mote (hominy) or rice. Tilapia from local rivers and fish ponds fills the menus. Caldo de mangue...

Read more: Valencia, Ecuador on Qualla

Image: Litoalban | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/6/p/z/d/valencia-ecuador-wp/6pzd-valencia-ecuador-hornado-tilapia-and-bulls.mp3 0:06 6 full