Banana's Cafe

Wednesday we headed into the Art & Design area of Cuenca.  There was some beautiful clothing, jewelry and housewares in the shops and some very nice restaurants.

We had lunch at Banana’s, an expat hangout, and met Nancee Peterson and some other’s.  Nancee moved from Tucson, about 3 miles from where my house was, about 2 years ago.   She now has a beautiful home and loves Cuenca.   

Thursday morning dawned cool & cloudy, again.   Jill took a tour of the Cajas National Park while Anna & I drove down to Loja & on to Vilcabamba.  The drive was much better than the drive up to Cuenca because we encountered only a few patches of fog and the road was not as steep.   We went up and down the mountains so the vegetation changed frequently along the way.  There are beautiful little waterfalls and lots of flowers around every turn.   Loja is a small city with several rivers running through it.  The main road has a river down the middle instead of a median.   We had lunch there and walked through the market.  Lots of fruits, vegetables, meats and everything else under the sun.  A typical Latin American market. 

Then on to Vilcabamba. http://www.ecuadors.org/vilcabamba/  One of Jill’s students has an aunt who lives here.  Jill had emailed her and asked about the town.  When we got there we found some American’s at a stall of Peruvian woven goods.   Since it is a small town we took a chance and asked one if she knew Kathy Cohen.   She looked at us strangely and said “I’m Kathy Cohen.”  Then she realized who we were and we spend an hour with Kathy & Ed talking about life in Vilcabamba.  It is a very pretty little town of about 4000 with a fair size expat community.   We decided to spend the night here and found a great little Hotel/Spa. http://www.madretierra.com.ec/

Villcabamba is lower in altitude and the skies are finally clear.  We can finally see the stars tonight.  We enjoyed a delightful organic stuffed peppers dinner and now know why this is called the Valley of Longevity.

Salinas & Cuenca

Monday we drove down the coast to Salinas, another beach town but a bit bigger.  There is a Navy base there and a yacht club.  We were told there are several hundred expats there but we didn’t meet any of them. 

We stayed at another lovely little place, the Hotel Amira http://www.hotel-amira.com/ with a swimming pool.  It was hot and humid when we got to Salinas so we took a swim before we walked on the beach.  All the stalls, shops & restaurants closed up at 6 PM so we had an early night.  

This morning we were on the smooth straight road to Guayaquil by 8:30 and there by 11.   It took us about an hour to find our way through the city and across the river.   We found a nice restaurant in Puerto Inca  

for lunch before we headed up to Cuenca http://www.frommers.com/destinations/cuencaecuador/2834010001.html at about 8300 ft.  However, we had to go through the Cajas National Park at nearly 13000 ft.

http://cajaspark.com/index.php on a very windy road with very thick fog clouds sitting on the road.  The drive was difficult but the scenery was spectacular.  

We explored some of the Cuenca’s historic old town this afternoon looking for a hotel and finely found the Hostal San Diego http://hostalsandiego.net/   A very nice but unheated bed & breakfast.  The weather is so moderate here they think they don’t need heat.  Unfortunately, I want heat when the temperature drops into the 60 F range but I’ll survive with an extra blanket or two.   

Quito to Manta

Saturday, January 26, 2013 & Sunday, January 27, 2013

We spent Saturday morning trying to find our way out of Quito.  The signs are very limited and we got different directions each time we asked directions.  Eventually, we got on the right road and started the drive down through the Andes to the coast.   The roads were as twisty as a slalom course but the scenery was spectacular to say the least with lush tropical vegetation, rushing rivers, tall waterfalls and chicken in the road at every town.  :-)  It turned out to be a rainy day as we came down and the roads became muddy as we got into the foothills.  We stayed in the town of Chone and got an early start for Manta on Sunday.  As we drove along the rain cleared up and we even had some sun this afternoon as we walked along the beach here in Manta.

When we got here we stopped to eat at one of the big hotels & met some Americans who had moved here last year.  They showed us all around the town.  We saw their condo & the supermarket.  They told us about the best restaurants and recommended the lovely Maria Isabel Hotel. http://mantamag.com/portfolio/hotelboutiquemariaisabel/

Equator

Friday, January 25, 2013

Today we headed north.  We passed through Otavalo where they grow the roses.  Miles of green houses filled with roses of every color. Then we traveled to Cotacachi a small town known for it’s leather good.  It also has a small, 300-400, expat community.  After strolling the shops we had a delicious lunch and were serenaded by a pan flute & guitar.  On the way back to Quito we stopped on the Equator.  

Another day of exploring Quito.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Another day of exploring Quito.  We walked along Manos en La Ronda, a section filled with craft workshops.  We found a gentleman who restores pianos and organs.  He was in the process of restoring 1861 Baldwin piano.  He played one of his instruments for us, beautiful sound.   We also found a shop that made bee products like face cream and shampoo and another that designed jewelry.  There was a woodworker who specializes in tops, the kind you spin with your fingers, a photo restoration workshop and a chocolate shop called “Cacao, Luz de America.”   They combine Ecuadorian cacao with Swiss processing to make marvelous chocolates.

After that we went to the JW Marriott Hotel to see the roses.  Ecuadorian roses are exquisite.  They say it is because the sun is directly overhead and the air is so clear.  At the Marriott they have huge displays of 6-8 dozen roses all over.  We walked around the lobby gawking and sniffing.  Then we decided to have a snack and there was a display of miniature roses on the table. 

After that we went back to the airport to pick up the car.  We are going north to Otovolo http://wikitravel.org/en/Otavalo tomorrow.  It was a harrowing experience getting back to town in the rain, in rush hour traffic, with all the one-way streets and signs in Spanish but we made it.  

First day in Quito

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

We had to be at the Tucson airport early on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2013 for our 6:50 AM flight. The trip went very smoothly in spite of our tight connections in Dallas & Miami.  We, and our luggage, arrived safely and together.  We will be in Quito till Saturday morning.  Today, Jan 23, 2013, we walked down to the Historic District, about 7 miles round trip.  The weather here in Quito is a lot like San Diego, overcast most of the day with occasional outbreaks of sun.  The temperature was 11C/52F this morning.  I needed my sweater and my windbreaker.  But by the time we walked home it was 19C/66F.  This weather means that everything is green and there are lots of flowers everywhere you look. 

There was something big happening at the presidential palace around noontime today when we were at the Grand Plaza.  They had the band out on the balcony and lots of speeches.  After a tamale lunch we took a bus tour around the city just to get our bearings.  The city is in a long narrow valley.  It is quite impressive when seen from the big hill, El Panecillo, at the southern end of the city.  The top of the hill is a park with a huge statue called Our Lady of the Sun.  Tonight we’ll walk another 3 blocks to the restaurant district for supper.