‘Valley of Longevity’

Vilcabamba / DPA

Death among the middle-aged is a rare surprise in the Ecuadorian town of Vilcabamba.
“She was just 43. Brain tumour. Very few die that young here,” muses William Benítez as the coffin containing Rosa Torres is borne down the street to the cemetery. Benítez is there to vend ice cream to the sweating pallbearers.
“Actually, 100 is the average age of death here,” the 56-year-old claims, though it turns out that the mathematics of averages is not his strong suit. His own father made it to 86 and his mother “only” 84, he concedes.
Still, there is something afoot in this fruitful valley at 1,700 metres in Loja province. Vilcabamba has made international headlines as the “Valley of Longevity.” The main street through this town of some 5,000 is Avenida de Eterna Juventud – avenue of eternal youth.
The magical realism of novelist Gabriel García Márquez seems to hover over valley, where truth and fiction intermingle.
“The oldest resident was Miguel Carpio. He got to 136,” asserts Benitez.
Based on “facts” such as these, the town has drawn tourists in big numbers.
As long as 35 years ago, US anthropologists Richard Mazess and Sylvia Forman investigated the “Carpio case,” only to discover that Carpio had claimed to be 121 at a time when he was aged just 87.
If the date of birth he alleged had been true, his mother would have been born five years after he was. The researchers soon discounted his claims entirely.
A stroll through Vilcabamba does however reveal many very old people in residence, with several generations living under a single roof. It also discloses that a lot of US pensioners have been drawn to the town, along with long-haired holdovers from the Hippie Era.
The cemetery is strewn with refuse, with many of the crosses toppled. Many show only a date of death. The oldest person buried here is Lucila Guerrero, born in 1906, who died in 2013.
That Vilcabamba’s population mix has an exceptionally large old-age bracket seems plain, but researchers are divided on the reasons.
Among the possible factors are a diet low in fats and calories – yucca, bananas, guava, beans and cereals including maize figure in many meals. There are said to be few people with heart problems.
The residents attribute their longevity to permanent spring-like temperatures between 18 and 22 degrees all year long, nutrition based on the region’s produce and the mineral-rich waters of the Rio Capamaco.
Nevertheless, they say the number of centenarians is on the decline, despite a lack of accurate data. They attribute this to outside influence. Chickens treated with hormones and unhealthy eating habits are to blame.
Timotheo Arbolera is 101. He sits on bench outside his house near the river the whole day long. “I’ve never been ill and always worked the land, planting coffee and bananas,” he says.
And then there is the oldest of them all – José Javier Delgado Jaramillo – who lives out outside town with his wife María Mercedes Retete and eats only what nature provides. Jaramillo wants to go to a town hall meeting to complain about the water supply.
“My son is going along. I don’t hear that well anymore,” he says.
He can prove his age, pulling out an identity document that gives his date of birth as February 21, 1910. His wife has been married to him for 75 of her 92 years. Jaramillo rises at 5.30 am and goes to bed at seven in the evening, spending much of the day working his garden.
Their six children have produced 40 grandchildren. “The record is held by my daughter Sarah with 11 children,” Jaramillo says. His wife claims to know all the names, down to the last great-grandchild. They see their diet based on fruit and vegetables as the main reason for their advanced years.
“But only God knows why I’ve been allowed to grow so old,” he says.
Vilcabamba’s reputation has gone global. People convinced the western lifestyle is killing them drift in all the time. Visit the town market offering “organic” produce, and the tourist will find plenty of books on yoga and how to survive on a vegan diet.
Oliver Dams from Germany has been on the road in South America for two years, working as a gardener from time to time.
“But then I thought: Earn money? What for?” He now gets by playing street music and has plans to stay in Vilcabamba for a while. “It’s very magical here. The energy is clean and pure,” he says in terms reminiscent of the Flower Children of half a century ago.
Dams believes it is possible to live in harmony with nature here, where everything he needs just grows. He produces black seeds from his bag for soaking in water or for grinding up and smoking. “Gives you good dreams,” he says.