La Canela

La Canela, the Valley of Cinnamon, is a legendary location in South America. As with El Dorado, its legend grew out of expectations aroused by the voyage of Christopher Columbus. He had demonstrated to the satisfaction of his backers that gold and spices would be found as a result of his Atlantic crossing; since he himself found little of these commodities, the search on the American mainland continued. In 1541, Gonzalo Pizarro led an expedition east of Quito with Francisco de Orellana in search...