tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14393539444857157312024-03-13T18:52:39.303-05:00AAA LIVING IN CUENCAArrived in Cuenca on December 1, 2011 on my 63rd birthday! I planned my move here for almost two years and now I have lived here for three years, it is everything I expected. AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-75997498457902288092015-09-25T15:41:00.000-05:002015-11-01T10:27:55.407-05:00Montanita, Ecuador - surfer beach party town<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Three years ago on a drive along the coast of Ecuador we drove through a small town on the beach called Montanita it had sand roads and the buildings were bamboo and grass roofs</h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After three months of cool weather here in Cuenca I decided it was time for another trip to Montanita to warm up and check out the area. I had a FB friend that just moved to Olon and another friend who was living in Montanita so I sent him a message and he reserved me a room with a balcony looking down on the main street. Being off season the rate was just $10 a night at La Casa Azul. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So I packed up the car and headed out about 10 a.m. on a Thursday morning driving over the Caja mountain pass to Guayaquil and then up the coast to Montanita arriving at 4 p.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the drive through the Caji's I passed many restaurants with their own trout lakes where you can catch your own dinner and the restaurant will cook it up for you. Always drive through a cloud bank which most of the time is pretty thick</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And careful to watch out around the curves for Lamas and alpacas on the road</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I took about 3 hours to reach Guayaquil and maneuver through the center of the city as directed by my trusty GPS! Can't leave home without it! And another 2 hours to reach Montanita.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My room was equipped with 3 beds and bathroom and wall mounted fan which came in handy even though it was not to hot out. Montanita has no water or sewer lines so it all has to be hauled in and out by truck which is the reason my shower was just a dribble of water and not heated! I later heard about another Hostel down the road with hot water, cable TV and A/C for $20 a night. When January comes it will be high season and even my room will be $50 a night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My patio where I spent most of my time watching people walk by over and over again. I did meet people from all over the world some broke and sleeping on the beach and some selling any kind of drugs you can think of. I did indulge in a $5 piece of pot cake from the lady seller. Her boyfriend would scout the streets for her looking for police and put the money in his pocket. When the police did approach they would stroll around the corner and return later to continue their business.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On Friday and Saturday's the streets are roped off and there are many vendors selling jewelry, clothes, hats etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Me with a NYC tourist and Zane</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Carlito a lifetime local that showed us around the area</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My neighbors from Quito who were celebrating with a close friend back from the US great guys one was a DA, one an Attorney and the other a Computer Analyst and of course at their insistence I had a couple of beers with them which turned into a late night at Diablo's Bar! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Every night this group from Argentina would play up a storm below my balcony and pass the hat, people were dancing, drinking and having at great time late into the night. If you want some peace and quit this is not the right Hostel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The beach was full of people, bars and restaurants all day long and at night a few beach Disco's were open all night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I met the owner of this beach bar who was from Hawaii with my friend Zane he will open in December and I guess it is a wild place right on the beach where noise is no problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Second day Zane went with me up the coast about an hour to Puerto Lopez</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I met Zane he had a beer bottle in his hand and everyday and night during my stay Ha! But one would last him a few hours at a time</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">View of Puerto Lopez</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The beach in Puerto Lopez</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the new malecon under construction it was a bit dusty, really not a good time for a visit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And back to Montanita for another night of loud music and dancing</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next day we took an hour drive north to Salinas for lunch, which is called the mini-Miami, the beach is lined with high rise condos which many are vacation homes for Ecuadorians that use them a couple of months a year. Not my favorite place Salinas, kind of dirty and at times to much traffic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well after five days of relaxing and sightseeing I headed back up the mountain to Cuenca it was nice to get back to a hot shower and low humidity. Although the best time for a visit to the playa here in EC would be June - October before it really warms up! Next trip I want to check out Manta, Crucita, San Clemente and Canoa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It has been great to have a car, It is so much more enjoyable for me rather than taking buses and vans around the country!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Until next time I am waiting for more visitors and new expats to come to Cuenca!</b></span><br />
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-35827099406961977322015-04-04T11:56:00.000-05:002015-04-24T08:59:54.646-05:00Devils Nose Train Ride - Alausi, Ecuador<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">A day trip to Alausi, Ecuador for a ride on the Devils Nose Train!</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My cousins Linda and Larry from Washington stopped by Cuenca for four days on their six week trip around South America. We decided to drive to Alausi, Ecuador to take the Devils Nose Train ride which is 157 Km (98 miles) drive from Cuenca. The 2 hour 20 minute drive took us 3 1/2 hours with all the windy cloudy roads with buses and trucks to maneuver around in my small car!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We left Cuenca at 6 a.m. and arrived in Alausi, which is on the Pan American Hwy driving towards Quito at 9:30 a.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Devils Nose Train</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We purchased our tickets when we arrived, regular price is $25 each but with my Cedula (resident card) we got our tickets for $14.50 each.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The train ride takes 2 1/2 hours all together and travels down the mountain on a steep cliff using 3 switch backs. The train leaves at 8am - 11am and 3pm daily!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We boarded the train at 11a.m. for the 45 minute train ride down the steep cliff to another old train station once used by trains going from Guayaquil to Quito.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can see where we descended behind us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We arrived at the train station below Alausi for an hour stay, you can see the Museum on the hill above.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were entertained by the local dancers</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Photo shot with Lama. The track we are standing on once went to Cuenca, now it will become a hiking and biking path once all the tracks are removed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Construction on the train tracks from Guayaquil to Quito was started in 1825.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After an hour we boarded the train for the trip back up the mountain to Alausi.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Back to the Alausi station we ran into the train that runs from Guayaquil to Quito on a 3 day excursion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then we headed out for our 3 1/2 hour drive back to Cuenca we encountered thick clouds, many pot holes which I think I managed to not miss any! Speed bumps, slow moving buses and trucks! Alausi is a beautiful small Village and the lust green scenery on the drive is breathtaking!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dinner for Larry and Linda on their last night in Cuenca with Deborah Marsh our good friend of three years who is moving to Mexico.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Good luck to all of you on your new adventures to come!</span><br />
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-72759941006315060852013-11-29T08:01:00.000-05:002015-08-05T16:37:07.525-05:00Loja, Vilcabamba and Zamora, Ecuador<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Road trip to Loja</span></h2>
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Had a great two night three day trip to Loja which is just a three hour drive south of Cuenca. We took Ellite shuttle service rather than a bus, they leave every hour. It was just $12 each and just seven people in the van, somehow being the tallest and biggest guy on the van I ended up in the middle of the third row of seats! It was a tight fit but considering the rough ride over windy mountain roads I did not get bounced around to much. It is great that all the roads in Ecuador are new and in good shape.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">Loja is one of the oldest cities in Ecuador founded by the Spaniards in 1548 declaring its independence in 1820. The city is located in a valley at 6758 feet elevation (2060m) the average temperature<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> </span> is around 70 degrees (22c) and has a population of 200,000 people. It was the first city in Ecuador to get electricity in 1890 provided by a hydroelectric-dam.</span></div>
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The gate to the city</div>
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Being Bryan is the marketing manager at the San Juan Hotel in Cuenca he got us a great discount on two rooms at the Howard Johnson Hotel. Normal rate is $123.00 per night and we got two rooms for $50 per night. The Hotel is located on a hillside overlooking the city and was complete with gym, steam room, pool and Jacuzzi. Also provided a fantastic buffet breakfast at not extra cost!</div>
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Hotel entrance</div>
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Front desk</div>
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Lobby Bar</div>
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View of Loja from my room</div>
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Pool and Jacuzzi</div>
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The Turco steam room - I managed to use this three times during our stay as well as the Jacuzzi. Wish I had one here in Cuenca!</div>
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My room</div>
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After we got settled in our rooms we decided to hire a taxi to take us to Vilcabamba which was just a 45-minute drive south of Loja. It was $10 an hour and took us three hours all together. I was more than happy to pay it rather than finding our way to the bus station and dealing with all that. The taxi driver also took us through a couple of small villages and gave us a tour of Vilcabamba.</div>
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Vilcabamba was the playground for the Inca royalty - also known for the longevity of its residents due to minerals in the water and a tranquil lifestyle. Our taxi driver did stop at the residents of a 100 year old man who is the oldest know man in the village, but he was not home.</div>
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Vilcabamba is about 5000 feet elevation (1500m) with an average temperature between 65 and 82 degrees (18-28c) Coffee is a main product as well as fruits and vegetables. All of the Loja region is know for its pork production. I had some great BBQ ribs!</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Although the Vilcabambans did not enjoy greater longevity than the rest of the world, researchers noted that the Vilcabamban lifestyle, which included hard work in a high altitude combined with a low-calorie, low-animal-fat diet, did seem to keep the villagers healthy and vigorous in their old age.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Foreigners and other tourists are increasingly buying property to build homes. Tourists have created problems for the locals, including rising prices as well as increasing drug and alcohol use. Some locals say that the peace and simplicity of their lives, to which they attributed their longevity, has been lost. The massive influx of western processed food is evident in nearly every local 'tienda', and people are visibly more obese than those seen in photos from only a few decades ago.</span></h2>
However, other locals report appreciation for the foreigners and tourist who also bring jobs and improvements to the area.<br />
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Restaurants and stores around the main village square</div>
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A couple of friendly locals inviting us for a beer</div>
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Main square and church</div>
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Beautiful cathedral in Malacatos<br />
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Back in Loja we decided to tour the center of town and ran across a very old Cathedral across from the place where we ate. I could not find any information on-line about it but when I was taking pictures a priest stopped and told us it was built in 1660 and is not in use at this time, hopefully they will restore it.</div>
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Our great BBQ restaurant across from the hotel was closed so we ate at this chicken place in El Centro - grilled flattened chicken, rice and fries!<br />
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I would have loved to see the inside!<br />
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After dinner we headed to the Main square<br />
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Monument to Manuel Carrión Pinzano, a founder in 1853 of the Federalism movement in Loja.<br />
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The Church of Santo Domingo was built in 1557; the entire edifice was once in the Gothic style, but after an earthquake in 1867 only the twin spires remained standing. The church was refurbished in the colonial style, but the spires were left as a reminder of the former facade. The church was painted and decorated by notable Lojano Fray Enrique Mideros.<br />
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The next morning we enjoyed a great buffet breakfast at the hotel before heading out to Zamora in the Amazons! </div>
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We walked down the street from the hotel and stopped a couple of taxis before we found one that was willing to take us to Zamora, we agreed on $10 a hour and heading out for the Amazons. Again a windy mountain road ride, but the roads were all new concrete and of course the lush mountains with their hillside farms and houses is common all over Ecuador.</div>
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Roadside water fall</div>
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Zamora is a small town of 12000 people and of course much warmer at 900 feet elevation and know for it's gold mining. Human habitation dates back to 4500 BCE. The Spaniards found their way to Zamora in 1548 </div>
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<a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinchipe_river" title="Chinchipe river">Chinchipe River</a></div>
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El Centro Zamora</div>
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Zamora Cathedral Main town square</div>
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Hillside clock Zamora</div>
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New recreation center with a large swimming pool</div>
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Zamora is the gateway to the amazons, the highway to the amazon river is paved now and a 360 km drive. I would like to drive it someday. There are many beautiful places to see in Ecuador and I will eventually see it all. A trip to the amazon jungle will be another exciting adventure probably better done in our winter months July-Sept.!</div>
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Taxi ride back up to Loja (6000 feet) about a 50-minute drive</div>
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Back at the hotel for another Jacuzzi and steam bath and a relaxing night</div>
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After another great buffet breakfast we headed for the shuttle office and on the way they called and offered us an earlier departure which turned out to be 3 people in a car! Much better than the van ride down.<br />
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Another scenic ride through the Andes back to Cuenca in just three hours<br />
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<b>Until next time hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!</b></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-80878004661242015642013-08-05T17:33:00.000-05:002014-12-28T09:49:29.482-05:00Ecuador in the future may not be one of the most affordable places to retire<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ecuador has subsidized gasoline since 2006 freezing the price at $1.48 a gallon, but by 2016 this may change and a gallon of gas could cost whatever the international market calls for</b></span></div>
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<a class="taggedlink" href="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/post/2013/08/04/Correa-is-making-good-on-his-promise-to-eliminate-government-subsidies-for-LP-gas-and-gasoline.aspx">Correa takes first steps to make good on his promise to eliminate government subsidies for LP gas and gasoline</a></h3>
<span class="date"> Posted By <a href="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/author/Admin.aspx"> Admin</a> | Published: August 4, 2013 00:18 </span> </div>
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President Rafael Correa announced Saturday that the government will end subsidies for LP gas by 2016, when new hydro electric projects go online. He said that consumers will be encouraged to replace gas hot water heaters, stoves, clothes dryers and other gas appliances with electric models.<br />
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“This will save the country hundreds of <img align="left" alt="" src="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/image.axd?picture=2013%2f8%2fchl+correa+broad1.jpg" height="211" width="277" />millions of dollars and reduce pollution at the same time,” Correa said in his weekly television broadcast. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Correa said he hoped to end all fuel subsidies by the end of his second term in office in 2017. "We will be like the rest of the world with energy costs being determined by the market," he said.<br />
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He also said that plans are also being developed to eliminate the subsidy for gasoline with details to be announced soon. According to Correa, the LP gas and gasoline subsidies cost the government $3.8 billion annually, with $700 million of that covering LP gas. “We can build 1,000 new schools with that money and have more left over to invest in other public services.”<br />
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With the current gas subsidy, the government says, consumers pay only about 8% of the international market rate. The subsidized cost for a 15-kilogram domestic gas tank refill is $1.60, not counting delivery charges. The same refill costs $24.25 in the U.S., $25.87 in Colombia and $19.68 in Peru. The huge price differential has led to a thriving gas black market across Ecuador’s borders with Colombia and Peru, which has sometime disrupted supplies at home.<br />
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Correa has long maintained that the subsidy benefited much of the population that doesn’t need it. “Why should the government pay for people in Quito and Cuenca to heat their swimming pools?” he asked. <br />
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Correa said that eight new and expanded hydro electric plants will provide more than enough electricty for the country’s needs, and still leave a surplus to be sold to Colombia and Peru. Among the plants under construction are Coca-Codo Sinclair in Napo, Toachi-Pilatón in Santo Domingo, and Delsintanisagua in Morona Santiago. Two Paute generation plants east of Cuenca, which currently supply almost half of the country’s electricity, are being being expanded.<br />
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The government is already in talks with domestic makers of gas burning appliances about switching production to electric models. Appliance factories, including Indurama in Cuenca, say they will phase out gas models as the date for the elimination of the gas subsidy approaches.<br />
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The government says that consumers will pay the market rate for electriciy but that the government will cover the first 60 kilowatts of household usage per month. A typical three bedroom, two bath home in Ecuador currently uses about 250 kilowatts a month, according to the census office.<br />
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Correa said that there will be no prohibition on those who want to continue using gas. “This will be their choice. They will just be paying the same prices that people in the rest of the world pay,” he said.<br />
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The government has been in contact with the National Federation of LPG Distributors, the trade association of gas distributors. A spokesman for the association says that the elimination of the subsidy will mean at least 50% fewer jobs. The government says it will work with distributors to find new employment for those affected.<br />
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Talks are underway at several government agencies regarding the elimination of subsidies for gasoline, which currently costs 30% to 40% of the international market rate. The government said that some subsidy will continue for private vehicles based on a quota system, but this would be a temporary arrangement. Gasoline subsidies for public transportation vehicles would continue. <br />
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<b>Electricity in Ecuador is very reasonable at this time with the average bill being $30 a month.</b><br />
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<b>Propane. being used for gas stove, gas water heater and gas dryer the average monthly bill runs around $3.60. </b><br />
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<b>If Ecuador changes to all electric appliances the cost could be higher than using gas appliances but less considering the cost that gas goes up to.</b><br />
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<b>Purchasing a car here is much higher than the states and with a higher cost of gas it could get expensive to drive here. </b><br />
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<em>Photo caption: Correa addressing a crowd during his Saturday television</em><br />
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<div class="header" style="background-color: white; background-image: url(http://www.cuencahighlife.com/themes/CuencaHighLife/images/a22.gif); background-position: 50% 100%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; color: #2b4727; font-family: Tahoma, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px 5px; position: relative;">
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<a class="taggedlink" href="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/post/2013/10/15/Ecuador-real-estate-market-is-cooling-off3b-in-Cuenca-gringos-move-to-rentals-and-historic-district-options.aspx" style="color: #656551; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: none; top: 4px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ecuador real estate market is cooling off; in Cuenca, gringos move to rentals; historic district opportunities</span></a></h3>
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<span class="date" style="color: #afafa4; font-weight: bold; line-height: 35px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Posted By <a href="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/author/Admin.aspx" style="color: #ff7800; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Admin</a> | Published: October 15, 2013 00:06</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ecuador’s hot real estate market is cooling down.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Following more than six years of eight percent annual appreciation nationwide and double-digit appreciation in some markets, including Cuenca, real estate developers and agents say they are seeing a slowdown in both the rate of appreciation as well as number of sales.</span><img align="right" alt="" src="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/image.axd?picture=2013%2f10%2fbldg.jpg" height="176" style="border: none; margin: 10px; padding: 0px;" width="235" /><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Although most real estate experts don’t see a bubble similar to the one that burst in the U.S. in 2008, they say they are seeing a market top.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />“We are beginning to see an oversupply of housing for middle- and upper-middle-class buyers,” says Roberto Vega, general manager of Smart Research in Quito. Vega describes middle- and upper-middle-class housing as that costing more than $80,000. “We are seeing this in the more active markets, such as Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca, although there are other markets where there is still a shortage of housing and good demand.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A Crowded Market, Declining Sales</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Jaime Rumbea, director of the Ecuador Real Estate Association, says that there is a record number of properties for sale in most areas of the country and properties are taking longer to sell. “Eventually, this will stabilize prices and could even bring them down in some cases.” Rumbea also reports that the overall number of sales is declining nationwide and says this is a classic sign of a market top.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Real estate agents in Cuenca agree, and say that many properties on the market today could sit for a year or two before selling. </span><img align="left" alt="" src="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/image.axd?picture=2013%2f10%2f1.jpg" height="208" style="border: none; margin: 10px; padding: 0px;" width="236" /><span style="font-size: small;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Ramiro Gonzalez, director of Banco del Instituto Ecuatoriano de Seguridad Social, or BIESS, which provides more than half of the mortgage money to the country’s reasl estate buyers, believes that speculators in the larger markets are partly responsible for driving up prices. “I worry that they are killing the hen that laid the golden egg,” he said, adding, “It’s not just speculators who are responsible, however. Many home buyers have become victims of the mentality that prices will always go up and that real estate is a very lucrative investment.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Many, including Rumbea, point out that BIESS has played a major role in driving the market. BIESS was established to use social security funds to finance housing, particularly for lower income families, and has financed tens of thousands of home purchases since 2009. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Vega says that price increases in the last six years are not simply the result of speculation and expectations of long-term profit. “There has been an enormous run-up in the costs of materials, especially since 2006. Such things as concrete and steel have gone up almost 150% and this is a major factor in prices. Labor is also much more expensive.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Another factor pointing to a market top is the reduction in mortgage money available. “In 2010 and 2011, the number of mortgages written by commercial banks was increased by 10% and 12% a year. In 2012 the increase was only 2% and it’s possible that we will see a decline in 2013.” He also predicts that BIESS will reduce the number of loans it is making.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Cuenca Market</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Although there are as many as 30 large condominium projects in various stages of construction in Cuenca, the number is down from 40 or 45 in 2011. The Cuenca Chamber of Construction reports that fewer building permits were issued in 2012 and it expects the number to decline further for 2013.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Both builders and real estate agents report a decline in the number of sales to Ecuadorians living or returning from overseas, particularly from the U.S. and Spain. “This group has been</span><img align="right" alt="" src="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/image.axd?picture=2013%2f10%2f2.jpg" height="190" style="border: none; margin: 10px; padding: 0px;" width="223" /><span style="font-size: small;"> the real force behind condominium sales in Cuenca,” says real estate agent Juan Rodriguez. “Now we are seeing fewer sales and I think the trend will continue.” Rodriquez says that in 2010 and 2011, as much of 35% of all sales in Cuenca were to this group and those sales today have dropped by 30% to 40%. Rodriguez says that is difficult to figure an accurate number of purchases by Ecuadorians living overseas because many of them are made by family members living in Cuenca.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Rodriguez says that sales to North American expats have also dropped. “In 2010, we estimated that 1.5% of sales were to extranjeros but the number is probably less than 1% today.” He says that foreign buyers were not a factor in rising prices and they won’t be one if prices level out. “A friend from the U.S. tells me that gringos have an attitude that ‘it’s all about us’ and that they think they have a big impact on everything in Cuenca, especially real estate prices. I’m glad they feel self-important but they don’t have the impact they think they do.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Gringos Shift to Rentals</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />One of the most dramatic changes in the gringo market is the shift away from buying real estate to renting.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Rodriguez believes that the growth in rentals for expats is due to two factors. “First, since Cuenca is considered a place for foreigners to retire, many of the people moving here are older and they’re not interested in buying. Second, I think many foreigners come here for the low cost of living and a lot of them cannot afford to buy.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The increase in the numbe</span><img align="left" alt="" src="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/image.axd?picture=2013%2f10%2fCalle+Gran+Colombia.jpg" height="177" style="border: none; margin: 10px; padding: 0px;" width="236" /><span style="font-size: small;">r of Cuenca rental units available to foreigners has been dramatic. “Four years ago, I managed eight or nine apartments for foreigners and two or three of them were usually vacant," says Graciela Quinde, manager of Rentals Cuenca, which specializes in renting to North Americans and Europeans. "Now, I have almost 50 and I'm fully booked much of the time."<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Quinde's units are mostly furnished, short-term rentals with all utilities included in the rent. "I rent to people who are here to study, teach or to check out Cuenca as a place to live," she says. "They need a turn-key situation where everything is provided and most of them understand they will pay more than for a regular rental. What we rent would be called holiday or vacation rentals in the U.S." She adds: “We also provide full management services which is important because many of our clients are not fluent in Spanish.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Monthly rentals for turn-key units range from $400 to $1,500 a month, with the average coming in at about $850.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Quinde says that unfurnished rentals with one- or two-year leases make more sense for people planning to stay in Cuenca for longer periods. "You can find nice unfurnished rentals for $300 and $400 a month. If you do the legwork, there are some real deals out there," she says. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">New Opportunities in Cuenca</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Rodriguez sees a bright spot in the Cuenca market. “There are some great opportunities in the historic district and buyers are starting to take advantage of them. When the new train starts operating and when they rehab more par</span><img align="left" alt="" src="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/image.axd?picture=2013%2f10%2fchl+tram.jpg" style="border: none; margin: 10px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="font-size: small;">ks and plazas and reduce bus traffic, I think prices will go up considerably. In five or ten years, El Centro will be transformed.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />He adds that several impressive projects are already being planned in the historic district. “An investor from Hawaii is renovating a building on Sucre, two blocks from Parque Calderon, and plans to build high-end rentals. These will be five-star apartments, built around a high-end coffee and wine bar, something that doesn’t exist in Cuenca now.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In another case, a Cuencano who has lived in the U.S. for most of his life is beginning a rehab project on a large Calle Larga property. “He plans to have shops, rental apartments and a bar for the older crowd,” says Rodriguez. “I’ve seen the plans and I’m impressed.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> Why No Bubble?</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The experts seem to agree that Ecuador’s real estate market will not suffer the same fate as the U.S. market in 2008 and 2009. “There are several reasons why,” says Vega. “We have never had mortgages here with 0% or 5% down payments. The standard down payment is 30% down and even more in some cases. Another factor is that most property owners own their property outright. This means you don’t have as many people desperate to sell.” <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />There are other factors as well. Rumbea says that real estate prices in Ecuador were flat for years following the banking crisis of 1999 and 2000. “In some markets, prices actually went down. So what we have seen since 2007or 2008 is the market playing catch-up.”<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Rumbea adds: “Overall, I’m optimistic but I am also realistic. The appreciation will go down and it will take longer to sell properties but ultimately this will be good for the market.”</span></div>
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<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Photo captions: Although there is still plenty of condo construction going on in Cuenca, the pace is slackening; Rentals have become a hot market; Improvements to the historic disrict, including the new light rail system, could make the area a good investment.</span></em></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Ecuador's plan to freeze oil production in the Amazon failed due to the lack of International funds</b></span></span></div>
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<a class="taggedlink" href="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/post/2013/08/04/Ecuadors-plan-to-forgo-oil-production-to-save-a-pristine-Amazonian-eco-system-faces-economic-reality.aspx">Ecuador's plan to forgo oil production to save a pristine Amazonian eco-system faces an economic challenge</a></h3>
<span class="date"> Posted By <a href="http://www.cuencahighlife.com/author/Admin.aspx"> Admin</a> | Published: August 4, 2013 13:42 </span> </div>
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<em>By Jim Wyss</em><br />
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Waving away a cloud of gnats, biologist Phyllis “Lissy” Coley scours the Amazonian underbrush for inga shrubs, whose young leaves are loaded with powerful toxins and chemicals that might be useful in medical research.<br />
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Coley and her team from the University of Utah have spent almost two years in the Amazon of Guyana, Peru and Brazil researching the plant — but this patch of Ecuador was delivering surprises. In a single week, Coley’s team found 60 species of inga, 40 of which were unknown to them — and likely unknown to science. They also found a carnivorous caterpillar. While flesh-eating caterpillars exist in Asia, they’ve never been recorded in the New World. <br />
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The mysteries of this forest, which scientists like Coley are still discovering, could be at risk after this South American nation quietly began considering pulling the plug on one of the most innovative and ambitious conservation plans ever attempted. <br />
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The Yasuní-ITT Initiative was designed to leave more than 846 million barrels of crude oil untouched, in perpetuity, beneath Yasuní National Park — rioting with unknown species and tribes living in voluntary isolation.<br />
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In exchange, the government asked the world to cover just half of the crude’s $7.2 billion market price. <br />
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Environmental groups praised the plan as a novel way to slash greenhouse gases. In 2010, the United Nations threw its support behind the project, setting up a trust fund to receive and manage donations. There were hopes that crowd-sourcing conservation might be a model for other developing nations.<br />
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But six years after its launch, those goals are proving elusive. The plan has raised less than 10 percent of the $3.6 billion it’s seeking. Ecuador’s government says it has received $116.7 million and has pledges for an additional $220 million — some of it in non-cash cooperation. The United Nations trust fund has just $9.8 million in the bank. <br />
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The shortfall is driving speculation that Ecuador might be forced to drill for crude in the ITT oil block (short for Ishpingo, Tambococha, Tiputini), which it says holds 20 percent of the nation’s reserves. <br />
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“We want to keep 400 million tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere,” President Rafael Correa told a crowd in April. “But if the international community doesn’t help share the responsibility, we have to make the best decision for the Ecuadorean people.”<br />
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Correa and his cabinet held a meeting about the fate of the project in June and are expecting to meet again in coming weeks. Officials say drilling the ITT is on the table. <br />
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In the balance is one of the most biodiverse spots on the planet. The ITT block is among the most isolated areas of Yasuní National Park, a 2.4 million-acre U.N. biosphere reserve, which holds about one-third of all of the Amazon’s amphibian species, even though it represents just a small fraction of the total area. In any given two-and-a-half acre plot of the Yasuní — roughly the size of a soccer pitch — there are more species of trees than in the United States and Canada combined.<br />
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“As a biologist, nothing makes me more awestruck than to work in an incredibly diverse and pristine area where every day you discover something that you couldn’t even imagine or anticipate,” Coley said.<br />
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Even so, she understands the financial pressure Ecuador is facing.<br />
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“You can’t expect countries just to save rainforest because they’re amazing places and we would, as humans, like to keep them around,” she said. “Given the potential to make oil money from here, I think it’s a remarkably generous offer to say to the rest of the world ‘Can you contribute and we won’t develop this area.’ ”<br />
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Ecuador needs the money. One of the poorest nations in South America, oil represents more than half of its export earnings and is the country’s top source of revenue.<br />
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Keeping oil underground is like “a very poor family trying to protect the family jewels, in the meantime most of the people are starving to death,” said David Romo, one of the directors of the University of San Francisco de Quito’s Tiputini Biodiversity Station, which borders the park and where Coley was doing her research. “So how do you do the trade-off here? The initiative gives us an option for that.”<br />
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Ivonne Baki is the former Ecuadorean ambassador to the United States, a one-time presidential candidate who speaks six languages. Now, she’s traveling the world on behalf of the government, marshaling resources for the project.<br />
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While the initiative has seen a groundswell of popular support, she admits the financing has been disappointing. The government is considering “Plan B,” which includes tapping the oil in the ITT block in a “conscientious” way. But keeping the oil underground is still the administration’s priority, she said. <br />
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“We believe in conserving and we have done it before,” she said. Twenty-five percent of Ecuador’s territory is in a national park or protected area, including the world-renowned Galapagos Islands. By contrast, 12 percent of the United States is under protection, according to the World Database on Protected Areas.<br />
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The Yasuní-ITT Initiative is “an environmental service we are providing to the world, not just Ecuador,” Baki said. <br />
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But the world seems deaf to the plea. While countries like Italy, Germany, Spain, Turkey and Luxembourg have supported the effort, the United States — Ecuador’s largest oil buyer and which has a long and troubled history of polluting the Amazon — has not contributed to the effort. Neither have gas guzzling nations like China, Japan or India. <br />
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Baki speculated that crude-consuming nations fear the model might be replicated and push fuel prices higher.<br />
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But critics say the country also has a credibility issue. The socialist-leaning Correa administration has broken pledges in the past, defaulting on the national debt in 2008, and unilaterally forcing oil companies to renegotiate their contracts. <br />
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And while the country touts the initiative, it’s already exploring for oil in Yasuní National Park and has begun building a road in oil block 31, adjacent to the ITT area. It’s also building a massive new refinery that’s designed to process more oil than the country is currently producing.<br />
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“It might seem like the government is operating in bad faith,” said Ivonne Yánez, one of the founders of the Acción Ecológica environmental group. “On one hand, they seem to be pushing Plan B, which is to extract the petroleum, and on the other hand there is Plan A that Ms. Baki is promoting.” <br />
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Yánez said the government’s mixed messages are likely hurting international support for the initiative. <br />
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But Baki said powerful business interests are also undermining the project. In particular, oil companies don’t like its implications. <br />
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“They don’t want to accept that oil contaminates,” she said. “They say they have the best technologies and that the technology works. We saw what happened in the Gulf of Mexico with British Petroleum.”<br />
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Ecuador doesn’t have to look as far afield as the 2010 Gulf oil spill for cautionary tales. Beginning in the 1960s, Texaco and the state-run oil company began punching into the Amazon looking for crude. Critics accuse the company of using obsolete technology and pumping millions of gallons of wastewater into open pits and rivers.<br />
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Last year, an Ecuador appellate court ordered Texaco’s successor Chevron to pay $18 billion to clean up the mess and reward local communities. The company is fighting the judgment and is suing Ecuador’s legal team on racketeering charges. <br />
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But even cutting-edge oil exploration can have unintended consequences. In 1993, Maxus Ecuador built a 112-mile road that cuts through the northern boundary of Yasuní National Park. Only 19-feet wide, it was designed to disappear in a decade after the crude it targeted ran dry. The company also guarded the route to keep colonizers from moving in. <br />
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Twenty years later, the crude is still flowing and the road has the marks of permanence. A handful of Huaorani and Quichua communities have sprung up along the gravel route. Most of the proto-villages are just a few wooden shacks, but others have cinderblock schools and concrete volleyball courts.<br />
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For the last two decades, Terry Erwin, one of the world’s top entomologists who works at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, has been studying the environmental impact of the road. While the construction has had virtually no effect on the insects that he monitors, the same is not true for larger creatures. When Erwin began studying the area, the forests alongside were home to five monkey species. <br />
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“By the end of three years, there were no monkeys left,” he said. “Everything was out of there — gone.”<br />
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The Huaorani, who have ancestral rights to the land, had eradicated all the game animals for about one mile on either side of it, he said. <br />
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Some of the species are making a comeback, Erwin said, but that is largely because of changing Huaorani lifestyles — they are giving up their nomadic hunting ways for more permanent agriculture.<br />
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In theory, there are ways to responsibly extract oil from the ITT, Erwin said, “but even with the best ideas possible to start out with, if you let a person in there it’s gone.”<br />
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In some ways, the Yasuní-ITT project is already a success. Yánez, with Acción Ecológica, said that before the initiative was launched few in Ecuador were aware of the area. Now polls show that more than 80 percent of Ecuadoreans don’t want the country to exploit the oil in the ITT, even if the international funds don’t materialize. If Correa lifts the drilling ban, he’s likely to face a public backlash, she said. <br />
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One of the risks of tapping the ITT is that no one is sure what it holds. Researchers recently discovered a fungus near the area with intriguing commercial potential: it consumes plastic. Erwin says 85 percent of all the insects his team collects are unknown to science.<br />
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Damaging the forest before it gives up its secrets is analogous to the burning of the legendary library of Alexandria, Egypt in 600 B.C., said Romo with the university research station. <br />
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“There are so many wonders and so much information that Yasuní is holding that will be beneficial to humans,” he said. “We just don’t know it because we haven’t had the chance to explore it.” <br />
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<em>Credit: By Jim Wyss, the Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com; photo captions: scenes from Yasuni</em><br />
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<em>http://cuencahighlife.com/why-do-expats-go-home-why-do-they-seek-new-overseas-havens-a-long-time-expat-takes-a-hard-look-at-the-reasons-why/</em><br />
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<b>I am passing these articles on to my readers because many of you may not subscribe to Cuenca High Life - which is a great daily publication for information on Cuenca and Ecuador. To read Cuenca High Life just click on the link above on the left.</b></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-10764022863450186692013-05-21T16:34:00.001-05:002017-11-10T12:38:38.758-05:00My Cuenca, Ecuador condo finally furnished!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">been</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> living in Cuenca, Ecuador for six years now, still in the same condo.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many of my readers have been asking for more information on rentals here and more information on my condo, so here are more photos. I finally found paintings and pictures I liked and have reached my house plant limit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I moved here six years ago there were about 2000 gringos living here, I just read that the number on North Americans living in Cuenca is now around 7000! Unfortunately being rents here are much lower than most parts of North America many newcomers agree to pay whatever rent they are first quoted instead of bargaining! This tends to raise the rents on all of us expats living here which can be a burden on some of us living on low incomes. So newcomers, why pay $500 when you can get it for $350! It is amazing how many new condo's are going up around town and rents do seem to be creeping up! But the law has not changed stating rents should be 3% of appraised property value.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Also keep in mind that the minimum wage in Ecuador is $1.90 an hour, many Ecuadorian families have to share housing to be able to afford the rent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Living at 8400 feet with 20% less oxygen to breath can affect people with heart trouble or respiratory problems. I myself have asthma and still after six years have to stop on my walks to catch my breath. Although I don't seem to have to stop for as long of periods as I did when I arrived here I am afraid this is not going to change while I live in Cuenca.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another thing about living in Cuenca is that it is a city of 550,000 people with lots of cars and diesel buses, the quality of gas here purchased from the US has a lot to be desired. When the new refinery in Manta is completed gas quality should improve and when the new electric tram being built here is finished it will eliminate diesel buses from El Centro which will help with the air quality. The city will be checking diesel bus emissions and will put buses not up to standard in the mechanic shop. Buses here are subsidized by the government which I understand runs about $800 per bus per week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">70% of the population in Cuenca rely on buses for their transportation at 25c a ride or if you are over 65, just 12.5c! Cost to ride the new trams will be around 40c.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I have found although I live on the 11th floor and face the river not the main street that the inside of my condo gets covered with black soot from car emissions as well as a daily dose of dust. I probably could afford a maid to clean the place but with so much time on my hands I tell myself its good for me to do it. Basically with going to the gym three times per week, shopping a couple times per week and walking the river three times a week plus cleaning the condo once a week is pretty much all the exercise I get. Going out for dinner with friends a few times a month really is not that much work! Ha!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> My building Pinar 4 is 13 stories high and is 14 years old</span></div>
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We do have 24-hour security guards who have to open the gate for you, we do not have keys to the gate. We also have underground parking for one car and a storage unit. I do have a remote for the garage gate which comes in handy for parking my new car!</div>
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Building entrance</div>
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Lobby</div>
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My condo entrance on the right, I do have a corner unit facing El Centro and the Rio Tomebamba. Also there is a girls school and a soccer field on the right.</div>
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Living room</div>
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Took a year but now have a TV in the living room. I use city cable here, which cost $62 a month for three receivers for three TV's. I get several English stations, one international news station in English, plus HBO and Cinemax. Direct TV is also available here which would be about $86 for the same stations. I chose city cable for the cheaper price but also because the condo is wired for it. With Direct TV they would have to run wires from the dish to every TV.</div>
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Dining area</div>
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I really enjoy the view from my computer desk over looking the river from both sliding doors. The sound of the river especially after its rains tends to help with a good nights sleep.</div>
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The kitchen is small but I have learned how to prepare meals in a very small area. I cut up many vegetables and fruits using a dinner plate on the small counter top area on the left.</div>
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Art work is not cheap here and after looking for over a year I finally settled for some art work imported from China! Still not so inexpensive here, but I did </div>
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resist hanging Ecuadorian weaving's and pictures of local Indians. I did go with a modern look to match the furniture.</div>
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Its nice to have a laundry room. I tend to wash often because of the air quality here, also at least one shower a day is very necessary.</div>
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We have had a couple of days of rain which you can see by the high river water</div>
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Guest bathroom</div>
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Bryan's bedroom</div>
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My bedroom</div>
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Master bathroom</div>
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Great view looking toward El Centro from my room. The air here is usually pretty dry and with asthma I found myself coughing at night. so I now use a humidifier and it seems to solve that problem.</div>
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I have been very happy living here for the last six years although it would be nice to have a bigger kitchen.</div>
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My rent just went up to $300 from $280 a month but I got it on a two year lease, besides the rent there is usually a security fee which is $54 a month. The larger the condo the higher it is. Besides that there is water $16 a month, gas $3.50 and we do have gas dryers, gas hot water and stoves here, high speed internet $40, electricity $40 and then the cable $62. Total cost per month: $500</div>
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Some groceries here are higher than the US, like canned goods and imported items. Paper goods and cleaning products are high, a small bottle of Listerine is $5. Meats, fruits and vegetables are much cheaper.</div>
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The new building across the street is completed now, last time I checked a 2 bedroom on the 9th floor was selling for $170,000. I am sure it is higher now. I have been seeing rents for furnished apartments here for $900! This building has four floors of commercial space and a indoor pool on the roof.</div>
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I had an opportunity to go into a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment next door to me with a large kitchen and maid's courtiers with bath. The building is 14 years old, it was a 6th floor apartment with river view for $330 a month. So there are still some bargains to be had here even though it seems asking prices are starting around $350 to $700 and up per month now, but many more furnished places. Hopefully with all the new condo construction there will be more supply than demand and rents will stay down.</div>
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The other building going up across the street is going up fast I understand it would will be two 12 story buildings and is government financed and will be available to working people paying into social security for a starting price of $45,000 with $5000 down and payments for 15 years. Expat property purchases are down here by 50% because of raising costs.</div>
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<b>Hopefully my next blog will be on another road trip! Until then anyone that might be interested in retiring in Cuenca might find some useful information in my book on kindle: Why Ecuador for me!</b></div>
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<b> Until next time everyone enjoy life as much as possible!</b></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-42385242661664645742013-03-14T09:53:00.000-05:002013-05-16T08:13:25.446-05:00Trip to Machala, Ecuador - the banana capitol of the world<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Three fun filled days and two nights in Machala and Isla Jambeli</b></span></div>
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Stephen and Geri picked me up around 10 am on Saturday morning along with Val and Ana. We headed towards Yunguilla, a beautiful village in the lust green mountains south of Cuenca, and then down to the coast. Leaving behind the 72 degree weather of Cuenca. Two and a half hours later we were in the 86 degree weather of Machala with 80% humidity! It was nice to wear shorts and t-shirts again.<br />
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Machala is the banana capitol of the world and we drove through miles of banana fields.<br />
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Its always great to go places with Ana, she has been all over Ecuador and knows the best places to go. Of course as soon as we arrived in Machala we drove directly to the bay for a fresh seafood lunch.<br />
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<b> </b>Pepe's Restaurant was the only seafood place on the bay. Across the street there were many seafood restaurants for blocks.</div>
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Stephen, Geri and me </div>
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Ana, Val, Geri and Stephen toasting by the bay<br />
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View of the pier on the bay at Pepe's Restaurant</div>
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The food was excellent we had a seafood combo of shrimp, sea base, clams and a mixed seafood rice for just $11. After lunch we walked down the pier and looked at the goods that were for sale.</div>
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Here's the Reefers banana boat</div>
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After lunch and a stroll on the pier we headed for Roxy's aunts house where we were invited for a typical Ecuadorian party. All her relatives were great and lots of fun, there was plenty of beer, food and dancing.</div>
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About 9 pm we decided to go find a hotel for the night, so we headed back to the bay. We stopped at a couple of hostel's that just were not that great, then one of the receptionists recommended the Hotel Adriand's, which was a couple of blocks down the street. It was a real adventure to get to due to the renovation of the streets. But we finally got there and for $34 per room we decided to stay. The Hotel was being renovated like the streets and most of the buildings on the bay.</div>
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The rooms were great, with air conditioning and cable TV! They even had a new swimming pool which everyone took advantage of. It was just a block from the bay and two blocks from the pier.<br />
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Machala is an old city of about 500,000 people, but it was very clean and even had a new shopping mall and a Super Maxi.</div>
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While we were checking in we ran into our friend Marco, who is from Cuenca.We had not seen him since the Christmas party. He was with his contractor and architect and were all heading to Isla Jambeli the next day to survey some beach front land he owns, so we all decided to go with them the next day.</div>
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We stopped at the local Marcado for some fresh seafood on our way to the ferry. Marco had fresh shrimp cevichi and Juan had clams for just $3 each.</div>
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After lunch we headed to the pier to board the ferry to Isla Jambeli. They leave every 30 minutes for $4 each round trip and it takes about 20 minutes to get there.</div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Entrance to the pier</span><br />
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On board the ferry<br />
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Once you arrive on the island you must walk everywhere because there are no roads or cars. We did see some paved walkways through a subdivision of lots for sale starting at $10,000. but not on the playa. We did see a few ATV's hauling goods around.<br />
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Many fresh seafood restaurants along the beach and tents for rent by the night. I understand the island is very busy on the weekends and slow and relaxing during the week. The people that live there must go to the mainland for shopping and bring all their goods back by boat. The island does have electricity and fresh water, plus our cell phones did work.<br />
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Juan, Val and Marco taking a beer stop on our walk down the beach to Marco's land, which turned out to be a long one.<br />
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The walkway along the beach<br />
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Stephen and Ana relaxing out of the warm sun while we walked the beach to Marco's land. He will sub-divide it into around 100 lots and they will sell for between $5000 to $3500 per lot! Not bad for beach property. We asked about a couple of new houses we saw and the wood structures could be built for around $7000 and the concrete ones for $12,000.<br />
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We caught the last boat back to the mainland and checked back into our hotel for another night, which was spent in the pool keeping cool.<br />
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It was great running into Marco and his crew, we had lots of fun with them.<br />
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After breakfast of eggs and fried bananas of course, we headed back up the mountain to the cool climate of Cuenca. We had a great time and I am looking forward to returning to Machala soon.<br />
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<b> I want to thank those blog readers who have purchased my book 'Why Ecuador for me' from kindle at Amazon.</b><br />
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<b> Until next time remember to enjoy life everyday!</b></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-41538518274935077662013-01-20T15:46:00.001-05:002013-03-22T08:51:15.444-05:00 Cuenca, Ecuador for one year now and still loving it! Christmas & New Years 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Birthday's - Holiday parties - Christmas and New years! My one year anniversary in Cuenca and still loving it!</b></span><br />
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December 1st marked my first year living in this beautiful city of Cuenca, Ecuador. It also was my 64th birthday!</div>
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I am very happy also to still be friends with Bryan and his whole family! They are truly wonderful happy people and have been very accommodating to this ole' gringo.</div>
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The parties started on November 16th with Bryan's birthday, which we celebrated with his family and friends.</div>
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Bryan cutting up the cake </div>
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Ana, me and Chino</div>
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It is always a good time when this crowd gets together, we danced to computer music, what ever happened to those disc players?</div>
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<b>December 1st was next with a surprise birthday for me!</b></div>
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I had plans with some gringo friends to have dinner up on the hill in Turi at a great restaurant Fogo, but they called to cancel at the last minute.</div>
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Ana showed up with a cake and Bryan with a Chef and a great catered dinner. Along with Bryan's family and my gringo friends we had a great night of fun and dancing!</div>
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We started the night with a great dinner by one of Cuenca's best Chefs.</div>
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Me with Val, Stephen, Geri and Juan</div>
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Then the dancing <span style="text-align: left;">began</span><br />
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And lets not forget Debra's big 60 at La Esquina Restaurant, an excellent meal.</div>
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Well I had a 22 day break from celebrating until Stephen and Geri's Christmas party. Geri and Val spent a few days cooking and preparing for the party. Everything was delicious! </div>
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The food included shrimp, deviled eggs by Val, bacon wrapped chicken, BBQ wieners, great Swedish meatballs and fantastic deserts.</div>
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Our friend Ronald tasting the deserts. Ronald is a great guy, he is in his 80's and has lived in Cuenca for 3 years. He is originally from Trinidad, but moved to NYC in the 50's. He also lived in Panama for awhile. One of the fun things about living in Cuenca is meeting people from everywhere and they all have unique life stories.</div>
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Here's Bryan filling up another plate while Sumana, Cuenca's food critic for Cuenca High Life is sampling the food in the background. Sumana is another interesting expat, originally from South Africa she has lived in the USA and Mexico. She has traveled extensively and has called Cuenca home for 7 years now.</div>
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Here is my new friend Jadwiga, newly relocated to Cuenca from Indiana. She is originally from Poland and is a retired educator who also speaks 7 languages.</div>
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Here's Geri relaxing with Stephen after many days of preparing for this great party.</div>
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We can always count on Jimmy to bring young beautiful girls to a party with him.</div>
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Juan selecting the music on the computer while Roxy and Ana warm up for dancing. Another great party finally over at 2 am minus several bottles of wine and 3 bottles of whiskey!</div>
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<b>Jimmy's annual Christmas Eve party</b></div>
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Only a couple of days had passed and off we went to Jimmy's for his Xmas party. Ana, who is Jimmy's sister prepared the dinner which was turkey and pork roast with great sauces. Christmas Eve dinner in Ecuador is served at 11 pm followed by handing out the presents. I really enjoy how much fun the kids have.</div>
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Jimmy with his family and their kids. I wanted a picture of them in front of the Xmas tree and they are, but can't see the tree! Ha!</div>
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Ana with her son-in-law and beautiful daughter! Guess where she gets that!</div>
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Me with Ana</div>
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Val with Stephen toasting to Holiday Cheer</div>
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Ana's grandson thanking me for his new truck.</div>
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Geri and Bryan dancing while Christian and Jimmy look on.</div>
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It was another great night of celebrating the Christmas Holidays, but we called it an early night, 1:30 am! Because the following Christmas day was dinner with Bryan's Mother, aunts and cousins on their farm outside of town.</div>
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<b>Christmas day</b></div>
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Bryan's Mother, brother, two cousins and three Aunts live on the family farm about 20 minutes from Cuenca. From what I gather the land was purchased by their Grandfather in the 1930's and divided up between his family members.</div>
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They raise organic chickens for the eggs, have cows for milk and grow corn. His Uncle who lived in the US for many years returned and built a beautiful two story house on the land. Guess while he is away the ladies of the house do the farm work, or even when he is here they all pitch in.</div>
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Bryan's brother and Mother picked me up for dinner about 7 pm and drove me out to the country.</div>
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Bryan's brother on the left, me, Bryan's Mother, Bryan and his three aunts and cousin.</div>
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Dinner was great! Prepared by Bryan, we had orange turkey, rice with a red wine sauce and a carrot salad.</div>
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Christmas dinner with the Vidal's was a real treat and I look forward to next year with them. And of course dinner at my house for all of you too!</div>
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Cuenca did have its usual Holiday parades downtown with over 60,000 people lining the streets. For great photos goggle Cuenca, Ecuador and click on images.</div>
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<b>New years Eve</b> </div>
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It was time to bring in 2013 and about 9 pm we headed down the street to Stephen and Geri's condo, which being on the 11th floor facing downtown offered a great view of the fireworks at midnight and of course before.</div>
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Geri and Val prepared some great snacks, chicken wraps and shrimp! We watched the fireworks and the traditional burning of the dummies, which is Ecuadorians way of putting unpleasant times or people from the past year out of their minds and starting out the New Year on a positive note.</div>
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We brought in the New Years with a couple of bottles of champagne and enjoyed a fantastic display of fireworks. They really enjoyed it being they don't allow this kind of fireworks display in North Carolina where they lived.</div>
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<b>Well its the end of one great year in my new home Cuenca, Ecuador. I am feeling much much better since my arrival here a year ago. Down 35 pounds and breathing much better. 2013 goal in minus another 20 pounds and the gym 3 times a week, plus my Rio walks 3 times a week. I seem to just sit around the condo on Sundays. Guess I deserve one day of doing nothing in a week.</b></div>
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<b>I hope everyone had a great Holiday Season and that we all have a fantastic 2013!</b></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-61748131934706524092012-12-13T12:03:00.003-05:002015-07-06T11:59:54.794-05:00Sues last few days visiting Cuenca, Ecuador<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">City tour, trip to Piedra De Agua hotsprings and shopping for jewelry in Chordeleg</span></b><br />
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<b> </b>Sue and I were both happy to arrive back to Cuenca for a couple of days of rest and some good home cooking.</div>
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I took Sue on the double decker city bus tour and a tour of the Central Bank Museum.</div>
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All aboard for my third city tour! Which is always enjoyable.<br />
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Of course Sue made friends with our English speaking guide<b> </b>who answered all our questions about Cuenca during our two hour tour.<br />
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View of El Centro from Turi<br />
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Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción<br />
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The <b>Old Cathedral of Cuenca</b> or <b>Iglesia del Sagrario</b> (Church of the Shrine) built in 1557 is now a museum.<br />
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The Central Bank museum<br />
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<b>And on to Piedra De Agua natural hot springs</b><br />
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Piedra De Agua natural hot and spa is in the small hillside Village of Baño just a short drive from Cuenca. This spa has a large hot spring water pool, two hot mud baths, a steam room and underground hot and cold water pools.</div>
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The regular entrance fee is $30 for the whole day except on Mondays it is half price. Or if you go any day before 9 am it is just $15. They also offer messages and facials. And to top off your visit they have a great restaurant.<br />
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Our visit started with our guide Juan who showed us to the steam room first. Juan returned when he felt we had enough steam to take us to the next treatment.<br />
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The first step of our treatment, the natural hot steam room.<br />
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Then hot mud treatments, first brown mud then on to the green mud tub. We rubbed the mud in and let it dry before rinsing off.<br />
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Down the stairs to the cave for the hot and freezing cold water treatments. After this treatment Juan served us mineral water with lemon before going on to the steam boxes.<br />
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This was really the hot boxes.<br />
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The large hot pool<br />
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It was a cool rainy day so we finished it off all relaxed and refreshed with hot chicken soup.<br />
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Piedra De Agua is really a beautiful relaxing spa and I will be back!<br />
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<b>On to Chordeleg with Ana and Roxy for jewlry shopping</b><br />
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<b> </b>While we still had the rent-a-car Ana and Roxy drove us to Chordeleg know for great deals on silver jewelry. It was nice to sit in the back seat and watch the scenery after driving so many miles.</div>
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Ana, Sue and Roxy looking through the Jewelry stores. I sat in the town square while they looked through several shops. Ana's bargaining skills saves Sue around 25% on her purchases.</div>
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Sue brought two large suitcases with her, one of them was full of gifts for me like clothes, bed sheets, towels aspirin, and fiber pills! Plus stuff I mail order and sent to her house like vitamins, new tennis shoes and computer equipment. Things that are expensive in Ecuador. Thanks again Sue! She also filled up both those suitcases with gifts for her girls and friends in Iowa.<br />
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After lunch we headed back to Cuenca to turn in the car at the airport.<br />
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Sue was happy we got the car back in one piece after our long drive around Ecuador and tearing off the back bumper at the airport in Guayaquil before we even got on the highway. Thanks to plastic bumpers we got it put back together and I made sure it was all tucked together when we dropped it off.<br />
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Ana, Sue, Jimmy and Bryan on Sues last night in Cuenca.</div>
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And off Sue goes back to Iowa! Everyone who met her here in Cuenca loved her and we are all looking forward to seeing her again.</div>
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I mentioned in other blogs that Sue found me on face book after 33 years! We always had fun in those days too. She is very fortunate to have two great daughters and many friend in Marshalltown, Iowa as well as all over the world.</div>
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Sue is planning on doing lots of traveling in the future starting with a cruise of Dubai in March.</div>
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Thanks again Sue for your visit and we all will be looking forward to seeing you again in the near future.<br />
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<strong>For those of you that might be interested in information about moving to Ecuador and what it requires, my book "Why Ecuador For Me" is out on kindle. You don't need a kindle to read it, just upload the kindle app to your computer.</strong><br />
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<a class="yiv9544221418_1xw yiv9544221418_1y0" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AL3XPTY/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_wy8Xqb0BB5FB0" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1391966284793_1997" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="" class="yiv9544221418img" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1391966284793_1996" src="https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQAPCb0xBrn3ooHP&w=155&h=114&url=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F51ZK%2Bq6EJJL._SL160_.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a class="yiv9544221418_1xw yiv9544221418_1y0" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AL3XPTY/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_wy8Xqb0BB5FB0" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1391966284793_2195" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Why Ecuador for me</a></div>
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<a class="yiv9544221418_1xw yiv9544221418_1y0" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AL3XPTY/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_wy8Xqb0BB5FB0" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1391966284793_2193" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AL3XPTY/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_wy8Xqb0BB5FB0</a></div>
<div class="yiv9544221418_1y1 yiv9544221418fsm yiv9544221418fwn yiv9544221418fcg" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1391966284793_2190">
<a class="yiv9544221418_1xw yiv9544221418_1y0" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AL3XPTY/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_wy8Xqb0BB5FB0" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1391966284793_2189" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Why Ecuador for me is the story of planning and retiring in Cuenca, Ecuador. It provides the reader with all the details of why I decided to make the move from the United States. I spent hours on-line obtaining information on what is required to become a resident </a></div>
<div class="yiv9544221418_1y1 yiv9544221418fsm yiv9544221418fwn yiv9544221418fcg" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1391966284793_2256">
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<strong>Hope everyone has a great day!</strong></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-53068818129331368522012-12-10T15:56:00.000-05:002016-01-21T06:12:04.245-05:00Retired in Cuenca, Ecuador - My book is available on kindle now!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Why Ecuador for me!</strong></span></div>
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By Gary A Sisk<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RW9mfVmr3Ek/UMYytXl8htI/AAAAAAAABcQ/StJHfDAIxms/s1600/51ZK%252Bq6EJJL._BO2%252C204%252C203%252C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%252CTopRight%252C35%252C-76_AA278_PIkin4%252CBottomRight%252C-52%252C22_AA300_SH20_OU01_%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RW9mfVmr3Ek/UMYytXl8htI/AAAAAAAABcQ/StJHfDAIxms/s400/51ZK%252Bq6EJJL._BO2%252C204%252C203%252C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%252CTopRight%252C35%252C-76_AA278_PIkin4%252CBottomRight%252C-52%252C22_AA300_SH20_OU01_%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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During my preparation to move to Ecuador I spent many hours on-line reading expat blogs and hunting for information about places to live, resident requirements, and what you could bring into the country. So I started writing this book a few months ago about my personal reasons for moving to Ecuador and how I prepared for the move. I also added as much material as I could find that might be helpful to anyone else considering the move.<br />
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Most of the material in my book has not been included in my blog. Although there are a few photos and events that are.<br />
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Many of my blog readers may not have a kindle as I do not, so all you have to do is install the kindle app on your computer to read my book.<br />
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I want to thank my Ecuadorian friend Bryan who spent over 20 hours reading in Spanish and English the requirements to up-load my book to kindle. Plus re-formatting the book to kindle requirements. I also spend many hours reading and re-reading the kindle requirements with much frustration because of my minimal computer experience. They need to make it easier!<br />
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I had a few friends tell me just to e-mail the book to them! But with 229 pages and many photos it is impossible to do that.<br />
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I decided to use kindle because they distribute worldwide and take care of advertising and taxes, etc.; plus I do have readers in over 30 countries now.<br />
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I do hope anyone who reads it will enjoy it and for those thinking about moving to Ecuador I hope the information will be helpful. Also keep in mind that the legal requirements for residency here keep changing so always check with an Ecuadorian attorney or immigration before making the move.<br />
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This is my first book and I have read stories by much better writers, but it is what it is! Hopefully my writing will improve in the future, especially on a good spelling day.<br />
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To order my book just click on the cover on the top left side of this blog.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-Ecuador-me-Gary-Sisk-ebook/dp/B00AL3XPTY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419943034&sr=8-1&keywords=why+ecuador+for+me">http://www.amazon.com/Why-Ecuador-me-Gary-Sisk-ebook/dp/B00AL3XPTY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419943034&sr=8-1&keywords=why+ecuador+for+me</a><br />
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<b>A video tour of the city of Cuenca</b><br />
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https://www.facebook.com/CuencaPedacitODeCIELO/videos/467683626641989/ <br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">A blog worth reading: Ecuador George</span></strong></div>
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I have read through many blogs written by Ecuadorian expats. Some are reports of whats for dinner, some are about their dogs or cats and some are informative and do give good advise on many important things for those considering moving to Ecuador.</div>
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A blog that is on my favorite list is: <strong> </strong><a href="http://www.ecuadorgeorge.com/" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1355425119210_6116" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.ecuadorgeorge.com</a></div>
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It is about George, who is a resident of California and is considering a move to Ecuador after a couple of visits here. He provides some great photos of Ecuador, great advice on moving here. Plus he asks many questions and asks for replies from his readers.</div>
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George is living in a great mountain community in California and he is happy with his work and his home there, but it seems he is looking for adventure and perhaps Ecuador would be a good home base for him while he does some future traveling.</div>
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I really enjoy reading his blog and I recommend to all my readers that you give him a read. You might find him as entertaining as I do.</div>
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George, when you do decide to move here or drop in for another vacation I will be looking forward to meeting you in person.</div>
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Keep up your fun and entertaining blogs!<br />
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Also I want to thank your George for the great article you wrote about my blog! I am getting several more hits from it.<br />
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Check it out at: <br />
<a href="http://www.ecuadorgeorge.com/learning-spanish-in-ecuador/" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1355425119210_6116" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.ecuadorgeorge.com/learning-spanish-in-ecuador/</a><br />
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Gracias again!<br />
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-85168769802841224702012-12-04T10:41:00.000-05:002012-12-05T08:59:54.750-05:00 Drive from Otavalo, Ecuador to Baños De Ambato<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>After a great visit to Cotacachi and Otavalo we headed south to Baños de Ambato for the natural hot springs</b></span><br />
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Once again we were caught in the bumper to bumper traffic in Quito for 3 hours heading south to Baños de Ambato to spend the night. I was taking antibiotics for bronchitis and had the air conditioning on but I could still smell the gasoline and diesel fumes from the cars all around us. Sue was busy sewing and taking movies of the buildings and the people walking down the sidewalks. We both had our eyes pealed for the Pan American highways signs.<br />
It was such a relief to finally get out of the city traffic and on the open highway again. It was time for a bathroom break and to stock up on road munchies again. <br />
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Back on the highway heading for Baños<br />
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Miles and miles of hillside farms<br />
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Baños centro<br />
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We arrived in Baños about sunset and Sue found an interesting Hostel in her Ecuador tour guide book with a view of the waterfall called Hostel La Posada del Arte. As soon as we arrived in the city we drove towards the waterfall and arrived at the Hostel. It was the last night the Hostel was open before they closed for a month. We got a great room which was actually two rooms with 3 beds.<br />
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Sue at the front desk after checking in. Our room was $54 for the night.</div>
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The walls were full of original oil paintings and the dishes were from the Artesa Ceramic factory in Cuenca.</div>
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Our room was upstairs across from the waterfall, I had a great nights sleep being tired from driving and from the sound of the waterfall.</div>
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The waterfall across from our room. The thermo pool is just below the waterfall and is also open at night.</div>
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The room was great, this is a place I would stay at again.</div>
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Map of Baños</div>
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After we got settled in our room we headed to El Centro for dinner. We ate at a great restaurant on the Plaza owned by an Italian guy. I noticed many Hostel's all around the Plaza. I guess there are many tourists here in the season, which starts in December and stays busy until June. </div>
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Sue had Shrimp ceviche, of course! And I had Tia vegetables and rice, the food was delicious and not expensive.</div>
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We decided to get an early nights sleep and go to the hot springs the next morning.</div>
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After a great breakfast which was included with our room we drove over to the hot pool, but with about 50 people waiting in line to get in we decided we would visit the thermo baths in Baños, Cuenca before Sue left.</div>
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Back on the highway heading for Cuenca, which was about a five hour drive.</div>
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We drove about 850 miles from Guayaquil to Cuenca over some beautiful mountains and pasted through many small Villages full of colorful smiling people. We saw abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables for sale along the highways and many places to eat.</div>
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We were happy to be back in Cuenca and Sue still had a few days to explore Cuenca.</div>
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<b>Next blog will be on our visit to the hot springs in Cuenca, the city tour and Sue shops for jewlry! </b></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-49056831816026188922012-11-20T13:22:00.001-05:002012-11-21T00:20:51.366-05:00Ecuador's Andes mountain drive with Sue<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Sue and I continue our Ecuador drive from Manta up the windy high passes in the Andes mountains to Quito and Otavalo</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">We left Manta after a great buffet breakfast at the Howard Jonhson Hotel which was just a couple of blocks from our hostel and we headed north on the coastal highway past Crucita and then up the mountain pass towards Santa Domingo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Crucita is a small town with many condos and houses on the beach. It is a place I will visit again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">We drove past the turn off for Bahia de Caraquez, a town I really wanted to visit, but considering the long drive ahead of us to Quito we headed toward Chone and then Santa Domingo.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">We drove past many corn and sugar cane fields as we headed up the windy mountain roads.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">One good thing is that all the roads we drove on were in great condition and many of them were new, unlike my drive through Ecuador in 1975 when most of the roads were gravel and mud.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> We did get a bit excited during our many car passing adventures on blind curves! But if w</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">e did not pass the cars and trucks we might have arrived in Quito the next day.</span><span style="text-align: justify;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Richard, the real estate guy from the hostel in Manta told us by the time we got lost several times we might arrive in Quito in 13 hours! Well he was right and we did arrive in Quito at night and it was pouring rain and bumper to bumper traffic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I thought I could avoid this by taking a side road to Mindo but of course I did not find that turn off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We drove through many small villages with houses made of bamboo on stilts and always roadside stands selling everything from honey, oranges, to food and drinks. All the small villages were inhabited by Indians wearing their typical costumes. It seemed they were farmers and had small herds of cows and sheep. It amazed me how they farmed the sides of the mountains at what seems 70 degree angles. Unfortunately Sue took many hours of movie film on our drive and very few pictures. We could not get the movies to play at my house but hopefully she will fix this problem in Iowa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By the time we arrived in Quito I was worn out from all the driving and with our limited road map and very few road signs I stayed in the right lanes upon entering Quito. Guess it would not matter what road you take through Quito it seems to always be bumper to bumper driving. It started pouring rain, we ended up in El Centro driving past a few expensive looking Hotels so we stopped at a gas station to ask about places to stay and had a jalapeno hamburger and fries, which did not set well with me for the rest of the night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We followed the airport signs thinking that there would be lodging around the airport. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We finally saw a motel sign, which was our excitement for the night in Quito.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We drove into the entrance of the motel and noticed a guy with a flash light directing us into a garage. So we followed him and as soon as we entered to garage the door closed on us with no explanation as to what we should do to check-in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> We saw a staircase so of course we went upstairs to what was a room with a king size bed, mirrored wall and a glass shower stall visible from the room. The front door was locked but had a small door that opened to a box. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I called the operator to find out what we should do about checking into this motel. But all I got was I don't speak English and a click on the phone!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The mirrored wall and guess what was playing on the TV?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I must have been really tired because I could not figure out what this stool was for!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I finally decided to call Bryan and I explained to him our situation, how we were locked in a motel room with no way out. While I had him on the phone I knocked on the box on the door and this guy opened a door on the other side, so I handed him my phone so he could explain to Bryan what was going on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I got back on the phone with Bryan he was having a good laugh while he explained to me that we were in a 'love motel' and we could pay $8 per hour or if we stayed until 7:30 am it would cost $18 for the night. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course being so tired and $18 for the night being a good price we decided to stay for the night.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The next morning Sue took the first shower warning me not to look through the glass! But the glass did steam up right away blocking any view of Sue in the shower.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Promptly at 7:30 am a women entered our room to count the condoms, booze and other items on the snack tray to charge us for plus she collected the $18 and opened the garage door.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we drove away it looked like the guy next door tried leaving without paying!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back on the road again we headed north to Otavalo and Cotacachi. The sun was shining as we drove along steep mountain passes. It was a pleasant drive without much traffic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We decided to go to Cotacachi first which was just a few miles north of Otavalo. I had read so many articles from the Gary Scott blog about all the expats settling in Cotacahi and about all the sub-divisions being built I was curious to see it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we arrived the town was very quiet, very few people walking around, but very clean.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We stopped by a coffee cafe I had read about to check it out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The cafe was owned by an Ecuadorian guy who spoke English and we did meet a couple of American residents and had a conversation with them. One nice thing about traveling with Sue she can start conversations with anyone and end up friends with a new e-mail address.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">We asked the ladies about expat subdivisions but they did not seem to know about them other than saying there are places outside of town, and they lived in condos in town. In fact they were about to take a trip to Cuenca and were considering relocating there.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After some espresso coffee we stopped by a couple of leather shops so Sue could buy more gifts for her daughters and friends in Iowa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the basement of one of the shops were a few men busy making leather goods.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sue was happy with her purchases, seems the quality and prices were a bargain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We drove back to Otavalo and at the suggestion of the coffee shop owner we stayed at the Hotel India.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hotel India was very clean with great rooms and just $53 per night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Social area with WiFi and glass roof inside the hotel</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A mural inside the hotel, Otavalo is just 90 years old and the sidewalks are beautiful colored tiles. It is very clean city, warm weather and is located on a large trout lake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>T</strong>he
Otavaleños (or <em>runa</em>, as the refer to themselves) are a people and
culture indigenous to the Otavalo valley in the Imbabura province of Northern
</span><a href="http://www.mindspring.com/~tbgray/ecuador.htm"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ecuador</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">. The Otavalo Indians are the descendants of the Cara Indians
who inhabited this region of South America about 500 years ago. In 1495 the
Caras were conquered by the Incas of the south, and the Incan Empire was in turn
conquered by the Spanish Conquistadores in the 1530s. The Otavaleño people today
are skilled textile weavers, and are perhaps the most prosperous indigenous
group in all of South America. Today, there are upwards of 50,000 Otavaleños;
the majority of them still live in the valley surrounding the town of Otavalo,
but they are a common site in virtually any Ecuadorian city. Within the past two
decades or so, increasing numbers of Otavaleños have also been travelling
overseas to sell their handicrafts in Europe, North America and other countries
in South America.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our room was quiet, lots of hot water and TV! After a good nights sleep we had breakfast that was included and headed for the marketplace to shop for more gifts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sue bought 20 cotton scarfs for friends in Iowa which will come in handy during those cold snowy winters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The marketplace had lots of woven goods to chose from including blankets, sweaters, wall hangings and many oil paintings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Otavalo was a beautiful city full of happy friendly people. A place I will visit again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately we had a lot of territory to cover and just a few days to do it. So after Sue's shopping spree we headed back to Quito and to Bano hot springs for the night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And once again we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for 3 hours driving through Quito. But it was a relief to get through the city and back on the Pan American Highway.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Next blog will cover the trip to Bano and back to Cuenca! Until then keep enjoying life. </b> </span></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-86654788045076937502012-11-13T09:55:00.001-05:002012-12-13T17:03:50.008-05:00Ecuador coastal drive from Salinas to Manta<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After our great vacation in the Galapagos Islands we rented a car in Guayaquil and started our drive up the coast.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We landed at the Guayaquil airport at 3 pm and stopped by the car rental agencies after collecting our luggage. This turned out to be a time consuming affair, we walked by several booths and asked prices. It seems the cost of rental cars in Ecuador is expensive and each booth offered very high prices followed by discounts, put with taxes, insurance and other fees the prices were very high again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Arriving at the last booth Localiza, we were offered the best deal on a mid-size 4 door Hyundai. Starting with a 35% discount plus all the other fees they added on we ended up paying $450 for a week and we waved the $10 a day insurance. In doing this they took a $1000 off Sue's credit card as a security deposit in case we did have an accident. They also offered us a GPS for $8 a day which I declined. I did not know they worked in Ecuador and I passed mine on to my cousin in California when I moved. We did decide to pay a $54 drop off fee so we could leave the car in Cuenca to avoid another 3 1/2 hour drive over the Caja's and a 4 hour return trip in a express van.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It seems we got the last mid-size car they had and we had to wait for them to clean it up before heading to Salinas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We finally got out of the airport at 5 pm and started our 2 hour drive to Salinas. I had seen many photos of Salinas which is called the mini Miami and I was looking forward to seeing it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We arrived in Salinas after dark after a not so nice drive through La Libertad. There was lots of traffic and the city was dusty and uninviting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we arrived in Salinas we stopped three girls walking along the beach and asked about a Hotel. They directed us down the street to where they were staying and we got a room for $35 for the night. I was tired from a long day and happy to have a room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Salinas is a seasonal vacation town with many apartment building lining the streets and most of them empty. I imagine in the season starting in December the town is very full.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After breakfast at one of the oceanfront restaurants we headed north on E-1 towards Manta.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We stopped at Montañita which is known as the party town on the coast. There were many Hostel's, bars and restaurants, I could see that it might be lots of fun at night with music coming from all the bars and people having a good time walking about the streets. And again after December I am sure it is full of tourists from all over the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beach front Hostel with four beds per room for $10 per person per night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The beach across the street from the Hostel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After our short tour of </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Montañita we headed north up the coast again. The roads were in great condition and there was very little traffic. The only road map we could find did not show much detail, but there is just one coastal road and not many road signs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">We stopped in Puerto Lopez for lunch at a beach front Palapa restaurant. It is a small fishing village with not to much going on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">You can take a boat from here to Isla Safango, which is also called the mini Galapagos. It is a two hour boat ride to the island and I understand there are lots of blue foot boobies there. Perhaps a fun trip for another time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sue had her daily serving of shrimp ceviche and I had a seafood mixture with rice, which I could not finish!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back in our Hyundai we headed towards Manta.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sue took many hours of movies of all the scenery on our drive. We drove through many small Villages always lined with roadside stands selling everything from clothing to food. Unfortunately we could not get the disc's from her camera to play at my house. I sure hope she can figure out how to show the disc's.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The coastline in Ecuador is much like Northern Baja, Mexico and parts of California. No beautiful blue water or tropical beaches. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We stopped by one of those gated beachfront developments where you can buy a building lot. But there were no houses in this one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nice looking entrance, it even had tennis courts but no houses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We arrived in Manta about 5 pm and ended up in El Centro with all the traffic. So we headed north towards the ocean and ended up in a nice area of town on the coast with lots of new developments going up. It was a good time of year to be on the coast, the weather was great not cold and to to hot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We stopped at a hotel but it was full so they directed us to a new Hostel up the road. It was nice but we did not want to pay $120 for one night. Back down the road we saw a sign with a bed on it and turned down a side street to another hostel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This one was very nice and only $53 for the night so we checked in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As we were checking in this American guy named Richard suddenly appeared in the lobby and asked us if we might be interested in buying some Real Estate. We had a short conversation about how the area was growing and many rich Ecuadorians were buying there, but only 1% of sales were from Americans. Richard assured us our drive to Quito the next day would take about 13 hours by the time we got lost several times! Ha! I turned out he was right unfortunately.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Breakfast at Howard Johnson's</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a good nights sleep and a big breakfast we headed out for Quito, which will be the next blog!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks again for all my readers from over 26 different countries now! Hope all is good with everyone. Until next time keep enjoying life. </span></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-33845256274024978732012-10-08T12:44:00.000-05:002015-10-15T13:07:49.781-05:00Galapagos Islands exciting adventure with Sue<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The time for our trip to the Galapagos Islands finally arrived and we headed for the Guayaquil Airport on Sept. 14th!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 2009 I enrolled on face book and after a couple of months I noticed a friend request from Sue. It had been 33 years since I heard from her! She had ended her 34 year marriage and had two daughters. I was getting ready to go to California to prepare for my move to Ecuador so I drove up to Iowa to see Sue for a couple of days. Once I got settled in California She flew out for a ten day visit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />When she told me she wanted to come for a visit in Ecuador and wanted to go to the Galapagos Islands I started planning the trip and booked her airfare. Sue had just three days in Cuenca to rest up for our trip! This blog is dedicated to her, I had a great time during her visit and I am looking forward to seeing her in the future.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>First day of our trip:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our morning started out early with Ana and Roxy picking us up at 5:00 am to drive us to the Guayaquil Airport, a 3 1/2 hour drive over the Cajas Mountains. We all crowded into Roxy's small Datsun and watched the sunrise on our way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We arrived an hour early and paid our $10 to register with the Galapagos Immigration office at the Airport. It is very difficult for anyone to move to the Galapagos Islands and they keep close track of everyone who goes there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After breakfast we said goodbye to Ana and Roxy and boarded our flight to Baltra Island, a small Island that was once a US Air force base during World War two.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The flight was one hour and fifty minutes on LAN Airlines with an hour time change. Upon our decent they sprayed all our over head luggage with insecticide.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We landed on the old runway and proceeded to the open air terminal where Sue showed her Passport and paid $100 for entrance to the Darwin Research Centers. Because I am a resident of Ecuador I showed my Cedula and I only had to pay $10!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other than adding a new roof a couple times since the 1940's the terminal is pretty much the same.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is what the new terminal will look like when it is finished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The new Airport under construction in the background.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We met a guy from Philadelphia at the Airport who was Ecuadorian, but also a US Citizen and an Engineer working on the new Airport. He was heading to Puerto Ayora along with a friend so we all decided to share a taxi for $5 each for the 45 minute drive rather than crowding onto another bus for $2.50 each.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After we retrieved our luggage we had to deposit it into the luggage compartment of a bus for the 15 minute ride to the ferry which took us to Santa Cruz Island for $1. People were crowding on the bus and we were not able to get on the same bus as our luggage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After the 5 am drive from Cuenca to the Guayaquil Airport, the 2 hr flight, and crowding onto a bus I felt like I was in Africa except there were no people riding on top of the bus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our bus arriving at the ferry terminal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Arriving to Santa Cruz Island, population 25,000. We grabbed our luggage and headed for a taxi. I was very happy that we did not have to crowd onto another bus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sue with our new friends by the taxi, all taxi's on Santa Cruz are four door trucks and they will take you anywhere in Puerto Ayora for $1.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When we arrived in Puerto Ayora our new friend took us to his favorite cafe where we had lunch. Susan had the shrimp cheviche which became her daily favorite for lunch for the rest of the trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being we did not pay $850 each for a four night stay at a hostel which included breakfast and a couple of tours we had to look for a Hotel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We started with the manager of the cafe taking us a few blocks up from the bay to a new hostel complete with two rooms and a kitchen for $120 per night! We decided we really did not need a kitchen and did not want to pay so much. We also found a great Hotel on the bay in the center of town for $300 per night and another one close to the bay for $125 per night. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We decided to go check out a couple of places the Immigration Officer recommended when we arrived. We stopped at the Hotel Tortuga, they showed us a couple of rooms for $60 per night but accepted $50 per night for four nights. The room was actually two rooms with three beds in each room and two air conditioners. It was not hot this time of year but being from the cool climate of Cuenca I did use the air while I was in the room. It was an older Hotel with a small pool but the price was right and included breakfast.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sue and I in front of the Hotel, they also offered complete tours and had many groups from Quito.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The view of our hotel from our room</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After we got settled and Sue wrote on face book to her two daughters to let them know she arrive okay and to find out what problems Lauren was having watching over her 48 apartments while she was gone. Sue runs daily from 10 am to 10 pm dealing with problems at her apartments, collecting the rent, repairing apartments and many court appearances suing former tenants! She needed this three week vacation for R&R and was excited everyday at the new things we discovered. We had lots of laughs and fun everyday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had dinner with our new Doctor friends from Quito. They shared a 6 pound lobster for $40 and Sue had a 3 pounder for $20 and I had fresh tuna.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> After dinner we walked around the town looking through different shops. Puerto Ayrora is a very clean town with many shops and restaurants. Everyday there was fresh seafood for sale and we were there during lobster season!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Main Street Puerto Ayrora</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Fishing boats on the bay</span></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Darwin Research Center:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The next day after a great nights sleep we headed out to see the giant turtles!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Darwin Research Center houses many turtles, some from 80 years old to new born. The turtles are waiting to be transported to Pinta Island, the home of Big George who just died at 100 years old. They had to remove all the wild goats from Pinta and are now waiting for natural foliage to grow back so the turtles will have food to eat in their new home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Entrance to Darwin Research Center</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VwVvc0Gm1Mk/UHLcK8TO3wI/AAAAAAAABCY/oq_sh7mbFlE/s1600/Ecuador+trip+013.JPG" rel="nofollow" style="color: #2862c5; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; outline: 0px;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="474" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VwVvc0Gm1Mk/UHLcK8TO3wI/AAAAAAAABCY/oq_sh7mbFlE/s640/Ecuador+trip+013.JPG" style="border: 0px currentColor;" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was great being able to see these Hugh turtles in person.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">After seeing all the turtles we headed downtown for lunch:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Downtown Puerto Ayrora</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Isla Isabela:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After lunch we stopped by a diving shop to ask about boat trips and they suggested we go to Isla Isabela the next morning. It was a two hour boat ride and included a bus tour, lunch and a boat ride in the bay to a small volcanic Island. It was $80 each, so we signed up for the tour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sue on board heading for Isla Isabella</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sue with our tour guide Fernando, He was a very interesting guy. He is Ecuadorian but had lived in Japan and Russia and spoke 4 languages. And of all places in the world he chooses to live on Isla Isabella, which is the largest Island in the Galapagos Islands complete with a live volcano.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next stop was the Centro de Crianza Armaldo Tupiza (Turtle breeding center)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Newly hatched turtles are kept separate from the larger turtles and fed special food until their shells are hard and they are big enough to be but with the others.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lunch on the Playa was soup and fish, followed by a boat trip to La Tintoreras Isla and a swim with sea turtles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We saw </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">penguins</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">sea lions and blue foot boobies on the shoreline.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the trail around Isla Tintoreras</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sharks sleep at the bottom of the Lagoon</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There were thousands of black marine Iguana's, they feed on underwater sea plants and spit out salt which the rocks were covered with. They were very hard to see against the black lava rocks.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We made friends with a couple from Quito with a baby. He just could not stop looking at Sue and of course she kept him laughing.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On our 2 hour return trip to Puerto Ayrora.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The next day we were invited by our new Doctor friends to share a taxi to the Highlands to see the turtles in the wild! We met them at their hotel and headed up to the highlands, a 30 minute drive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our Doctor friends </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">demonstrating</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> the size of the turtles. Many of the turtles we saw here were over 80 years old.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lonesome George just passed away at 100 years old, but there is still Super Diego who is 130 years old. He was recently returned from the San Diego Zoo which has been his home since the 1930's. Diego is an Espanola Tortoise who has over 1700 children. Most of which have been returned to Espanola Island.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The next day we shared a tour bus with our Doctor friends back to the airport on Baltra Island and said goodbye to the Galapagos Islands. Probably a place I would not have visited if not for Sue!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We got a free lift in this tour bus to the airport that would </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">pick up a new group of tourists.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The ferry ride back to Balta Island</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We said goodbye to our new friends and boarded the airplane for the 2 hour flight back to the Guayaquil airport. Our 5 day and 4 night stay on Galapagos was a real treat and I would love to return someday to visit the other islands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If we had have taken a package tour it would have cost: $2650 just for the airfare and hotel. Our cost: $1040 for the airfare $650 - hotel $200 - boat trip $160 and taxi's $30!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is the best deal to be found now from CATSA: </span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">https://www.facebook.com/CATSAEC/info?tab=overview</span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1359912192076_2301" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b id="yui_3_7_2_1_1359912192076_2300">Next blog will be our drive up the coast from Guayaquil</b></span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1359912192076_2297" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Until then everyone have a great day and miss ya already Sue! </span></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-76124801619761324042012-08-11T11:52:00.004-05:002018-08-08T14:15:26.297-05:00Excitement in the air as I plan our trip to the Galapagos Islands<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have not been doing any road trips or attending any Cuenca celebrations lately, so I really have not had much to blog about.<br />
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So I thought I would share my plans for a trip to the Galapagos Islands with my friend Sue for this September 14th - 18th!<br />
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My friend Sue is coming from Iowa and we will do the trip together. I reconnected with sue a couple of years ago when she found me on Facebook after 33 years. She has two great daughters and does a lot of traveling. I am looking forward to our trip together.<br />
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The first thing I did was to go to the Cuenca airport to inquire at the Tame, Aerogal and Lan airline ticket offices about round trip airfare to the Galapagos Islands.<br />
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I was offered tickets for $460 to $480 round trip from Guayaquil to the Baltra Island airport. The flight takes 1 hour and 50 minutes, its about 670 miles.<br />
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I asked about ticket cost with my cedula (residency card) the cost for my ticket went down to $290 round trip. I thought that I should go ahead and purchase the tickets to make sure we would both get on the same flight, but I decided to wait.<br />
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When I returned home I went on-line to Cheap-o-air and I found the ticket for the same days for $360 round trip. So I went ahead and purchased a ticket for Sue and the next day I returned to the airport to purchase mine for $290. It did work out and we will both be on the same flight on Sept. 14th.<br />
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I was very happy to report to Sue that I saved $310 on our airfare.<br />
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I looked up several tour packages that did not include airfare and I found the cheapest one for a 4 night stay at a 2-star hotel which included breakfast and a couple of day boat tours for $850 each.<br />
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I also found a 4 day all inclusive boat cruise starting at $1260 each. Both alternatives were more money then I wanted to spend. The ticket agent told me that September is not high season for the Galapagos Islands and I will find many hotels available for $20 per night and up. Plus we can book any of the tours we want directly with the agencies once we are there. Also it is not so hot this time of year but will still be in the high seventies and low eighties Fahrenheit (around 27 Celsius).<br />
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I did meet two Galapagos tour guides in Quito who told me the same thing. They also told me that fresh seafood restaurants offer very affordable meals. I would rather have my choice of different places to eat instead of having all the meals included at the Hotel.<br />
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<strong>Anyway I will report on all our activities including photos after we return from our trip!</strong><br />
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The Galapagos Islands were formed from volcano eruptions some 3.5 million years ago.<br />
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<strong>The following article I found on</strong>: <a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/galapagos-history/galapagos-natural-history.html">http://www.galapagosislands.com/galapagos-history/galapagos-natural-history.html</a><br />
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Natural History of the Galapagos Islands</h1>
<img src="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/about-galapagos-islands/old-map.jpg" height="335" style="float: right; padding-left: 15px;" width="248" />The natural history of the Galapagos Islands has fascinated visitors since their most famous guest landed there in 1845. <a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/galapagos-history/galapagos-charles-darwin.html">Darwin's observations</a> during his voyage on the HMS Beagle laid the foundation for a theory that greatly impacted western thought --the <a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/galapagos-history/galapagos-evolution.html">theory of evolution</a>.<br />
Upon rediscovery of the islands, your mind will also reel with delight --leaving you slack-jawed with awe, your camera flashing.<br />
Amid the <a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/galapagos-natural-wonders/galapagos-geography.html">volcanic geography</a> of these islands 600 miles in the Pacific Ocean, plant life takes root in basalt rock, centurion turtles roam and penguins swim in equatorial waters.<br />
In the 450 years of <a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/galapagos-history/galapagos-modern-history.html">human history</a>, the islands have been used as prison colonies, naval ports and research stations.<br />
Come with us and discover an undiscovered land in the <a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/galapagos-natural-wonders/galapagos-geology.html">geology</a> of the Galapagos islands , a unique spot of the earth with an environment nearly untouched by man.<br />
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<strong>Also here's one on Lonesome George I found on:</strong><br />
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<img alt="Galapagos Islands Newsletter" src="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/newsletter2.gif" height="23" id="yui_3_2_0_4_1344693241905603" style="border: 0px currentColor;" width="32" /><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="yshortcuts cs4-visible" id="lw_1344693273_5" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(54 , 99 , 136); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 2px; color: #366388; cursor: pointer;">Galapagos Islands</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>News</h1>
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Lonesome George – Dead!</div>
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June 25th, 2012</div>
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<a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/newsletter/slides/lonesome-george.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #234786; outline: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" title="Lonesome George"><img align="right" alt="Lonesome George" src="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/newsletter/lonesome-george.jpg" height="188" hspace="10" style="border: 0px currentColor;" width="250" /></a>Lonesome George, the last of his Giant tortoise species, has died at the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands. Lonesome George's death was announced by the Edwin Naula, the head of the Galapagos National Park service. "This morning the park ranger in charge of looking after George found him dead. His body was motionless," said Naula.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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Fausto Llerena, George's caretaker for 40 years, found Lonesome George dead at the Charles Darwin Research Station early on morning of June 24th, 2012. "His body was still warm but without life". He said.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
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Galapagos National Park Officials plan to carry out a post mortem. No one knows exactly how old George was but he was thought to be 100 years old. 100 years is not exceptional for Giant tortoises which can live up to 200 years old.</div>
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<tr id="yui_3_2_0_4_1344693241905610" style="display: table-row; vertical-align: inherit;"><td style="border-spacing: 2px; display: table-cell;"><a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/newsletter/slides/lonesome-george2.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #234786; outline: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" title="Lonesome George"><img align="right" alt="Lonesome George" src="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/newsletter/lonesome-george2.jpg" height="133" hspace="10" style="border: 0px currentColor;" width="188" /></a></td><td id="yui_3_2_0_4_1344693241905609" style="border-spacing: 2px; display: table-cell;"><a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/newsletter/slides/lonesome-george1.jpg" id="yui_3_2_0_4_1344693241905608" rel="nofollow" style="color: #234786; outline: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" title="Lonesome George"><img align="right" alt="Lonesome George" src="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/newsletter/lonesome-george1.jpg" height="133" hspace="10" id="yui_3_2_0_4_1344693241905607" style="border: 0px currentColor;" width="188" /></a></td><td style="border-spacing: 2px; display: table-cell;"><a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/newsletter/slides/lonesome-george3.jpg" rel="nofollow" style="color: #234786; outline: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" title="Lonesome George"><img align="right" alt="Lonesome George" src="http://www.galapagosislands.com/images/newsletter/lonesome-george3.jpg" height="133" hspace="10" style="border: 0px currentColor;" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
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The<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong style="font-weight: bold;">Pinta Island tortoise</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(<em style="font-style: italic;"><strong style="font-weight: bold;">Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni</strong></em>) is now an extinct subspecies of Galapagos Giant tortoise. The Species was considered extinct until the discovery of George in 1972 on his native Pinta Island. George was moved to the Charles Darwin Research station on Santa Cruz Island and a global search for a mate continued until recently. Various attempts to breed George with similar species failed.</div>
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<a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/contact-us.html" id="yui_3_2_0_4_1344693241905598" rel="nofollow" style="color: #234786; outline: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Get in touch with one of our experts</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>or<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/html/call_back.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #234786; outline: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">request a callback</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>they will be glad to assist you to find the best option to visit Española Island, the home of Diego, or to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station where other tortoises including<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.galapagosislands.com/galapagos-resources/galapagos-fast-facts.html#lonesome-george" rel="nofollow" style="color: #234786; outline: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Lonesome George</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>are cared for!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Now that I have our round trip tickets from Guayaquil to the Galapagos Islands I have been researching the most affordable ways to get to Guayaquil from Cuenca </span>I found a one way flight to Guayaquil from Cuenca at $110 each, which is more then what I want to spend. We can take the bus for $8 each, but then we would have to take a taxi to the bus station here in Cuenca and again to the airport in Guayaquil. This is probably the cheapest option for a total cost of $26, but I do not feel secure about arriving in time for our flight. And having to load and unload our luggage is another hassle I do not want to deal with. Plus the Guayaquil bus station is very large. There is also the Express Van for $12 each, but once again we would be paying for taxi's for a total cost of $34. And I have been told by many expats that due to the curvy roads they would rather take the bus.</div>
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Guess I am getting old! Where is my since of adventure? I really just want to find the most affordable convenient way to go!</div>
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If we go the day before our flight we would have to stay in a hotel for around $50 and would add two more taxi rides in Guayaquil to get to the airport. I understand these taxi rides for gringos are usually $5! I did find this to be the case in Quito!</div>
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With the hotel cost, taxi costs and a couple of meals it could cost us around $90!</div>
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So at this point I think I have decided to hire a private car in Cuenca which would pick us up at my condo at 5:30 am for the three hour drive to Guayaquil, which would put us at the airport in plenty of time with much less hassle for $60!</div>
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We will need to buy Island passes at the airport prior to departure for $10 each. This is necessary so Island officials can keep track of all the people on the Islands. There are already over 20,000 residents in the Galapagos Islands and people are not allowed to just move there without proof of income or a job.</div>
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We will land on Baltra Island which is where the old US military base was. Then we will take a bus across the Island and a ferry to Santa Cruz Island.</div>
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There we will either take the 45-minute drive by bus or taxi to Puerto Ayora and look for a hotel.</div>
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Darwin Research Center and Park is on Santa Cruz Island, so we will spend some time looking around the Park which is $100 per person entrance fee. Fortunately for me with my cedula I will just have to pay just $7. Sorry Sue!</div>
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Once we are settled in a hotel we can decide on Island tours, glass bottom boats and any other tour we might want to take.</div>
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I am really looking forward to this trip and spending time with Sue, after 33 years of being out of touch. Sue keeps really busy in Marshalltown, Iowa with keeping her apartments rented out and dealing with all the problems that comes with that. She will be in need of a vacation by the time she arrives in Cuenca I am sure.</div>
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When we return to Guayaquil we will rent a car and drive north along the coast, up to Otavalo and back down to Cuenca through Baños, which is known for their Thermos hot pools.<br />
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https://www.facebook.com/CATSAEC<br />
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Here is a great deal without all the planning and assurance you will have good accommodations:<br />
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I have also completed a book about my move to Cuenca, but while researching how to upload it onto kindle I have found that there are many parts in my book that I have to eliminate. I might not be publishing it until after my trip. At which time I can add it to my book.<br />
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<a class="yiv5350348860_1xw yiv5350348860_1y0" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AL3XPTY/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_wy8Xqb0BB5FB0" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1425493037864_1981" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AL3XPTY/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_wy8Xqb0BB5FB0</a></div>
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<a class="yiv5350348860_1xw yiv5350348860_1y0" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AL3XPTY/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_wy8Xqb0BB5FB0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Why Ecuador for me is the story of planning and retiring in Cuenca, Ecuador. It provides the reader with all the details of why I decided to make the move from the United States. I spent hours on-line obtaining information on what is required to become a resident </a></div>
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<strong>Many thanks to everyone from over 20 countries that are reading my blog and sending comments.</strong></div>
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<strong>Until next time I wish everyone happiness and fun filled days. </strong></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-36945945883588377482012-06-20T17:01:00.000-05:002015-11-29T10:16:47.279-05:00Corpus Christi week in Cuenca, Ecuador and new City Tour bus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The first day I was in Cuenca we went on the Double Decker City tour bus and I was cold and tired from the long flight, so when I saw a new city tour bus I took the tour again. This time it was warmer and much more enjoyable and it got us away from all the candy in El Centro!<br />
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This is the first city tour bus</div>
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This is the new bus we took this time on the City tour</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DumncAkXAhk/T-HwfTTXzUI/AAAAAAAAA0k/M4DjLDbnYco/s1600/Corpse+Cristie+week+025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DumncAkXAhk/T-HwfTTXzUI/AAAAAAAAA0k/M4DjLDbnYco/s640/Corpse+Cristie+week+025.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I sat on the top deck in the fresh air and sunshine <br />
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The first floor on this new bus has tables with comfortable swivel chairs and a bar, and along with the narration of the history of Cuenca you will see a video of Cuenca with recommendations for Hotels and Restaurants.</div>
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<strong>The City Tour is two hours and is just $5!</strong></div>
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Park Calderon in El Centro - this is where the buses depart everyday starting at 11 am.<br />
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Cuenca is always clean - I never see dirt or trash on any the the streets<br />
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<strong>Catedral El Sagrario,</strong> also known as <strong>Catedral Antiguo,</strong> on the east side of Parque Calderón, was the first church in Cuenca; as such, it’s the place to start your first church tour of El Centro. The cornerstone of the original mud-and-straw chapel built on this site in 1557, shortly after Cuenca was founded, was taken from the Inca palace at Pumapungo (next to the Museo del Banco Central). The church was in continuous use till the early 20th century, when the Catedral Nuevo opened across the square; it was completely restored between 1999 and 2005. </div>
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We drove through old historic neighborhoods that have been restored along with electrical wiring placed underground.<br />
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<strong>Iglesia San Sebastian</strong> marks the western edge of colonial El Centro in the middle of a plaza on Talbot between Mariscal Sucre and Simon Bolivar. With the bright white walls of the old church and the tall trees and well-tended horticulture, this plaza is almost as inviting as Calderón. At the other end of Sucre and Bolivar on Ordoñez is <strong>Iglesia San Blas</strong>. Dating back to 1575 and built with stone from Pumpaungo, the church and its square mark the eastern edge of El Centro.</div>
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The old Inca city ruins</div>
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<strong>And up the hill to Turri:</strong></div>
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And up four flights of stairs to a Restaurant in Turri with great views of the City - when ever Bryan has time to go somewhere with me he is usually a few stairs or blocks ahead of me waiting!</div>
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Great views of the city from up here</div>
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See the three steeples of the Main Cathedral in El Centro</div>
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Back to El Centro through another restored Historic neighborhood<br />
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Displays of candy for sale surround Park Calderon for seven days, this is a traditional Catholic Celebration of the Body of Christ!</div>
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I am sure the local Dentists love this time of year!</div>
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Anyone for a horse and buggy ride?<br />
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<strong>And on to the new Catheral of Cuenca: </strong><br />
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The construction of the new cathedral took quite a few years to complete. Construction had started in 1885, but building was staggered over the years so the cathedral was only completed in 1967. But the wait was worth-while and today people can enjoy looking at the magnificent blue and white domes that decorate the skies, the pink marbled floors, gold applications by the altar, stained glass windows and marble and alabaster facades. Both the New and Old Cathedrals of Cuenca are worthy <a href="http://www.ecuador.com/attractions/" title="Attractions in Ecuador">attractions in Ecuador</a> and even the most novice architectural enthusiast will be able to appreciate the beauty and splendor of these buildings.<br />
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Entrance to the new Catheral</div>
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My first time inside the Cathedral, I understand they are giving tours of the tombs of Priests and Church officials below the Church. The entrance is to the left of the Altar.<br />
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There are 53 Catherals in Cuenca surrounding the old city.<br />
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<strong>And the end of another relaxing beautiful day in Cuenca, Ecuador - until next time be happy!</strong></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-84823923423678348822012-06-06T12:52:00.003-05:002013-08-01T08:43:27.398-05:00Cuenca, Ecuador medical - My first visit to the Coopera Doctors in Cuenca, Ecuador and another trip to the Artesa Ceramic Factory!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When I first arrived in Cuenca December of 2012 I opened a savings account with Coopera which by the way pays 3%! I also purchased a CD with them which pays 10.5% annually. You can withdraw the interest monthly or leave it for a year.<br />
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When you open a savings account with Coopera you are illegable for their Health Insurance. So I took advantage of this offer which is $2.64 a month! What! Has anyone ever heard of health insurance this cheap?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Coopera has its on Medical Clinic at their main office in San Joaquin, just a few miles north of Cuenca.</strong></span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x1bmhqRQmDE/T89ajGo7OUI/AAAAAAAAAyk/xqHLE2zpTaM/s1600/Coopera+Doctor+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x1bmhqRQmDE/T89ajGo7OUI/AAAAAAAAAyk/xqHLE2zpTaM/s640/Coopera+Doctor+014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Coopera's main office in San Joaquin</div>
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Coopera Medical Clinic behind the main office.</div>
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This is Dr. Aracely Pena and Dr. Paola Sivalina</div>
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It was May of 2012 and I figured it was time for a check-up it had been a couple of years so I called</div>
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for an appointment directly to Dr. Pena who does speak English, she lived in California for a few years. Both Dr. Pena and Dr. Sivalina are very friendly and seemed sincerely concerned with my health. The co-pay to see the Coopera Doctors is $2!</div>
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Because of my history of asthma the Doctors wanted me to get a lung ex-ray and a blood work-up, so she sent me to a lab for these procedures.</div>
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She also informed me that if my blood work was normal and the chest ex-ray did not show any abnormalities that my insurance would not pay for the lab work.</div>
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So I jumped in a taxi and headed to the lab for the tests. I was second in line for the blood work and after they drew my blood I paid them $36. Can you believe this $36! Last time I had blood work done in the US I paid $189 with my insurance. Then I walked directly into another office for my chest ex-ray and paid $20. Within 15 minutes I was done and it was 10 am, I was told to return after 1:30 pm for my test results and ex-ray.</div>
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Two days later I returned to my Coopera Doctors paid the $2 co-pay and presented my test results. To my surprise all the tests were normal except my cholesterol was a bit high but nothing a change in diet would not fix. I have lost 30 pounds since I arrive here in December of 2012 mostly due to the organic fruits and vegetables we get here as well as the natural grassed livestock and corn fed chickens. There just is not a lot of processed foods available in Ecuador and fresh fruits and vegetables grow all year long here.</div>
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I also had a high red blood cell count which is typical for living at 8300 feet, although my blood pressure was normal. There is 21% less oxygen up here but the air is fresh and clean. Because of the altitude my lungs are working at their full capacity which causes the production of more red blood cells and this is a good thing because red blood cells feed the entire body oxygen. </div>
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My lung ex-ray did show some abnormalities so the Doctor referred me to a specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital.</div>
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Monte Sinai Hospital is the newest Hospital in Cuenca complete with modern equipment and many Doctors who were Educated in the United States.</div>
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We called to the office of Doctor Pablo Parra Cironel - Medicina Interna - Neumologia FCCP and we were told to just arrive between 10 am to 12 pm to see the Doctor. So we went to his office on the 5th floor of Monte Sinai Hospital and paid his Receptionist $30 and waited for his arrival.</div>
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Dr. Coronel speaks English and attend Medical School in Arizona. He asked me a few questions, looked over my blood work test results and checked out my chest ex-ray. He showed me on the ex-ray a abundant of tissue around my bronchial tubes, which is typical in asthmatics. He prescribed Ventolin inhalers and an alternative drug for Advair.. He instructed me to continue using my inhalers and to continue walking and dieting. Losing another 25 pounds is important and a struggle for me at this point. But what else do I have to do but take long daily walks by the Rio along with attending FOX gym a couple of days a week.</div>
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I spoke to a couple of Expats living here in Cuenca who stopped using medications for asthma after losing over 40 pounds. Which does not seem to be the case for me, but guess it will still make me feel better. And I am fortunate at 63 not to have other medical problems as so many Americans I know my age do. But I am not totally convinced that Doctors in the US do not tend to prescribe medications to their patents that are not really necessary, especially when they have Health Insurance.</div>
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With all my facturas (receipts) in hand I went back to see my Coopera Doctors and they filled out the paper work to present to the Coopera Pharmacy for my prescriptions. Another great advantage is the 80% off prescriptions! Prescription medication is already much less here then the US. One inhaler in the US is $56 or $10 with insurance, in Ecuador the regular price is $8.50 but with my insurance it is $2! One Advair in the US is $160 or $30 with insurance, here it is $35! With my insurance it is $7. And if the Coopera Pharmacy does not have the necessary drugs I can get 70% off at any other pharmacy. So I got around a $100 worth of prescription medication for $20.</div>
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The total cost of tests and seeing Dr. CoronelCoopera insurance. So my out of pocket cost for 4 Doctor visits and a two month supple of asthma medications: $28!</div>
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The Coopera Health Insurance is limited to $400 a year not including prescription medications, looks like I used up $86 of it and I probably won't use up anymore this year.</div>
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Last time I saw a Doctor in the US it cost me $160 for the office visit and she was just a Nurse Practitioner. </div>
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Also located across the hall from my Doctors office is the Coopera Dental Clinic, also covered by my $2.60 a month insurance is 2 free cleanings per year and $5 fillings!</div>
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This is Dr. Veronica Carmona D, Dentist and Dr. Mona Crishna Sarango S.</div>
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Well it is good to know that I am in fairly good health and getting out of breath during my walks is not likely to give me a heart attack! I don't stop to caught my breath as much as I did when I arrived in Cuenca, which was every block! Ha! But it seems I will still be stopping to caught my breath anyway.<br />
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Coopera's new Restaurant in San Joanquin serves great food and the cost is very moderate.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Well Coopera was a fantastic deal while it lasted! Due to a couple of their managers washing 31 million dollars through 16 accounts the government has closed Coopera and is in the process of returning money to the account holders.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The 11 grocery stores remain open for now but the Doctor offices are closed.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>There are other credit unions here that will pay 9.25% and Banks pay 6-8% on CD's.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am in the process of looking at health insurance programs and I have found policies anywhere from $48 to $110 a month.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>I made another trip to the Artesa's Friday morning back room to add to my 70% off ceramic collection</strong></span>.</div>
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These great ceramic plates by Vega were $15 each! The top left one is Quito and the other two are scenes of Cuenca. A great bargain over the regular cost of $65 each.</div>
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I also added to my plate and bowl collection, who knows someday I my even serve dinner with them.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>My carpenter Juan delivered a weaving he frames for me, He makes some great furniture.</strong></span></div>
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Juan Carlos Vidal can be reached at: 094914832</div>
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Juan has many great pieces of furniture at great prices already made or he will make for you what ever you want.</div>
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And here is another plug for a friend of mine Orlando Siguenza.</div>
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Orlando lived in the United States for 16 years and recently moved back to Cuenca with his wife and daughter.</div>
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Orlando offers his driving and translating services for $10 an hour. His four door Toyota is very comfortable and Orlando already has many Expat clients here in Cuenca.</div>
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If anyone is interested in his services even if you are just coming here on vacation you can reach Orlando at: <a href="mailto:orlando_siguenza@yahoo.com">orlando_siguenza@yahoo.com</a> or his cell phone number is: 085854587.</div>
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Well guess that's it for this blog, its time to do my walk around the Rio!</div>
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Life is good in Cuenca - hope all of you have a good day as well!</div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-84476171208634962462012-05-22T09:07:00.003-05:002018-03-02T08:31:20.936-05:00Cuenca, Ecuador Travel agency and services I recommend!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Cuenca services I have used and recommend!</span></strong><br />
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I am always looking for the best deal when I need something - plus I always want to make sure I am doing business with trustworthy people.<br />
I do not take any commissions for promoting the following services. Its just more options for anyone who might be looking for specific services here in Cuenca!<br />
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<strong style="text-align: left;">The new travel agency is here:</strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">For all your travel needs: Hotels, Hostels, cruises, land tours, airfare!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Documents translated into Spanish and notarized.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Assistance with acquiring cedula's and Ecuadorian citizenship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Attorney available for assistance with any legal matters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Call Bryan Vidal: US 305-897-0346 / Cuenca 074103952 / Cell 0994923033 - e-mail: <a href="mailto:bryanvidal@catsa.ec">bryanvidal@catsa.ec</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">-Documents translated into Spanish and notarized</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-Assistance with acquiring Cedula's with Ecuador Residency Visas</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ecuador Driving License</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">-Attorney available for assistance with any legal matters. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Contact us: 410-3952</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Toll Free USA (305)897-0346</span></div>
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<span class="userContent"><span style="font-size: large;">Any expats who live in Cuenca and need assistance signing up for sales tax returns or SS insurance give Bryan a call or e-mail him or call 099-4923033!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Do you need assistance with SALES TAX REFUND (IVA) or IESS Health Insurance?<br /><br /> Call us to our USA number: (305) 897-0346 <br /> Or email us to: <a href="mailto:info@catsa.ec">info@catsa.ec</a></span></div>
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<img alt="Ecuadorian Visa and Helper Program." class="scaledImageFitHeight img" height="394" src="https://scontent-a-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/p640x640/10608189_354341011384955_2668774909009705286_o.png" style="left: 0px;" width="345" /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For assistance with Ecuadorian residency visas (cedulas) and all types! And assist with container shipping! Apartment rentals, Real Estate and general information!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R_ZiAe9r1tg/VBm-2XWh3uI/AAAAAAAACgw/SKdnn_DAWss/s1600/Mane%2B008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R_ZiAe9r1tg/VBm-2XWh3uI/AAAAAAAACgw/SKdnn_DAWss/s1600/Mane%2B008.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Contact Marianela via e-mail for visa requirements and information on starting the process from your country.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">e-mail: <a href="mailto:manelacardcam@hotmail.com">manelacardcam@hotmail.com</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">from Ecuador: cell: 0993309682</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Now that Cuenca has an Immigration office using a facilitator is much more affordable and faster! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Contact Marianela for rates, usual cost between $400-$500 depending on type of visa.</span><br />
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<h3 class="yiv4529479281post-title yiv4529479281entry-title" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1438098198785_5832" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001nAOmW7IyE656eWdXN8dXQBy0POacw674jXPNghR2LTn7L8DCFNEB5n5McdN-x2WuyQ63kwuDWn3yhlLdPGsijNipb0pkEmsRFke53XJRsyig1rOmmPcjFmMbmAGM7pUITUeq4yFLq9Qziy4hzlm613xOhbZF4vBt9UvjUEdUnXqGhZa9gRYsCOtqUhDAwJnFm5O0eCpTLNmP7uEwHjkcTboPINKpcIq5yVBXDNF1OLV-Aqa8C73jVg==&c=o323ZK2n3H50RlyzN9KqkWgwELwf_WgPEISWBGVv7CV5EH5IiG7ntw==&ch=WjtSlLPkoTmQ8N0zFnWfcrvc080-WXHLRz0poJNkTTstqdl6lzvOYg==" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1438098198785_5941" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: #034c88; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Recommendation for Bryan Vidal, travel agent</a><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001nAOmW7IyE656eWdXN8dXQBy0POacw674jXPNghR2LTn7L8DCFNEB5n5McdN-x2WuyQ63kwuDWn3yhlLdPGsijNipb0pkEmsRFke53XJRsyig1rOmmPcjFmMbmAGM7pUITUeq4yFLq9Qziy4hzlm613xOhbZF4vBt9UvjUEdUnXqGhZa9gRYsCOtqUhDAwJnFm5O0eCpTLNmP7uEwHjkcTboPINKpcIq5yVBXDNF1OLV-Aqa8C73jVg==&c=o323ZK2n3H50RlyzN9KqkWgwELwf_WgPEISWBGVv7CV5EH5IiG7ntw==&ch=WjtSlLPkoTmQ8N0zFnWfcrvc080-WXHLRz0poJNkTTstqdl6lzvOYg==" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1438098198785_5831" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: #034c88; display: block; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><br /></a></h3>
<div class="yiv4529479281post-body yiv4529479281entry-content" id="yiv4529479281post-body-2261941079751560027" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.4; width: 580px;">
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1438098198785_5833">
I have used Bryan's travel service, called Catsa, to go to Canada. Bryan very quickly found me a very economically priced itinerary. More, as I am an insulin dependent diabetic, he found me a doctor who would write a cover letter for my syringes and needles and came with me to interpret and make sure I got what I needed. He emailed me 48 hours before my home flight to assure me he had checked the flights and they were still in order. He booked a hotel at Guayaquil for me and arranged for me to be picked up at the airport. I have run into some problems with my luggage clearing customs and he is doing all he can to help. Bryan is very courteous, helpful, efficient and charming. Moreover his English is excellent. I cannot recommend him too highly and will always be using his services.<br />
<br />
Address: 12 de Abril y Jose Peralta<br />
<br />
Contact information: 07 410 3952 / 099 492 3033.<br />
<br />
Recommended by Pamela: lincolnlea@hotmail.com</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hairstyle - manicure - pedicure - massage - Jacuzzi - women's undergarments. I recommend Spa Marcia for great service and prices. Just say you saw this ad for 10% discount. Zamora Chinchipe 001 y Unidad Nacional, Cuenca. 07 288 6274 - sapamarciamejia@hotmail.com<br /><br />Recommended by Gary A Sisk: <a href="mailto:gas2335@yahoo.com">gas2335@yahoo.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We have twice taken our car to Fabian Avila at Talleres Avila. The work has ranged from standard brake replacement, etc. to complete tune-ups and "custom" fixes. He is professional and competent, trained in the States, and is bilingual. Fabian goes beyond the norm and his prices are very reasonable. Best of all, he understands the concept of service. If looking for a good place to take your vehicle, you can't do better than Fabian. He is located just off of Las Americas near Coral Central. His web site is talleresavilahermanos.com Address: Juan Larrea y Av. las Americas. Contact: 098 752 7701 or 402 4359. </span><br />
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And here is another plug for a friend of mine Orlando Siguenza.</div>
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Orlando lived in the United States for 16 years and recently moved back to Cuenca with his wife and daughter.</div>
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Orlando offers his driving and translating services for $10 an hour. His four door Toyota is very comfortable and Orlando already has many Expat clients here in Cuenca.</div>
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If anyone is interested in his services even if you are just coming here on vacation you can reach Orlando at: <a href="mailto:orlando_siguenza@yahoo.com">orlando_siguenza@yahoo.com</a> or his cell phone number is: 085854587.<br />
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Two more drivers highly recommended are Walter Parra: cell: 0986592978 and Jhony Para: cell: 0992925912 - They are brothers that both lived in the USA and speak great English. They both have very comfortable Toyota cars and are available for short trips or by the hour. If you need driver translators give one of them a call!<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Walter Para: cell: 0986592978</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Pharmacy Cruz Azul</b></span></div>
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Av. Ordoñez Lasso y Cerezos - phone #: 074089624</div>
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There is a friendly staff of five - Open 7 days a week from 8 am to 10 pm</div>
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One day every month the Pharmacy offers a 20% off sale on all medications and shelf items. </div>
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Roberto Benavidez is the Pharmacy Manager and he speaks English and is always available to assist you with your medication needs. His e-mail: rebenavidezj@gmail.com or he can be reached at the above number or cell phone: 0995632090</div>
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New Pharmacy Azul at the new River View condos on Ordonez Lasso and Cedros next to Produbanco.</div>
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Located on Av Las Americas 105 entre las Pencas y subida al Tejar<br />
Its just up the street on the left past Super Maxi.<br />
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Juan Pablo is the owner is the store and speaks English. The store is open from 4 pm until 10 pm.<br />
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phone: 4073972<br />
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You will find Old Classic movies - Video Games - And the latest new movies on DVD! In Ecuador we can get Movies that are still playing in theaters in the US!<br />
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Special: 4 DVD for $5!<br />
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Super Maxi is a chain of Grocery Stores in Ecuador offering their own brand name products - imported products from all over the world - plus you will find pretty much everything you need here.</div>
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Super Maxi is even more modern that most Stores I have shopped in the US! I do find many products here for less money than at Coral, which by the way is another great place to shop.<br />
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-21825554388397152082012-04-20T11:49:00.009-05:002014-04-27T09:21:34.788-05:00Ecuador residency (CEDULA) - I just received my Residency Card after just 4 1/2 months!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I started reading Blogs from Expats living in Ecuador over a year ago and I read that many Expats had to wait up to 11 months to receive their Cedula's.<br />
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I started my Residency process a week after I arrived here in Cuenca with:<br />
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<strong>Nelson Idrova & Grace Velastegui, Specialize in Residency Visas</strong><br />
<strong>Office phone: 593-7-2842225</strong><br />
<strong>E-Mail: </strong><a href="mailto:gracevelastequi@yahoo.com"><strong>gracevelastequi@yahoo.com</strong></a><br />
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I wrote about the beginning process of getting my Residency in my first Blog after arriving in Ecuador.<br />
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I presented all the necessary paper work to Nelson & Grace on December 7. 2011 along with a deposit for their services.<br />
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Their service fee is $1300 for a single Residency Card. <br />
The Government filing fee is $350.<br />
Translation into Spanish and notarizing English paper work $145.<br />
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On my third month I received my Residency Visa stamp in my Passport and had to go to Quito within 30 days.<br />
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<strong>So here I go off to Quito!</strong><br />
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I was met at the Quito Airport by Nelson & Grace's assistant Adrianna who just speaks Spanish, so I got lots of practice. She drove me directly to the Immigration Office and I provided her with $50 for filing fees. When we entered the building I noticed several people sitting in a waiting room, but we walked over to one of the Immigration Officers and she presented my paper work and within 20 minutes I received my Non-Censos Certificate to present at the Registro Civil Office for my Residency Card.</div>
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At this time the Immigration Office is out of official paper for the Censos cards which is usually required before getting the Cedula Card. </div>
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I may still need to get a Censos Card when they have the paper but I can get this in Cuenca.</div>
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Next stop was: </div>
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Here we entered the new Registro Civil Office building now complete with new computers.</div>
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There were many people waiting for their number to be called, but once again Adrianna walked over to one of the officers and presented my paper work. I sat down, signed some papers, had my photo and prints taken and within 30 minutes I was out of there. I have heard many stories from other Expats who say they waited up to 8 hours for their number to be called and some even had to return the next day. I guess it pays to have Great Attorneys!<br />
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The next day at 4 pm I returned to pick up my new Cedula Card which is good for ten years and then it can be easily renewed unless I decide to become a Citizen of Ecuador which I can do after three years.</div>
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There is a immigration office in Cuenca now with English speaking representatives who will help you get your cedula without an attorney.</div>
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Here are some Q & A's about Ecuador visas:</div>
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<a href="http://www.gringopost.com/#!visa-faq/cev8">http://www.gringopost.com/#!visa-faq/cev8</a></div>
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Now that there is a visa office in Cuenca there is no need to have to go to Quito for your visa and you can go to the visa office on your own or use a solicitor which can save you a lot of money rather than using an Attorney. </div>
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I recommend CATSA travel agency:</div>
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<b>For all your holiday needs contact CATSA in Cuenca, Ecuador </b></div>
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<span class="userContent"><b> . Documents translated into Spanish and notarized <br /> . Assistance with acquiring cedula or any visa and Ecuadorian citizenship</b></span></div>
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<span class="userContent"><b><br />. Attorney available for all legal matters </b></span></div>
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<span class="userContent"><b><br /> Call Bryan Vidal: U.S. 305-897-0346 / Cuenca 074103952 / Cell 0994923033 - e-mail: bryanvidal@catsa.ec</b></span></div>
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<strong>Now that the business is done it is time to go and have some fun!</strong></div>
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I stayed two nights in the Mariscol District, which turned out to be the party area of Quito. I stayed at the Red Bean Hostel which was a Restaurant with a few rooms up-stairs. This was $60 for two nights and included breakfast.</div>
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The next morning Bryan's cousin Anna met me for breakfast.</div>
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After breakfast Anna had a friend who picked us up in his car and for $6 an hour drove us around Quito. The traffic in Quito is unbelievable, and I thought it was bad in Cuenca!<br />
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We stopped at a market place to do some shopping:<br />
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And then we drove up the hill to El Teleferi de Quito to a gondola lift that took us up the Pichincha Mountains to Cruz Loma (4050 meters) 14,000 feet.<br />
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Up the mountain we went! </div>
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Quito is 9,300 feet with a population of 2.7 million people. There are a total of 15 million people living in Ecuador and about 12,000 Americans.</div>
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We finally reached the top.</div>
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And headed for the Restaurant to get warm!</div>
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Here I found Coca leaf tea, my first cup since 75'<br />
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<strong>What a great view of Quito</strong>.<br />
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We stopped at a local Mall for dinner and then headed back to my Hostell.</div>
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I decided to take a walk around the Mariscol District and being Friday night there were many people out having a good time. I met Jhover, a tour guide in Galapagos! It is a 2 1/2 hour flight from Quito to the Islands and cost $540 round trip, but with my Cedula I will get $150 off and entrance to the Park on Galapagos will be $10 instead of $100!</div>
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And off to the Del Bar Q Happy Hour Bar for a couple drinks to celebrate my new Ecuador Residency. A couple at 9300 feet is all it takes!<br />
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I was surprised at how many of the bartenders spoke English and they were all very friendly. I will be back here again next time I am in Quito.</div>
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I could not believe how many different drinks they made with fresh fruits. They assured me there was a guy in the back squeezing fresh fruits into juice as we spoke! These bartenders were great and I recommend the Mariscol Bar Del Q Happy Hour Bar for anyone visiting Quito!</div>
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The next morning Anna picked me up with her friend Juan and drove me to the Airport, she even brought me a box of Coca tea!</div>
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Back to Cuenca, Bryan met me at the Airport. I have been very fortunate to meet Bryan and his family, they are all fine people. He has an Aunt from North Carolina who taught him English, who is a very nice Lady. I have met his Mother, brother, a few cousins and two other Aunts.</div>
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It is great to be around so many happy - fun Ecuadorian friends.<br />
I have befriended a couple of Expats, guess I need to attend more Expat parties and meet more gringos.<br />
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Great to be back in Cuenca!</div>
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Cuenca is a bit lower altitude then Quito at 8200 feet and I am finally adjusting to it. I even walk my 5 kilometers everyday and go to the gym a couple of days a week. Which I am off to now!</div>
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Until next time I wish everyone a great day! <strong>BIENVENIDOS</strong>!</div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-12437314789895505872012-04-11T09:23:00.001-05:002015-06-13T09:55:53.012-05:00My first time in Ecuador was my South American trip in 1975 from Leadville, Colorado!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It was 1975 and I found myself living in Leadville, Colorado and working at Climax Mine! We just spent 6 weeks in Vancouver, Canada with girls we met in Puerto Vallarta a few months earlier and we were on our way to Colorado to ski for the winter. On our drive through Vail we ended up in Leadville, a small mining town of 5000 people at 10,500 feet and 20 below zero all winter. We stopped at a bar called the RAM (Raggedy Ass Miner), here we met several long haired people, common in the 70's! We discovered they all worked at the Climax Mine. Jobs were hard to find in 1975 so we ended up working at the Climax Mine! Climax was located at a 11,500 foot summit and required a 300 foot elevator ride down into the mine where we boarded a train for a mile ride to our working areas. The mine was heated to 0 degrees and the tunnels were lined with large icicles!<br />
I wondered everyday how of all places being from sunny warm California that I ended up drilling holes in solid rock and packing them with dynamite! But we did have ski passes for the season at Copper Mountain and drove down to ski after graveyard shifts.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And my goal was to go to South America to See Machu Picchu!</span><br />
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Climax Mine 1975 - the Mountain is all gone now.</div>
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Downtown Leadville - buildings 1898</div>
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Leadville has always been a mining town and at one time had 500,000 inhabitants including the unsinkable Molly Brown who got rich with her Gold Mine.</div>
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It was going to be the State Capitol of Colorado until a fire burnt down most of the town.</div>
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I drove through Leadville in 2009, first time since 1975! The old town is the same except now with 2000 inhabitants it is a College Town and still cold!</div>
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Randy, me and David in our 125 year old house which is still standing.</div>
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Friends and roommates</div>
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July was the time for hiking up Mt Elbert - 14,421 feet.</div>
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Cold up there, even in July!</div>
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Me, Jim, Lisa, Susan and John.</div>
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Silver Dollar Saloon</div>
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Carl and me at the old bar</div>
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Good friends Sue and Jim Clark, Calamity Jane and her John at the 14,000 foot summit cabin.</div>
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Sue and I connected on face book after 33 years! She is living in Iowa and I was in Branson, MO so I drove up to see her and later she flew out to CA for a visit.</div>
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We had a great time! Guess I will see her again soon in Ecuador.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">On to South America:</span><br />
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After almost three years of living in Leadville and working in the very cold Climax Mine I was sitting at the Tabor Grand Hotel with my friends, Carlos and Hulio who are brothers from Puerto Rico. I was telling them how my plans after living in Leadville were to go to Machu Picchu in Peru, and they both said they also wanted to go! So the next week we packed up their Volkswagen Van and headed for Florida.<br />
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From Miami we boarded a flight to Cartahagna, Columbia where we stayed for a few days.</div>
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Market Place</div>
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Hotel Cartahagna on the ocean</div>
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Carlos with new Canadian friend</div>
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After a few days in Cartahagna enjoying the warm weather and beach we flew to Bogota for a few more days. The 70's in South America were not the best time for tourists, especially if you were American. There were armed military solders on every street corner in Bogota, one day we saw a guy who just robbed a store get shot right on the sidewalk! And then we saw some demonstrator's burning a dummy with a sign saying Imperialist pig on it. Carlos hustled me around the corner and said with my blond hair I would be the dummy if we did not get out of that place! That night during dinner Carlos decided he did not feel safe and decided to go back to Florida.</div>
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So Hulio and I headed out for the 1200 mile trip to Lima, Peru the next day by bus via Cali, Columbia.</div>
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After a 12 hour ride over muddy, bumpy dirt roads in four wheel drive vans to Cali we decided to take a flight on an old plane to the border of Ecuador.</div>
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We landed on a dirt air-strip on the border of Ecuador and boarded a bus for Quito.</div>
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More unpaved roads, we drove through muddy windy mountain roads.</div>
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And at every border crossing we were lead by armed Military guards to a shed for a strip search! It was a great thing that Hulio spoke Spanish or I would have thought we were being led out back to be shot! Ecuador was under Military rule in 1975.</div>
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Quito</div>
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From Quito we took another bus to Guayaquil and then on to Lima, Peru.</div>
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In Lima we boarded another bus for the long drive to Cuzco, a 28 hour, 800 mile bus ride up a windy muddy dirt road to Cuzco. Hulio bought some sleeping aids from the Pharmacy and we slept for a long time on the drive up the mountain. When we woke up the bus was crowded with more people. It seems another bus slid off the road and we picked up their passengers.</div>
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When the Spaniard's discovered Cuzco they built Church's on top of Inca buildings, but you can still see Inca built stone walls all through the city.</div>
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After a few days of discovering Cuzco we boarded a train for the short trip to the Inca city of Machu Picchu. Which was never discovered by the Spanish and what happened to the cities inhabitants is still a mystery. The city was not discovered until 1911 by an American Historian and was one third restored by 1976. In 2007 it was declared one of the 7th wonders of the world.</div>
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Upon our arrival to the city we were approached by a tour guide who showed us around the city and explained how it was built by the Incas in 1400. Of course Hulio had to translate everything he said but his version of how the city was built was out of this world!</div>
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It seems the Incas just vanished and left behind their slaves. All the perfectly cut stones in the city came from another mountain top and were cut with laser guns and transported via flying machines?</div>
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Sun dial used to tell the time of day - carved from solid rock with laser guns of course!</div>
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On top of this mountain peak accessible by perfectly cut stone stairs was the temple of the moon! At one time the temple had a solid stone roof with a circle in the middle and during full moon's the Incas could communicate with their planet!!</div>
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It was a long and adventurous trip but we achieved our goal and reached Machu Picchu!</div>
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And as for the long trip back to Bogota, Columbia: it was a long bumpy bus ride and we flew from there back to Miami!</div>
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Who knows what life has in store for us? Here I am 37 years later living in Ecuador!</div>
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Tomorrow I fly to Quito to finish up my paper work for Residency. I will blog about this trip next time. Meanwhile enjoy the film clip below and have a great day!</div>
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Beautiful Ecuador:</div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-17751925643906167912012-03-21T16:05:00.005-05:002013-01-10T01:24:53.304-05:00 Ecuador's Oil, Gas, Cars and the US Dollar <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RxX7tl1fdnM/T2nl-osHHvI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/2r0bNU-g20I/s1600/Cuenca,+Ecuador+035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RxX7tl1fdnM/T2nl-osHHvI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/2r0bNU-g20I/s640/Cuenca,+Ecuador+035.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ecuador adopted the US dollar in 2000 - Gas prices have been the same since Jan. 2003. <span id="yiv1252793557misspell-0">Subsidized</span> by the <span id="yiv1252793557misspell-1">government</span>.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aZne4yONoi8/T2pjK7UoKaI/AAAAAAAAAlI/wYjWbgDtK70/s1600/Map-Amazon-rainforest-ecuador%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aZne4yONoi8/T2pjK7UoKaI/AAAAAAAAAlI/wYjWbgDtK70/s640/Map-Amazon-rainforest-ecuador%5B1%5D.jpg" width="602" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">The following article is the best one I have found on Ecuador's 12 year economical recovery:</span></div>
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Could Ecuador be the most radical and exciting place on Earth?</h1>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">A decade ago, Ecuador was a banana republic, an economic basket case. Today, it has much to teach the rest of the world</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">Ecuador must be one of the most exciting places on Earth right now, in terms of working towards a new development paradigm. It shows how much can be achieved with political will, even in uncertain economic times.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">Just 10 years ago, Ecuador was more or less a basket case, a quintessential "banana republic" (it happens to be the world's largest exporter of bananas), <span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-2">characterised</span> by political instability, inequality, a poorly-performing economy, and the ever-looming impact of the US on its domestic politics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">In 2000, in response to hyperinflation and balance of payments problems, the government D<span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-3">ollarised</span> the economy, replacing the <span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-4">Sucre</span> with the US currency as legal tender. This subdued inflation, but it did nothing to address the core economic problems, and further constrained the domestic policy space.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">A major turning point came with the election of the economist </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11449110" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 130%;" target="_blank" title="BBC"><span style="font-size: 130%;">Rafael <span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-5">Correa</span></span></a><span style="font-size: 130%;"> as president. After taking over in January 2007, his government ushered in a series of changes, based on a new constitution (the country's 20<span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-6">th</span>, approved in 2008) that was itself mandated by a popular referendum. A hallmark of the changes that have occurred since then is that </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/17/ecuador-rafael-correa" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 130%;" target="_blank" title="Guardian"><span style="font-size: 130%;">major policies have first been put through the referendum process</span></a><span style="font-size: 130%;">. This has given the government the political ability to take on major vested interests and powerful lobbies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">The government is now the most stable in recent times and will soon become the longest serving in Ecuador's tumultuous history. The president's approval ratings are well over 70%. All this is due to the reorientation of the government's approach, made possible by a constitution remarkable for its recognition of human rights and the rights of nature, and its acceptance of plurality and cultural diversity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">Consider just some economic changes brought about in the past four years, beginning with the renegotiation of oil contracts with multinational companies. Ecuador is an oil exporter, but had benefited relatively little from this because of the high shares of oil sales that went to foreign oil companies. A new law in July 2010 dramatically changed the terms, increasing the government's share from 13% to 87% of gross oil revenues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">Seven of the 16 foreign oil companies decided to pull out, and their fields were taken over by state-run companies. But the others stayed on and, as a result, state revenues increased by $870m in 2011.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">Second, and possibly even more impressively, the government managed a dramatic increase in direct tax receipts. In fact, this has been even more important in revenue terms than oil receipts. Direct taxes (mainly corporation taxes) increased from around 35% of total taxes in 2006 to more than 40% in 2011. This was largely because of better enforcement, since the nexus between big business and the public tax administration was broken.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">Third, these increased government revenues were put to good use in infrastructure investment and social spending. Ecuador now has the highest proportion of public investment to GDP (10%) in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, social spending has doubled since 2006. This has enabled real progress towards the constitutional goals of free education at all levels, and access to free <span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-7">health care</span> for all citizens. Significant increases in public housing have followed the constitution's affirmation of the right of all citizens to dignified housing with proper amenities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">There are numerous other measures: expanding direct public employment; increasing minimum wages which is now $320 a month and legally enforcing social security provision for all workers; diversifying the economy to reduce dependence on oil exports, and diversifying trading partners to reduce dependence on the US; enlarging public banking operations to reach more small and medium entrepreneurs; auditing external debt to reduce debt service payments; and abandoning unfair bilateral investment agreements. Other efforts include reform of the justice system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>POLLUTION OF THE AMAZON</strong></span> </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xPufiRPm2CY/T2noRF79TAI/AAAAAAAAAjY/Cvwi7261Wq0/s1600/Yasuni-National-Park-in-E-006%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xPufiRPm2CY/T2noRF79TAI/AAAAAAAAAjY/Cvwi7261Wq0/s640/Yasuni-National-Park-in-E-006%5B1%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Pipelines run through Amazon villages</div>
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Oil deposits left over from drilling that were never cleaned up <br />
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<strong>Rain Forest Residents, Texaco Face Off In Ecuador</strong></div>
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<strong>by Juan Forero</strong></div>
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<strong>April 30, 2009</strong></div>
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Donald Moncayo is an activist who works with the poor farmers and Indian plaintiffs who are suing Chevron Corp., which bought Texaco in 2001, over environmental damage in Ecuador's rain forest. Here, Moncayo shows the alleged legacy of Texaco's drilling: oily pools of toxic waste.</div>
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Donald Moncayo is an activist who works with the poor farmers and Indian plaintiffs who are suing Chevron Corp., which bought Texaco in 2001, over environmental damage in Ecuador's rain forest. Here, Moncayo shows the alleged legacy of Texaco's drilling: oily pools of toxic waste.</div>
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In nearly three decades in Ecuador, Texaco built the country's oil industry from scratch — and grids of pipes and other infrastructure are found across a swath of jungle. Children now use the pipelines as makeshift jungle gyms.<br />
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Wilmo Moreta, a schoolteacher, recalls bathing in the Napo River, drinking from it and using its water for cooking. Now, he says, he suffers from multiple health problems, and he blames Texaco for polluting the river.<br />
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Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa speaks with people during an April 2007 visit to Los Sachas, an area affected by oil drilling. Correa accused Texaco of causing irreversible ecological damage to the region.</div>
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<img alt="Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa speaks with people during an April 2007 visit to Los Sachas" src="http://media.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2009/apr/texaco/correa_540.jpg?t=1248631110" title="Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa speaks with people during an April 2007 visit to Los Sachas" /></div>
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<span class="date">April 30, 2009</span></div>
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A judge is preparing to render a decision in a long-running, multi billion-dollar lawsuit filed by residents of Ecuador's Amazonian rain forest against Texaco for fouling their land. </div>
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But a court-appointed expert agrees with many of the plaintiffs' charges and has assessed damages at $27 billion. Now, a judge in the small town of Lago Agrio, says he hopes to have a decision before the end of the year.</div>
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<strong>Plaintiffs: A Legacy Of Pollution</strong> </div>
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Donald Moncayo, an activist who works with the poor farmers and Indian plaintiffs in the case, takes visitors on what he calls "toxic tours." </div>
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After tramping through the jungle, Moncayo reaches a huge pool of oily sludge and sticks a long pole into the muck. He says this is a legacy of Texaco's quarter-century in Ecuador: pollution that affects tens of thousands of people who bathe and drink from rain forest waterways. </div>
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He says mud and other waste produced by drilling and production were dumped in the pit, and the toxins here and in hundreds of similar unlined pits leaked into the ground. A court-appointed geologist, Richard Cabrera, and his 14-member scientific team found barium, lead and other heavy metals in those pits. </div>
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Chevron disputes Cabrera's findings. The company wants his report thrown out, saying he is biased toward the plaintiffs. </div>
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All this happened in what was once virgin Amazonian jungle, the world's greatest biosphere and an area that still contains huge oil reserves. </div>
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The plaintiffs say Texaco, in 18 years of full-scale production, also dumped chemical waste water from drilling into rivers and that pipeline breaks spilled 17 million gallons of oil. </div>
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Pablo Fajardo, a 36-year-old lawyer, leads the plaintiffs' team. He grew up poor in the area; this is his first legal case. </div>
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Fajardo says his side has proved there was damage, that Chevron was responsible and that the company should pay.</div>
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<strong>Defendants: Texaco Acted Legally</strong> </div>
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Locally, the case has been called the trial of the century, and some of the hearings have been held in the jungle. Chevron does not dispute that pollution exists. </div>
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But Chevron lawyer Diego Larrea says it's Petroecuador — the state oil company, which still drills oil in the area — that is responsible for the pollution. </div>
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Larrea says Texaco adhered to Ecuadorian law. He also says Ecuador's government released the company of legal responsibility after a three-year cleanup a decade ago. </div>
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In the current trial, the plaintiffs charge that Texaco's cleanup was a fraud, and the current government of Ecuador agrees. </div>
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The original suit was filed against Texaco in 1993 in a New York court. But Chevron argued that the case be moved to Ecuador, saying Ecuadorian courts were impartial and professional. </div>
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In 2003, the trial was moved to a ramshackle court in Lago Agrio, a nondescript, dusty town near Colombia's lawless frontier. </div>
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The judge in the case, Juan Nunez, says he feels the pressure on his conscience. And he says he has to carefully consider the arguments both sides have offered — arguments laid out in 145,000 pages of evidence. </div>
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Texaco came to Ecuador in 1964. When it left nearly 30 years later, it had extracted 1.5 billion barrels and built Ecuador's oil industry from scratch. </div>
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The infrastructure is everywhere. Pipelines run alongside major roads. Pumping stations are located in clearings, carved out of the jungle. </div>
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And then there are pools of sludge. </div>
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The government says Petroecuador is not blameless. It, too, dumped waste water intro waterways. </div>
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But the state oil company's past practices do not absolve Texaco, the government says. Texaco was the primary operator for years and the pollution left behind is close to where people live and where children go to school, the government claims.</div>
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<strong>Health Problems Abound Among Locals</strong> </div>
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Wilmo Moreta, a schoolteacher in the town of Shushufindi, says he suffered skin rashes and other ailments when Texaco operated in the area. He says he drank water from the Napo river, bathed in it and used its water for cooking. He now blames oil pollution for his problems. </div>
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Cabrera's team, though, goes further, linking 1,401 cancer deaths to oil production and laying most of the blame for the pollution on Texaco. </div>
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Chevron has countered Cabrera, the court-appointed geologist, by releasing a battery of studies that show cancer rates in the area are no higher than in other regions of Ecuador.</div>
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<strong>Chevron Disputes Report Findings</strong> </div>
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James Craig, a Chevron spokesman, says that the Cabrera report is "flawed in many ways." </div>
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"In our view, it's a fraudulent report that we've asked the court to toss out a number of times," he says. </div>
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Craig also says the methods Texaco's subsidiary, TexPet, used in Ecuador were common in the United States — and still are. Craig says that includes the use of unlined pits to hold sludge. </div>
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"To suggest that somehow TexPet was using obsolete technology or substandard methods at the time is a complete falsehood," he says. </div>
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States such as Texas permit unlined pits, but only for temporary use. In such instances, the waste must be disposed of eventually, often by re-injection back into the ground.</div>
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<strong>Case Wends Its Way Toward Resolution</strong> </div>
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Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa squarely sides with the plaintiffs. He says Texaco left behind a mess. His government is also prosecuting two Chevron attorneys and seven former government officials who signed off on the cleanup of 167 out of 1000 oil pits in 1998. </div>
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Correa says that pools operated by Texaco remain open, with little having been cleaned up. </div>
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Craig, the Chevron spokesman, says Correa's comments show the company can't get a fair hearing — even though it was Chevron that originally petitioned to have the case transferred from the U.S. to Ecuador. </div>
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"Unfortunately, the case has deteriorated into a judicial farce, with the media circus put on by the plaintiffs on a regular basis, with the political pressure brought to bear on the court, with the government and political interference in this case," he says. </div>
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Indeed, Chevron is already talking about a possible appeal should it lose the case. </div>
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Meanwhile, in the jungle, residents wonder who will clean up the mess — or compensate them for their health problems.<br />
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<strong>60-Minute video on Amazon pollution:</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3hMdsxrAyT0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3hMdsxrAyT0</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Meanwhile the pollution in the Amazon remains a major health hazard!</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><strong>One exciting recent initiative is the </strong></span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2011/dec/30/yasuni-national-park-ecuador-rainforest" id="yui_3_2_0_1_13323369146882582" rel="nofollow" style="font-size: 130%;" target="_blank" title="Guardian"><span id="yui_3_2_0_1_13323369146882581" style="font-size: 130%;"><span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-8">Yasuní</span>-<span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-9">ITT</span> biosphere reserve</span></a><span style="font-size: 130%;">, perhaps the world's first attempt to avoid greenhouse emissions by leaving oil underground. This not only protects the extraordinary biodiversity of the area but also the habitats of its indigenous peoples. The scheme proposes to use <span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-10">ecotourism</span> to make human activity compatible with nature.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 130%;">All this may sound too good to be true, and certainly the process of transformation has only just begun. <b>There are bound to be conflicts with those whose profits and power are threatened</b>, as well as other hurdles along the way. But for those who believe that we are not condemned to the gloomy status <span class="yiv1252793557mark" id="yiv1252793557misspell-11">quo</span>, and that societies can do things differently, what is happening in Ecuador provides inspiration and even </span><span style="font-size: 130%;">guidance. The rest of the world has much to learn from this ongoing radical experiment.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Cars in Ecuador:</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Most of the cars in Ecuador are imported and assembled here. I have spotted more Chevrolet followed by Ford, KIA. Hyundai, Toyota and Nissan plus other makes. Not many Luxury cars here, mostly small economical cars.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I have not seen these cars in the US - most of the cars here are made in Korea, Japan and China. They are assembled in Ecuador.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">For example I have seen a few KIA Soul which sell in the US for $17,000 but with Ecuador taxes sell for $22,000 here.</span><br />
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And many more models here not seen in the USA!</div>
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Until next time!</div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-6853989549612908792012-02-24T00:57:00.001-05:002012-12-27T20:35:53.111-05:00Road trip from Cuenca, Ecuador to Bullcay and Chordeleg in search of weavers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In search of Ecuadorian weavers and pottery makers we drove to the small Village of Bullcay about 20 kilometers east of Cuenca.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And just on the left of the highway in Bullcay we found a pottery shop next to a very old weaving factory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We found many beautiful hand made pottery pieces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And next door we went up some old stairs to a weaving room and shop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here we found women weaving scarfs and shawls. A tourist bus pulled up outside when we arrived and the tourists were buying up all the merchandise, we could not even get into the store.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The following photos are typical Ecuadorian weavers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beautiful colors and designs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And next we drove to the Village of Chordeleg, where we found shops full of jewelry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And now that everyone was hungry we drove back down the highway to Gualaceo to the Central Mercado for some lunch of roasted pork!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is Sunday and as usual the Mercado in full of families having lunch. There are a dozen concessions displaying whole roasted pigs. As you walk by the ladies offer you samples plucked from their delicious roasted pigs with their bare hands! (What no plastic gloves?) And we walk with caution on the greasy floors!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jessica, Mayra and the kids enjoying lunch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And down the stairs with caution and past the roasted Ginnie pigs!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back to Cuenca past some more beautiful countryside.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And the end of another beautiful day in Ecuador!</span></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-54724120745713661352012-02-22T14:18:00.001-05:002012-12-15T10:20:02.915-05:00At last! Cuenca, Ecuador<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just one more week and I will be on my way to Cuenca! It has been a year and a half of planning. Internet searching, papers notarized and apostatized. And the last step, a trip to the Ecuador Consulate in Beverly Hills. Also the hours I spent on-line looking for an Airline ticket without 13 hour layovers and for a decent price.<br />
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During the last few months of reading Blogs from other Americans that have made the move I was fortunate enough to make a couple of e-mail friends who live in Cuenca and have many of my questions answered.<br />
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I will be leaving behind a great house here in the California Mountains owned by my sister where I have been living for almost a year. Leaving now means leaving behind many snow storms to come. Such as the one I endured last year. Three feet of snow and no electricity for three days burr!<br />
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And memories of good times with family and friends:<br />
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My sister Wanda, me and Sue at the beach in Ventura on Sue's visit from Iowa.<br />
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But I am looking forward to making new friends, have many new adventures and good times!<br />
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Well back to packing and cleaning for me.<br />
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-83301518670174169762012-02-12T11:55:00.001-05:002014-01-08T18:24:07.329-05:00 Cuenca, Ecuador shopping and walking around the Tomebamba River<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After living in Cuenca for two and a half months I still don't know my way around</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> the city. Probably because I always take taxis or rely on Mayra to drive me. I guess I am really not in a rush to do anything anyway!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Its been nice to just sit back and let someone else do the driving. Especially considering how they drive here! Wow! But I still have not seen any accidents!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lots of baskets, ceramic pots, furniture and art works.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And then on to San Francisco Market Place</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We found that the vendors outside are quoting higher prices than the inside shops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lots of jewelry, pottery, and art work to look at, but I am still looking. Guess I really am not in a hurry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then on to Coral to look for some pots for house plants.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I did find five large plastic pots for $8.00 each, so off we went to find a plant nursery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After driving all over town and looking for plants at different nurseries we found this one up the street from my condo. Beautiful healthy plants and they transplanted them into my new pots and hauled them down the street and up to my condo. Five large plants were $70.00 and $10.00 to move them for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cuenca was named after Cuenca, Spain when it became a settlement of the Spanish in 1557.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Prior to that Cuenca was called Tomebamba by the Canari Indians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I live on the Tomebamba river and enjoy the sound of the river running down from the mountains, sometimes after a big rain the water rises high on the river banks and is much louder. Every morning I see many people walking around the trail by the river's edge and so now I have joined them in walks by the river and across a bridge, down the other side and back across another bridge. My first river walk took me 1 1/2 hours having to stop to catch my breath! Now I am doing it in 30 minutes and have also extended ny walks to Americas avenue and back.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Looking at the back side of my building I am 2 down from the top on the right side. The bedroom windows provide a great view of El Centro and the 2 balconies on the left are the kitchen and dining room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Across the river I find people doing laundry in the river everyday as has been done for hundreds of years. The air here is very dry, humidity usually around 40% which makes everything dry very fast. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My new gym has really great equipment and I pay $3.00 for each visit. I have not combined my walks with a trip to the gym on the same day yet!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And home again, panting all the way to the elevators! I am thankful that the elevators also have generator power just in case the electricity goes out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">And here is a photo of me at 235 pounds in Rosarito, Mexico with my friend Dee a few months ago.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Is this really me? I have known Dee since 1992 and at 83 she still looks the same.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">And the latest photo 40 pounds lighter:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Sue and I at the Banos hot springs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well I better get going on my river walk, I still need to drop 20 pounds!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Next time road trip to Bullcay in search of weavers!</span></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-70256421477855279482012-02-07T09:59:00.001-05:002014-03-18T08:51:24.813-05:00Artesa ceramic factory in Cuenca, Ecuador<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eduardo Vega is a Cuenca Native and World renowned Ceramicist. He was born in 1938 and he studied in Spain, London and France, returning to Cuenca in 1969. He started the Artesa factory in the 70's. I visited his workshop and home Mirador de Turi and then took a tour of his ceramic factory Artesa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of his great Murals</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">View of Cuenca from his Studio</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Many original designs</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After reading about the Artesa factory here in Cuenca and that on Friday mornings you can go to the back room and select from many different designs at 70% off I took a taxi with the name and address written on a piece of paper as I usually do. Seems these taxi drivers can't quit understand my Spanish! Ha!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Sales Center offered a variety of different colors and patterns. It took me awhile to decide on my pattern. I did not want the floral or bird patterns and wanted a color pattern that would match my condo. So finally I decided on a brown and yellow sun pattern.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now that I decided on my pattern off I went to the back room to find the bargains!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It took awhile to find matching pieces and finding lids to match was a real challenge. But I was told that I can always come back on Fridays to see what new pieces have been added to the collection. I did meet several people who have been here many times and now have complete sets or a variety of different patterns!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Factory workers busy making new ceramics</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So many great designs to choose from! The prices here at the factory show room are also discounted compared to the cost at many shops around the country. They also ship all over the World!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I met some very nice Ladies who visit Artesa on Fridays often to add to their collect of ceramics. On my right Pia who is 87, her daughter Maria with the 3rd and 4th generation. Pia and Maria just moved back to Playas on the ocean from New York.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And here is my 12 pieces for now and I paid $34!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Until next time have a good day!</span></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1439353944485715731.post-63524378983663939292012-02-01T10:31:00.001-05:002012-12-27T20:43:35.093-05:00 First Cuenca Ecuador Christmas and New Years in a new Country<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Always a reason for a parade in Cuenca!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"> Christmas 2011</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Christmas was at Jimmy's casa on Christmas Eve, Dinner was served about 11 pm! All his friends and family and many kids were there. All the kids got presents and we drew numbers for presents we bought for the adults. Dinner was great and everyone had a good time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">And of course I kissed a dozen women on the cheek twice!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"> And now for New Years:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">always a reason for fireworks in Cuenca! But New Years Eve is spectacular! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And as well as Fireworks on New Years Eve an Ecuadorian tradition of burning dummies which represents leaving all the bad things of the old year behind and starting the New Year fresh!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"> This woman is making many dummies to sale!</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ebIprFrQ4Yc/TylUTVVEq0I/AAAAAAAAAYo/yal-moir7Uc/s1600/DSCN6660%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ebIprFrQ4Yc/TylUTVVEq0I/AAAAAAAAAYo/yal-moir7Uc/s640/DSCN6660%5B1%5D.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">You can select from many different masks!</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uLvN0EeMqkA/TyVaqwo7FuI/AAAAAAAAAXw/HEzqSwo9sF8/s1600/Dummy-Burning--640x360%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uLvN0EeMqkA/TyVaqwo7FuI/AAAAAAAAAXw/HEzqSwo9sF8/s640/Dummy-Burning--640x360%5B1%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> And at the stroke of Midnight the dummies are burned all over the city and the New Year begins!</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V2ddWJPrdF8/TyVa2k8JXdI/AAAAAAAAAX4/zK0qby19bc0/s1600/travel_ecuador_intl_lifestyles_dec27-Jan26_2013%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V2ddWJPrdF8/TyVa2k8JXdI/AAAAAAAAAX4/zK0qby19bc0/s640/travel_ecuador_intl_lifestyles_dec27-Jan26_2013%5B1%5D.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UPWHsQSgn78/TylVkpJvzpI/AAAAAAAAAYw/lxFIMiCZFSQ/s1600/Cuenca,+Ecuador+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UPWHsQSgn78/TylVkpJvzpI/AAAAAAAAAYw/lxFIMiCZFSQ/s640/Cuenca,+Ecuador+011.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">New Years Day dinner was at my new condo with Bryan, Jimmy, Mayra, her two kids and Jimmy's sister from Quito Anna. Bryan brought the turkey and somehow we managed to cook it! It was a fun day and marked the New Year in my new country!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Wishing the best of the New Year to all!</span></div>
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AAA Living in Cuencahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13024833876074442846noreply@blogger.com1