Milton Aguas removes guava from a fruit picker on the Hacienda Guadalupe farm on San Cristóbal Island. A local legend says that if one picks a guava fruit from a tree and eats it, then the person will remain on the island forever.
The Hacienda Guadalupe farm is one of few freshwater farms in all of the Galápagos Islands, with a 50-foot waterfall on the property. A remarkable place, the most special aspect of the farm is the family who works the land.
The Aguas family places a particular emphasis on the circular economy. All produce grown on Hacienda Guadalupe is sold, eaten or otherwise used, and all materials used for packaging products come back to the farm.
The family displays a similar relationship with the land that they nurture. Every plant, animal, drop of water, and person has an intricate role to fill. Living entirely off of the land in the San Cristóbal highlands is what they know. It may not be much, but it is enough.
“It is our way of being, our culture, our way of life,” farmer Milton Aguas said. “We are part of nature, and nature is a part of us.”
The full photo story and my work on the multimedia team collaboration “Living on the Land” can also be found at the Living Galápagos website.
Aguas’ favorite part of being a farmer is the intense labor required. “Agriculture is a very intense activity. It is hard work, but I enjoy it a lot because of course, I learned to handle all the tools, both the old ones that are basic, so much so that they are 100 percent manual,” Aguas said.Aguas is the co-producer of the first environmental law in the country of Ecuador. He is also the author of a proposal for the decentralization of the State and social participation in the processes of state management in the Galápagos Islands. “Nature requires that society have a conscience so that it can be maintained eternally, for generations to come,” said Aguas.A chicken wanders around the farm on the morning of Sunday, March 13, 2022. The white hostel, owned by the Aguas family, sits atop the hillside. Ecotourists who come to visit the farm often spend the night in the hostel to experience life in the highlands of San Cristóbal. Ecotourism is another vital component of stimulating the island’s economy.Aguas saws down a large piece of wood which he will use to identify a tree in remembrance of his volunteer, Felix, who is pictured on the left. Every volunteer that works at Hacienda Guadalupe engraves their name, nationality, and the years they worked on the farm into the wooden sign. They then plant the stake with a seed for a guava tree, some of which have since grown to be around five feet tall.The Galápagos Islands lead in cases of diabetes, not only in Ecuador but in all of Latin America. Other health problems such as cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, digestive diseases, and lung diseases threaten the lives of many residents in San Cristóbal. “Living in paradise, we are, I think, the province with the sickest people,” Aguas said. Both 64 years old, Aguas and Guadalupe, whom the farm is named after, have been married for 42 years. They first met each other in Quito when Aguas noticed “that pretty girl coming out of the house” in his neighborhood. “The river has many stones, but mostly love,” Aguas said about the farm and his wife.
A herd of wild cows walks in front of a taxi as Milton Aguas heads back into the highlands from an evening in town. Although animals such as cows, pigs, dogs, and chickens are invasive species to the Galápagos Islands, they are left to roam free and contribute to maintaining a balance in the ecosystems on the island. “Our goal is to work with nature, not against it,” Jhosellin Verónica Aguas Flores said.Mother Leydi de Nupis lifts her daughter Heidi Gismenia Nupis before washing her under a nearby pipe. Asael Nupis, the son of the Nupis family, leans out of a room used for tourists to learn about what it means to be a circular economy. The small family lives in the back of the home and helps with daily tasks on the farm.Guadalupe cooks carne asada on an outdoor grill behind the Aguas house. She must cook the food on coal instead of fire because fire will burn the food while coal cooks meat thoroughly. “Everything is organic, everything is natural,” Guadalupe said about the ingredients that she uses.As Aguas and Guadalupe work together to make tomato paste from scratch, Guadalupe smiles at 2-year-old Heidi as she plays in the kitchen. Heidi was born on the Hacienda Guadalupe farm during the heat of the pandemic in 2020. Thus, the family jokingly refers to her as “Gismenia Pandemia.”Milton Aguas cleans the root of a taro plant in a freshwater puddle. Taro is a nutritious, starchy vegetable which the Aguas family uses to make a healthy snack similar to potato chips.Aguas steps out into the Hacienda Guadalupe farm at sundown. A shirt tied around his face protects him from mosquito bites after a heavy rain. He looks around at the land he has nourished and takes a deep breath. “It is a sublime moment when you can see the plants blooming, especially the citruses, the limes, the lemons, the oranges,” Aguas said.
