Fishing In Cuenca and a thought on one thing I miss- driving a car.

Our home is in a small community.  Most people / taxi drivers don't even know it exists.  Taxi drivers will comment when they come into our gated community and say it is "Muy bonito".   Our little enclave is built  along a  river named "Rio Tomebamba", it is one of the four rivers that run through Cuenca.  The community is a lovely place to live and we can stroll to the river in about 6 -7 minutes from our front door.  

Michael has always been interested in fly fishing so  he ordered fly fishing gear from Orvis and had it delivered to his Mom's home in Florida.  When we came back from the States after the holidays, we brought our new fly fishing gear home with us.

Michael has gone out to the river several times to practice casting.  He doesn't really care if he catches a fish, he is out there standing on the bank of a beautiful river, fishing.  How cool is that?

We went fishing together one Saturday morning, and found a place that was suitable for casting the poles, so we fished. 

Rio Tomebamba

Michael in action fly fishing

Me getting ready to make my first fly fishing cast.

Michael chose to stand on a huge rock, and suggested that I stand on an area on the shore where I could cast into a moving pool of water.  I threw a few casts out, lost two lures on rocks and trees (fly fishing means you have to be able to whip the line around, and this place is loaded with Eucalyptus trees).  

Suddenly I felt a tug on my line,  OMG, I had a fish. I got excited and shouted to Michael, he started calling out helpful stuff to me as he came over to my fishing spot.  "Hold the pole up, be gentle, keep pulling the line in". 

We got a fish.  It was a rainbow trout from the cool, sparkling waters that flow down from the Caja Mountains. 

It wasn't huge, but we had a nice lunch that day.

My Rainbow Trout

Our plan is to go to the Caja's National Park next week and try our hand at more fishing.  The Caja's are beautiful, so even if we don't catch a thing, it will be a great day trip.

A THOUGHT ABOUT SOMETHING I MISS:

I don't know why, but the other day I decided that I miss driving a car.  I really, really don't miss sitting in rush hour traffic on the Interstate, or trying to negotiate snowy, icy streets.  I just miss driving.   

Specifically, I miss the first warm weeks of spring in the midwest, when you start driving with the windows all the way down.  No more warming up the car on cold winter mornings.  The time before the approaching Summer months when you have to blast the A/C.  

For those few weeks in April and May, you get to feel the breeze in your hair and play the stereo a little louder.   I miss that.

Since we have been married we have owned two pick-up trucks, a Dodge Dakota and a Chevy S10, a Honda Accord that my mom gave to us, a Ford Focus Wagon, a Honda Element, a 1994 Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail, and a 1972 Volkswagon Westfalia Camper.  I miss them.

The Harley that we spent many wonderful afternoon and evening rides on. 
It also took us to two Harley Davidson Anniversary Celebrations, the 95th,
and the 100th.

Our Honda Element that we took to go camping and kayaking at Paradis Marin in Quebec 7 times. 

Our Westafalia.  It cracked us up when we drove around in it, kids that were not even born until the 90's would be giving us the "peace" sign as we drove by. 

It was definitely a Greatful Dead Bus.

You COULD NOT pay us to drive in Cuenca.  The traffic is crazy, it reminds me of what the wild west might have been like. If there is no oncoming traffic, even the bus drivers will make a left on red, and when the light is green, whoever gets to the intersection first, does what ever they want, U-turns, lefts, rights, whatever, and they had better do it fast or the guy behind them BLARES the horn. 
There are lanes painted on the streets, but like stop signs and stop lights, they are really simply suggestions. 

Life in Cuenca means taking buses, cabs or walking.  All are OK.  The buses cost a quarter, and once you know your way around, you can get to most of places you need to go to.  Cabs are inexpensive and most of  the drivers want to help you learn Spanish, or want to practice their English, and walking is great for our health. 

I just miss driving sometimes.

The last few weeks my Mom was with us in Cuenca

We moved into our new home in Cuenca on December 1st, and then we left for Florida on December 8th for the holidays.  We returned to Cuenca on January 7th and my Mom came to Ecuador with us.  We had lots of "house" things to take care of; get our internet set up, coordinate our utilities, delivery of furniture (more on that in a later blog), you know, life as it needs to be dealt with.
So to take a break from the normal day to day things, we decided to take a trip out of the city, we scheduled a tour to Ingapirca.  We had been there with my cousin Dan in August,  this time we decided to take the trip with a different  tour company, we thought we might learn additional history regarding the Inca's and the site. 

Our tour started at a Sunday market in a town named Canar, Canari's are the original people of the area, they pre-date the Inca's. The market was crazy busy, people selling grains, fruit, clothing, hardware, EVERYTHING.  We watched in awe at the activity.  

PIC's FROM CANAR:

These women are wearing the traditional Canari hat.  The hats have little "balls" hanging from them, if the balls are worn on the front, it means the woman, or man, is married.

Young Canari ladies, the "little balls" are on the back of their hats, which means they are not married. It reminds me of the tradition regarding the proper way to wear a Claddaugh ring.

The fruit and vegetables in these kinds of markets are amazing, the cabbages are the size of basketballs!!

What a great face!!

We thought the hats were so cool we bought one for a "decoration" for the house.  I am not sure what happened to the exposure on this pic, but I thought it was funny.

ON TO INGAPIRCA:

We traveled on to Ingapirca, the ride was beautiful.
 My Mom took this pic of the scenery along the way.

Our tour guide was great and we learned alot, those Inca's were amazing.

It was a beautiful day, but every so often during our tour,

the clouds would roll in.

This "road" is acutally part of the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu, young men would travel this path to deliver messages back and forth.

Mom and me at Ingapirca



Temple of the sun, the main structure of Ingapirca



Mom, "chilling" at the Temple of the Sun.

Mom took this nice picture of us.

We learned that some of the stones have a greenish hue due to high Copper content.

Truly amazing how the stones were put in place and remain perfect.

My Mom's hat traveled around Ecuador, she looked great in it. 

We had lunch at Posada Ingapirca, great trout.  We had considered staying at this "Posada" = hotel to get a chance to see the sunrise over the ruins, we have since learned that the place is FREEZING at night.  Oh well, the lunch was good.

A pic of some young women strolling around the ruins.

We got back to life in Cuenca and decided we needed some additional plants for our patio, so we called our trusty friend and taxi driver Manny.  He took us to a nursery and negotiated the prices for us, our plants were delivered the following day for $3.00.  My Mom, Michael and I got busy potting plants. 

A few pics.

A NEIGHBORHOOD PARTY:

Michael and I are the only Americans living in our little community, and we were invited to a neighborhood barbecue while my Mom was here.  Our neighbors are really nice and super accepting of our very limited Spanish.  We had a great time and met some nice folks.

Pics from the party:

My Mom was going home on the 7th of February, so we headed out for the three hour bus ride through the Caja's to Guayaquil on the 6th.  When we got to Guayaquil we knew we would only have one more day together, so we went exploring.  We found a beautiful Cathedral that was only two blocks from our hotel, on a Monday afternoon, people were praying in the church to the various saints, it was amazing and inspiring. 

After exploring the Cathedral, my Mom and I sat in the park across the street, it is known for the Iguanas that live there.  Apparently at some point in time, this park was the city limits and the Iguanas came in from the surrounding wetlands and took up residence in the park, they are beloved residents of Guayaquil.  I didn't carry a camera with me that day, so I "borrowed" the following pictures.

The Cathedral in Guayaquil

We strolled around the Malecon and ran into a friend from Cuenca, she was also an extra in the short film Michael was in last summer.   Small world, she was on her way to Macchu Picchu!! 

Parque Simon Bolivar, also known as "Iguana Park"

When my Mom checked in at the airport, she was informed that she had been selected to have an "additional" search before she could board the plane.  OK,  you have seen my Mom's pic's.  No ugly beard, no flowing white robes, she doesn't look like a drug mule or terrorist to me.  Oh well, Ecuador, who knows why they do the stuff they do.

I am so happy that my Mom came to Cuenca, now she understands why we like it so much.  She has decided that she wants to learn Spanish so that when she returns, she will be able to communicate with the lovely people here. 

My Mom went home, and I miss her.

Life is short, cherish the time you have with the people you love. 

The Chicken Bus and the Coast

When my Mom was coming to visit, we thought that going to Macchu Picchu would be a great idea, so  we looked into the airfares and it was CRAZY expensive, we had only planned a three or four day trip, and the airfare made it way too expensive.  So we decided to take a trip to the coast and see the Pacific.

OUR JOURNEY TO PUERTO LOPEZ:

Michael and I had gone to the coast in  July, the bus we took was fabulous, A/C, large comfy seats, and movies on the  way.  Really nice. 

This time we were staying in a different town so we looked up the bus line that would take us to Puerto Lopez.  We made our reservations at Hosteria Mandala, the hotel we were going to stay at, then  booked our van trip through the Caja's to Guayaquil where we would connect up with our bus to Puerto Lopez.  We were set. 

Michael and I have done the white knuckle ride through the Caja 's before, it is pretty turny and twisty, but we have become accustomed to the trip , and we promptly fell asleep.  Better to sleep and hope for a good ending than watch the crazy drivers and be terrified, is our thought.

When I woke up, I turned around to see how my Mom was doing.   Her eyes were riveted to the back of the bus drivers head, so  I reached back and said "What's wrong"?  My Mom was kind of concerned that the driver was wearing sunglasses during the  foggy, rainy trip.   It turns out that my Mom had been steering the van, for the driver, from the last row of the van, in her mind, making sure we all made it safe and sound to Guayaquil.   Thanks Mom, sorry we left you to the driving duties while we dozed.

We got to the bus station in Guayaquil and found the bus line we were told to take to our coastal destination.  All of a sudden it was run, run, run, the bus was leaving in five minutes!!  We paid our $6.00 fare for the 4 hour ride and followed some guy, that we were hoping was taking us to the bus, Well, we got to the bus, and it was a CHICKEN BUS!!???   There aren't really any livestock, but from the looks of the vehicle you would think there were!!  We had seen these before, but never expected to be on one, we were not real happy with the situation.  Then, before we were allowed to get on the bus, the Policia decided that they needed to look at Michael's documentation.  ( You are given a Cedula once you become a resident of Ecuador, which is the equivalent of a National ID card, and are required to carry it at all times), so we dealt with that for a few minutes, then they wanted my Mom's documentation , Passport copy ,etc., and finally we were allowed to board the bus.

The Bus was an experience. No A/C, little weird window curtains. OMG, it stopped constantly to let on vendors selling everything from fruit, to pastries, soda and water and even coconut milk. The driver would pull over and all of a sudden there might be 3 to 4 guys trying to sell stuff. THIS WAS NOT THE COMFORTABLE  bus we had experienced before, and expected  for this journey.

We bumped and hurdled down the roads, every so often still picking up men, women, and children selling things. The bus developed an interesting smell along the way, not to mention the constant music playing over the loud bus speakers. All in all, this was not the bus ride I expected to share with my Mom to the coast. 

After we got off the Chicken bus in Puerto Lopez, this was our transport to our hotel.  The three of us piled into it, along  with our luggage and down the beach we went in our carriage.

 

Well, we got to our hotel, which was right on the beach, beautiful gardens, it was worth the trip.

.

The hotel had little cabins set in a beautiful garden,  the owners had five dogs that would charge through the dining room in the morning alerting us to their arrival, and then they would settle down near the entrance to the Hosteria Mandala.

My mom was reading a book in the deck of the Hosteria, where we would usually eat breakfast.  Michael and I had grabbed a hammock to hang out at the beach,  I went back to the hotel  to ask my mom if she wanted to hang on the beach with us , I said "it fits three", and my Mom was really nice, but just said "No, I think I will read my book."

Duh, here is me saying it fits three, and I meant to say , the little Cabana would fit three hammocks,  my mom was being really nice not a wanting to hang in a hammock for the three of us, "who would be smashed in the middle", was her concern.   We got it figured out and spent two nights watching the sunset over the Pacific from those hammocks.  It was fantastic. 

We strolled into town and watched the fishermen bring in their catch.

Mom and I  strolling the beach in Puerto Lopez

Mom and Michael hanging out in the hammocks at Hosteria Mandala in Puerto Lopez. 

One evening at dinner, strolling musicians serenaded us at  our table, they  played a beautiful song,

 " Bonita Senorita"

One of the beautiful sunsets we saw from Hosteria Mandala in Puerto Lopez.

We decided that we were absolutely not going to take another Chicken Bus back to Guayaquil, so we took a taxi to a town called Olon, and we got the really nice comfy bus, they played  a movie called "A Dolphin's Tale", and we sailed along on a great new highway and arrived in Guayaquil earlier than we thought.

A pic of a chicken bus:

This is the type of bus we took to Puerto Lopez, hot, humid, curtains flying out the window as we went down the road.

This is the bus we took home, cool,  quiet and comfy.

You gotta laugh with the weird stuff here, but then appreciate the beauty.

Luggage, Cuenca and the Coast

LUGGAGE:
My Mom's luggage didn't make the journey to Cuenca, she had a sort of premonition that her bag would be lost, she mentioned that  even before we left Miami due to the way her luggage was handled.  When we got here, our six bags arrived, and the one with my Mom's stuff was missing in action.

After messing around with paperwork and officials, we finally  left the airport at 11:00 p.m. our friend Efrian was dutifully waiting for us, so we made the journey through the mountains at night, we arrived at our house around 2:00 am and crashed. 

In the morning Michael started the phone calls to American Airlines trying to track down my Mom's bag.  After two days,  they finally found it and said they would deliver it the following day.  WHAT!

The Airline wanted to send it with a courier through the mountains, we said absolutely NOT, we had to have the bag THAT day.  Hours went by, Michael made lots of calls, and the airline finally agreed to send it on the next flight to Cuenca,  Michael had to meet the "guy" at a local hotel to pick the suitcase.  The bag was supposed to be there at 4:00, well around 5:15 the dude showed up with my Mom's suitcase.   Oh well, that is Ecuador time. 

 At least my Mom  got her stuff.

CUENCA:

Before we left for the US we had only been in our new home for 8 days, so we were still learning our way around the Cuenca bus system.  There is a MAJOR intersection that is now under construction, so the very little we knew about the buses, has gone right out the window.  The bus system here is really great and dependable, it costs 25 cents to travel, the problem is, now we have to learn the new bus routes. 

Since my Mom has been here, we have jumped on lots of buses, the bus  drivers are almost as bad as the taxi drivers.  The driver hits the gas pedal the moment you step on, so it is a matter of trying to get to a seat before the driver speeds up so you don't break a tooth on the darn handle straps or bars.  The whole ordeal of getting off the bus is also interesting, you cannot get off in the front, it must be in the back, so we try to get seats in the back of the bus so we don't have to push and shove through the other passengers.  The bus drivers barely come to a stop to let you on, and then getting off is like a carnival ride, -  the doors open, the bus chugs along, and hopefully he will stop long enough to let you off.  It's a gamble depending on the driver.

My Mom has silver hair, and has never failed to be given a seat upon getting on a crowded bus. Mom has mentioned about the courtesy of the people in this city. 

Mom and Michael at Pumapungo

Mom and I  walking around the Pumapungo ruins in Cuenca

The HUGE staircase we had to climb to back to street level after seeing the ruins.

The view from Pumapungo

Resident at Pumapungo


We decide to take a day trip into the countryside around Cuenca and visit a few places.  We hired our friend Efrian to take us around.  We started at a beautiful church in Biblian.

Mom, me and Michael at the Church in Biblian

Interior of the the Church in Bibian, it is built right into the mountain.

Mom, Michael and our friend and guide Efrian at the church.

After we left the church we went on the hunt for a Spice store we had heard about, hoping we could find carroway seeds, we didn't find it, but we hoped that the Chef at the restaurant we were going to might be able to help us, so off we went to Puate.

Lunch in Puate

In Puate we had  lunch at Restaurant Corvel, a place known for it's original recipe for traditional Ecuadorian Potato Soup, it was delicious.

From there we went to Gualaceo to see a weaver, known all over the country for the quality of her work and designs

Entrance to the weaver location.


We were given a tour of her workshop, this picture demonstrates the creation of one color of  dye.

The weaver creating her work.

Mom and the weaver displaying her craftsmanship. 

Well,  we got to deal with the nonsense of trying to get my Mom's lost luggage, and then we got to deal with the beauty of Ecuador in the space of a few days.  Well, that's how it goes here, it has been so great to share this with my Mom. 

Next update will be our adventure to the coast on the Chicken Bus. Too funny.