I woke up this morning with the first real allergy attack I have had on this trip. Cotacachi is a veritable garden of flowers. We will probably not settle here, both due to the allergy issue and the small size of the town would probably leave us bored after a couple months. We decided to […]
It Won’t Rain Today…
We left Quito yesterday morning. Neither of us was feeling very well — it appears that the 1200 additional feet of altitude from Cuenca to Quito was harder on us than we had expected. We decided to splurge and hired a taxi for $55 to take us to Cotacachi, rather than face the hassle of […]
Getting High in Quito
We flew into Quito yesterday. Though only 1200 ft higher than Cuenca (9400 vs 8200), I felt the altitude almost immediately. Combined with a low grade illness I started earlier in the day, I have felt pretty miserable most of today. Combined with the cold, I will be glad to leave Quito tomorrow, soon after […]
Rooftop Party As Pauline Leaves Cuenca
New Cathedral domes in the afternoon from neighboring rooftop Santo Domingo church, as seen from the same rooftop New Cathedral after sundown as seen from rooftop across the main square This afternoon we went to a party thrown by Vivian Slade — the jazz singer we have listened to several times from The Jazz Society. […]
10,000 Types of Orchids Plus Guitars
Gonna be a rather long post tonight, as this was a busy day with lots of stuff happening. I have attempted to add subtitles tonight, to let you tune in where desired, or skip areas you are not interested in. Driver Recommendation We had three different people recommend Angel Panchez (phone: 0985899643, email: anhelp_68@yahoo.com) as […]
Art Class Completed
Evelyn has just completed a series of art classes taught by renown Santa Fe instructor, Gary Myers, in his home studio in El Centro. Because art materials and studio supplies are scarce in Cuenca, Gary and Arie have developed innovative tools to use. For student easels, he used wooden wedges that were being used as […]
Spa Day
Pauline on the left, and Evelyn on the right, enjoyed a day at Piedra de Agua in Bano de Cuenca Today was spa day for Evelyn and her visiting sister. Since I am usually ready to go 15 minutes after arriving at places like this, I opted to stay home and let them enjoy themselves… […]
Fireworks!
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 […]
