Category: Ecuador

The first week we were in Cuenca fireworks exploded nightly in various locations around the city. We discovered the cause was Corpus Christi, and so one night we headed to Parque Calderon to watch towers that had been constructed with flammable material laden with fireworks burn and explode. We chatted with a multi-generational family from Cuenca and their friends about politics in Ecuador and the States. They were educated, professional, well-traveled etc. I thought they might give us some insight into the festivities. But my efforts to understand what was happening went like this…

Me: “Why is there a procession?”

Grandmother: “It is for the body of Christ”

Me: “Why are they celebrating the body of Christ now?”

Grandmother: “It is always now, it is just for the body of Christ.”

Me: “Why are those exploding?” (see below)

Grandmother’s friend: “They are crazy cows. They explode.”

Me:  “Is there a reason why cows explode and not another animal? Do they represent something?”

Grandmother’s friend: “Crazy cows have always exploded, ever since I was little.”

I did look up Corpus Christi and read about the holiday and how it is a bit mixed with Incan culture here. But for us, as for the Ecuadorans we were with, it was just an amazing display of fire, sparklers and fireworks shooting off at a proximity to humans and buildings that seemed inadvisable.

Above left: the church with sparklers shooting off (and falling on our heads)

Above right: one of the towers before it was lit. The fire starts at the bottom and as as it burns up different types of fireworks shoot off.

Below: one of the towers burning in the distance. They set off about 4 towers each night in succession. Each one is sponsored by a different group or company. We were told they cost  over $5000 to make (source was the family so I have no idea if that is true).

Corpus Christi ended and we thought the fireworks would end as well. But for unknown reasons they continue to light up the sky almost every night. If they are on one side of the city, we can see them from our large living room window. If they are on the other, we run up to the rooftop terrace and look back in the other direction. Below is a photo of fireworks emanating from Mirador de Turi as seen from our living room window.

Some Cuenca University students interviewed me for a project on tourism for their business class. They needed more subjects to interview so I sent them across the park to find Ethan, who was happy to be the center of attention.

Above and below are pics of the market I visit daily. I love the selection and cost of the veggies and fruits. Three or four avocados for a dollar… lots of guac!

They also have pre-cooked mote (large corn) and pre-cooked beans. This might seem odd unless you have tried to cook beans at elevation. I didn’t attempt to here, but in Cucso I once cooked black beans for 3-4 hours four nights in a row. They were still crunchy.

Our street.

Church in one of the squares. Every time I pass through the squares I am sad that Chapel Hill can’t manage to put in gathering places.

Kids at Parque de la Madre. Fun to go at any hour.

Weekends at Parque Paraiso are full of families hanging out for the day.

Wild horse running. Okay, this one is not around town. But I thought Matthew got a nice shot.

Llamas. So many llamas.

Ken, our property manager in Cuenca, is extremely nice and generous. Not only did he let us stay at his gorgeous condo in Cajas last weekend, but he drove us there and back, brought us to a tasty restaurant and led us on a beautiful hike.

The view from his place was amazing (photo above) and we could have just chilled looking at it from his giant windows. But we don’t chill well, so we hiked 13 miles.

We were only at 10,000 – 11,000 ft this time. Oxygen appreciated.

Wild llamas everywhere.

The puma at the zoo apparently scared Logan as she kept talking about us being eaten as snacks. I tried to reassure her that no puma would want us with all the puffy llamas around. Being perhaps the only human on earth that has been attacked by llamas previously, I don’t really feel that much better knowing all the llamas are around. But it sounded reasonable.

The view from our condo changes constantly. Never disappoints.

Sunday we hopped a bus to Ingapirca, the largest known Inca ruins in Ecuador. Per our guide, the Inca built on top of structures the Cañari people had constructed prior to the Inca arrival. He told stories of how the Cañari/Inca used rocks with holes to mix paint and /or do astronomy… unclear which part might be true.

The ruins are no where near as impressive as Machu Picchu or any of the other sites we saw in Peru, but they were worth the trip. See the awesome Inca architecture below… no mortar and still standing after 500 years.

 

Ethan and Logan have been taking 2 hours each of private Spanish lessons a day at Simon Bolivar Spanish School. Their teacher, Belen, has done a great job of teaching and putting up with them when they get silly. For unknown reasons, the school decided the kids should put on a skit during the morning break for the other students. They were cute and funny, at least in my unbiased opinion.

Last weekend we met up with a bunch of retirees living in Cuenca for a hike in Cajas National Park. Most of them have packed up and moved here for the foreseeable future. After years of traveling with 20 somethings and then families, it was nice to hear the stories of those in their 60s and 70s who are still traveling around and hiking peaks. This peak was 14,000ft. As Ethan stayed back to chat with, well everyone, Logan raced to the top with her new dog friend.

My favorite quote of the day comes from John, a British man who worked as a photojournalist around the world. When asked what his favorite place to visit was, he replied, “I suppose wherever I was heading next.” Many of the photos below were taken by John.

   

On our first Saturday we headed to the zoo. It was a bit far to walk so we took a taxi, which gave me flashbacks to terror taxi rides in Peru with the kids loose in the back seat. Luckily we can walk to school, stores, parks and museums from our condo.

The Cuenca zoo is not a typical zoo. All of the animals are local to the region and almost all are rescued. But the odd thing about the zoo is the layout. It is on a steep hill with a single track trail that weaves up and down passing animal habitats along the way. You need to have about 3 hours free when you enter because you follow the path, in order, and there is no exit. You can’t run to see the pumas whenever you want without weaving all the way back to them. You also can’t skip the snake house or alligators because the path goes through them.

But the views of the animals are great. Some of the monkeys have a habitrail made of thin fencing that crosses above the path over and over so you can see them just a few feet from your head. Other tiny monkeys were running free trying to steal french fries at the cafe (not saying that is a good thing, but cute).

The highlight of the day was watching the lions get fed. (Lions not native but rescued from a circus and other such situations). The workers took them out of the fenced area and then spread large chunks of dead animal around the hillside. When safely outside again they let the lions return. The alpha male roared at the others, grabbed the closest piece and ran off to eat it. The others searched for their pieces scattered on the hillside. And the sad lioness who was declawed at the circus stood around waiting for scrapes. It was definitely the closest view of lions we have had. And we learned they can shoot pee backwards for meters. This was also news to the people standing near the fence when the lion turned its behind toward them.

Logan in the aviary.

 

The kids and I spent a lot of time in parks the first few days we were here so that Matthew could work in peace. We really are in the center of Cuenca, although you can’t tell by these photos.

In Nova Scotia we were accused of forgetting Matthew’s birthday and we have never heard the end of it.  We didn’t actually forget his birthday, we just didn’t realize that it was June 23. He doesn’t really see the difference.

This year we were on top of it. No pies here but we found a carrot cake to celebrate the day.

Our condo in Cuenca is likely the nicest place we will stay all year. But prices here were a bargain and paying just a little more landed us a really nice place.

Our location is great. Outside the front door we are in the historic center, a few blocks from a central square / park and lots of shopping. Outside the back of the condo area we are on a river walk that leads to parks and more city.

Here is the front door entrance to the condo complex (the one in front of the woman).

Here is the view from the rear entrance.

And this is the condo… okay, these pics are from the listing, not me, but it really does look this good. Many of you know how much I love light. In this place I actually consider putting down the shades for respite from squinting.

Except for that sudden altitude drop on one flight that caused a collective gasp, our trip here was uneventful.

Below Ethan models our complete luggage on arrival to Cuenca. Since we are passing through NC on our way to Europe, we will have the chance to make changes in our decisions on clothes and luggage. Hoping we can keep it to carry on for the whole year like we did for this leg.