There used to be a lot more fireworks in Cuenca, and when we arrived we had expected to be shooting quite a few displays while here. Fireworks here are some of the most dangerous we have seen anywhere in the world. They are shot up right in the middle of crowded streets, with the flaming […]
The Highest Cause of Death in Ecuador
Every couple of days we read about another multiple-death car accident, frequently on the road between Cuenca and Quito or Cuenca and Guayaquil. A couple weeks ago, the local Cuenca English newspaper said that car fatalities are the leading cause of death for adults in Ecuador. Other sources place it a little lower on the […]
Fishing Boats and a Deserted Beach
Short post today as we were basically lazy (and not feeling too well) most of the day… We started off with another trip to the fishing boat section of the beach at the other end of town from our hotel. Though there were several buyer’s trucks waiting to purchase fish, we only saw one boat […]
Poor Man’s Galapagos
First thing this morning, we walked over to the part of the beach where the fishermen come in with their catch. We had been warned that it might be slow on a Sunday morning, and indeed, we only saw one boat come in, and unload a fairly small load of fish. We came to Puerto […]
Snake Oil Salesmen
We woke up this morning in Salinas, prepared for a lazy morning before catching the bus to Puerto Lopez. With my brain still a bit fuzzy, I stepped into the shower… and found only a single faucet. No hot water?? Looking up, I found the infamous self-electrocution device I had read about, but never seen […]
The President Stole Our Van!
We made reservations a few days ago for a shared van at 9:00 this morning to take us from Cuenca to Guayaquil. From there, we planned on taking a public bus to Salinas. We arrived early for our van… and found the company closed with nobody around…? I called the phone number on the business […]
Luggage, Mercado de Animales & Thanksgiving
This was a pretty full day. Probably the biggest news for us was the final culmination of The Great Luggage Journey. We went out to the airport this morning to get Pauline’s luggage… only to be told it still wasn’t here and “will definitely be on the next flight from Quito.” Since this was our […]
One Pig, One Woman
Today started off with routine. Breakfast at home, followed by taking laundry 3 blocks to our favorite Laundromat. We then walked a few blocks to make reservations for a van to take us to Guayaquil on Friday (first stop on our trip to Salinas). The van took a couple of stops, since the first couple […]
Pauline Arrives… sans Luggage
This past weekend we noted that we visited an art friend’s home, and fell in love with it. We were wondering what the neighborhood would be like living in that part of town, so yesterday we took the Blue Bus for 25 cents to there and wandered the neighborhood. At first it appeared to be […]
Failed Canar Animal Market Tour
We had arranged for a tour driver to take us to Canar early this morning to see the Sunday Animal Market there, which is the supposed to be the largest in the region. Unfortunately, our driver did not understand what we were trying to photograph, and by the time we got there, it had pretty […]