vilcabamba

We took our first overnight trip away from Cuenca last week since our arrival in Ecuador last month.  The town of Vilcabamba is approximately 150 miles south of Cuenca, nestled in a lush green valley.  It is surrounded by gorgeous green mountains, the most notable being Mandango ("Sleeping Incan"), which looks like the face of a person laying down with his/her face turned up to the sky.  This area is also known as the Valley of Longevity because many of its residents are reported to live well past 100 years old.  Some studies have suggested that this may be due to the local diet, but it appears that the accuracy of the residents' reported ages has come into question.  We made sure to drink lots of the local water, just in case.

We made the journey with our new friends, Rich, Jen and their 5 year-old daughter, Clara.  A private van can be arranged to take you straight from Cuenca to Vilcabamba, but we decided to take a bus to Loja, a larger town approximately 45 minutes north of Vilcabamba, and then a taxi for the remainder of the trip.  The scenery along the 4 hour bus trip was stunning, however, not for the faint-of-heart.  The road rises and falls sharply as you cross the mountains with hairpin turns and Ecuadorian drivers are not afraid of speed.  We made it safely and enjoyed a relaxing 4 days, complete with horseback riding, hikes, swimming (briefly!) in the freezing hotel pool and professional massages.  I have been toying with the idea of making a video slideshow of some of our photos and this trip seemed to lend itself well to the process.  In lieu of photos on this page, I have included a link to my Vimeo page where you can see the slideshow.  Another HUGE thanks goes to Rich Cameron for the use of some of his photos… if you see a photo that takes your breath away, it's probably his.

Vilcabamba slideshow

--  Ileana

the city of gold and "Panama" hats

The girls resting up before the big climb!

My most recent posts have been a bit self-indulgent with personal info (birthdays, new homes) so it's time to show off our new city a little more.  The city of Cuenca was built on the ruins of the Incan city of Pumapungo ("the door of the puma").  When the Incans defeated the previous inhabitants of this part of the Andes, the Canari, in the late 15th century, they decided to build a grand city.  When the first Spaniards began arriving in the 16th century, they were told of a great city of gold, El Dorado, built by the Incans.  By the time they reached present-day Cuenca, Pumapungo was only ruins, destroyed by its own people.  It is thought that Pumapungo, and thus Cuenca, may have been this fabled City of Gold.  The day we went to the Pumapungo Ruins with our friends Rich and Clara, it pretty much just looked like a bunch of perfectly aligned rocks on a very tall, steep hill.  But they have also added an aviary at the bottom to showcase some of Ecuador's numerous bird species and it affords some fantastic views from the top.  And all of this is a 10 minute walk from our house… gosh I love living here!

Gracie inspects the 500 year-old irrigation ditch

 

As some of you may have heard, one of Ecuador's active volcanos, Tungurahua, erupted several times over the weekend, sending pyroclastic flows (a fancy term for lava flows and my new favorite word) and huge plumes of ash several miles into the sky.  We are over 100 miles away from this volcano, so we did not see it, but we did get a little present the next day in the form of a thin layer of volcanic ash over the entire city of Cuenca.  Because of this, we decided to concentrate on indoor activities today to minimize particulate inhalation.  So we paid a visit to the Museo del Sombrero de Paja Toquilla.  Literally translated, the Museum of the Hat of Toquilla Straw.  Better known as, the Panama Hat.  That's right… the Panama hat is actually from Ecuador.  These tightly-woven straw hats were made in Ecuador (many from right here in Cuenca) but carried to Panama for distribution in the 1800s due that country's superior shipping routes and trade possibilities.  Unfortunately for Ecuador, as the hat traveled around the world, its origin was mistakenly attributed to Panama.  The nail in the coffin for the Toquilla straw hat came when a photo was taken of Theodore Roosevelt wearing one of the hats while surveying the building of the Panama Canal.

Craig is a sucker for a good hat so, after touring the very small museum, we went into the store/factory where they still make and sell these hats.

the toquilla straw

hat in mid-weave

 



 After inspecting several and speaking with the owners, Craig discovered that they will custom make a hat right there in the store and give a 40% discount on your birthday!!  And guess who's birthday is in 2 weeks?????? Happy Birthday, Craig!!

--  Ileana

Happy Birthday, Sofia!

Sofia has the distinction of being the first of us to celebrate a birthday in Ecuador.  And within 3 weeks of our arrival, which filled me with a little bit of dread.  What can we do to make it special?  Will we know anyone to justify throwing a little party?  Where do we find a birthday cake? (I have not attempted to bake at this high altitude yet and didn't think such a special dessert should be my 1st attempt.)  However, we have made friends with kids quickly so we put together a little gathering.  Having a birthday in January and living in Oregon has doomed Sofia to a lifetime of indoor birthday parties, so we thought we should take advantage of having a "summer" birthday while living in the southern hemisphere and have her party outside at our favorite park.

Birthday Girl!

We are at the stage when the command,
"Smile!" gets you this face.

Setting up the party, no rain in sight

Cuenca's weather is a little like Florida or Hawaii… the late morning and early afternoon are sunny and warm, but there is often a mid-late afternoon rain shower.  And the day of Sofia's party was no different!  The rain started coming down about 30 minutes into the outdoor festivities.  Luckily, our guests are very accommodating people and walked the 3 blocks in the rain to our apartment to continue the party.

 

An appetizer of cake was followed by a (mostly) dry walk to Sofia's favorite "Ecuadorian" restaurant, Fabiano's, for a pizza dinner.  Good times were had by all!  A special shout-out goes to our new friend, Rich, for many of the fabulous photos in this post.  You will be seeing more of his work in upcoming posts, as his daughter, Clara, is becoming a fast-friend of Sofia's.

--  Ileana

Our trek to Fabiano's includes a hike
up La Escalinata.

The birthday crew at Fabiano's