Ecuador 2013

[dougader]

Some of you may recall that my wife is from Ecuador. We went there together last year for the first time. After I saw my wife with family I knew she needed to see them more often than every 5 years. So we went there again this year.

My wife is from Guayaquil, at sea level, which is hot and humid. While visiting last year, we took a dew days to visit Cuenca which is high up in the mountains and it was 65 - 70 every day. This year we visited the capitol city of Quito, during the week of celebrations for the 479th year since the city was founded. I even got interviewed by a local cable tv channel, RTS 185.

Being back in Oregon I am thankful for a mild winter. Here are a few pics

At La Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World), right on the equator:


Don't eat the cuy (guinea pig)! I got a bad one and was sick the whole next day, in the hotel room taking cipro and gatorade. Cuy does NOT taste like chicken, it is it's own, unique animal.


The Presidential Palace:


Guards at the Palace:


After the military guards waved me through the beeping metal detector (2 knives!!!) I tried to tell them I wanted to wait outside, but they insisted!:


Pululahua Crater. People live and farm down there inside this live volcano:


My wife at the Hero's Monument in front of the Presidential Palace. The live roses are are done up by hand into amazing floral arrangements:

[cmh]

Neat

[squawberryman]

Beautiful pictures and wife. If that was on the coast I'd have had to fish it.

[nolongcolt]

Looks interesting. Never been to South America.

[vonfatman]

Doug,
What a treat to see your photos. Your beautiful wife is a treasure for sure. Merry Christmas.

Bob

[dougader]

Thanks, guys. My nephew did take me fishing in Sabana Grande for corvina and robalo (snook), which are pretty tasty but not big fighters like salmon and steelhead.

[brushpopper]

Quito was my home from 1977 to 1982. I love the place. Good to see pictures, thanks for posting them. Cuy is most definitely an acquired taste, although if a fellow like squirrel, he can take to it. When I arrived in Quito, the 2nd. or 3rd. day I came down with a dose of altitude sickness. It involves chills, shaking, , diarrhea and vomiting, not much different from a dose of the flue or bad food. Quito is 9,000 to 9,500 feet up, depending on where in the city you are.

On your next trip to the Ecuadorian Andes, I would suggest you go north of Quito to Otavalo, the capital of the province of Imbabura. Go for the weekend, so you can be there on market day. You won't be disappointed with Otavalo.

[kings6]

Doug, great pictures and beautiful wife! We went to Peru summer before last and plan on a trip back in the next year of so but Quito is on our wish list as well. Some good friends serve as missionaries in Quito and they have invited us many times over the years.

[dougader]

I've heard great things about Otavalo. There are so many places to see, and so much diversity in Ecuador. We're actually looking toward Loja and Vilcabamba next time. A cousin of a Co-worker has 40 acres down that way.

Traveling by air in country requires patience; both our flights involved delayed/canceled flights and LAN airline workers who were less than forthcoming about the truth of what was actually going on.

The religious and political history is enormous and I love the architecture of the buildings and cathedrals. The family oriented people are wonderful and very helpful and open/friendly.

I wish we could visit more often. Sandra's family is really something extraordinary.

[brushpopper]

I have spent considerable time in Loja province. I lived in Quito, but traveled the entire spine of the Ecuadorian Andes from the Columbian border to the Peruvian border. Most of it I drove (takes some time) but I did fly into Loja a number of times. This is a small town (Saraguro) out of Loja, that required my presence every month or so. I did travel down to the coast and off the other side of the Andes to the jungle from time to time, but I was always glad to get back to the Sierra. I like the climate there ALLOT better.

My experience with Ecuador and Ecuadorians was 100% positive. I had an opportunity to stay there on a permanent basis, but it would require Ecuadorian citizenship, which would mean giving up my USA citizenship, something I was not willing to do.

I do read El Comercio (Quito daily newspaper) on line to keep up with what is going on. Like everywhere, there has been lots of changes since my time there. The government of Raphael Correa is quite left of center, but he seems to be doing a decent job in spite of that.

[dougader]

Retirement there looks like an option, but I am concerned about the left leanings of the current administration myself. It's easy to see where Obama is headed once you've to been to S.A. I've looked a little into residency there, which does not require giving up your US citizenship.

So far I like Cuenca a bit more than Quito as it's a bit smaller in population, has the cooler climate, is a smidge lower in altitude and there is trout (yum!) available in the streams and lakes over that way. It's also closer to the in-laws.

[dougader]

Here's the big cathedral in Quito. Everything inside is covereed in gold leaf, but they don't allow pictures in there even without a flash.


Here's the Redonda in the old part of town, complete with cobblestone streets. Sandra says I look too much like a CIA operative here, LOL.


View of El Panecillo from our hotel room


Up close at El Panecillo, the Virgin. It has steps inside you can walk up if you want.


A shot of the Basilica from a side street. This is the day I was sick so I didn't have the strength to walk up closer... plus the neighborhood was looking a little questionable, too, so we went back to the hotel so I could rest.


The "other" La Mitad del Mundo... fancier, more established, but they now say the line for the equator here is about 240 meters off the mark.


A view of the church and courtyard from our hotel restaurant


Another view of the Hero's monument while facing the Presidential Palace


An example of some of the architecture of the older buildings. Many belonged to wealthy persons when they were built and now are businesses or government buildings.

[brushpopper]

Cuenca is a great place. It was the first town founded by the Spanish at the place where the Spanish defeated the last remnants of the Inca army. The first university was also founded there.

La Compania was built in Quito by the Jesuits in the early 1700' and as such is considered to be the "new church" in town. When I was there I had no trouble taking pictures inside of all the gold work. The alter is hollow and contains the bones of Mariana de Jesus, the only Ecuadorian Catholic Saint. It is made from solid gold.

It is not open to the public, but the old early 1500 cathedral in Quito has extensive catacombs under it. Lots of dead folks down here. I have been down there and it is interesting and spooky at the same time.

Quito was the northern capital of the Inca Empire and the last of the Inca emperors (Atahualpa) was born there. He was done in by Pizzaro, a genuine SOB if every there was one.

Even conservative politics in Ecuador is far left of anything in the United States. The military is the stabilizing influence in that country. If the civilian leaders get to far afield and start hurting the people, they will step in, straighten it out and then have elections and hand it back to the civilians to screw up all over again. Taken as a whole the Officers Corp of the various military branches have always looked after the best interest of La Patria and the people. Unlike other Latin American countries, the military is a very responsible bunch of people.

If one knows the history of Ecuador, they understand Quito to be the Cradle of Liberty in South America. They have a strong tradition of freedom and liberty, although it is a different stripe that that of Jefferson, Franklin and that bunch of folks. I don't think a leftist government will change any of that. It is way to old and too deep.

[dougader]

On the way out of town, to the new airport, the taxi driver/tour guide stopped at an old cathedral in an older part of town. Is the the 1500 cathedral you're talking about? It was very cool, and the pictures we have of it are mediocre, to say the least.



The cathedral in Cuenca was a favorite spot of mine, right across the street from a great park. I was told this is the largest cathedral in S.A.

[brushpopper]

The Cathedral of San Francisco de Quito is located on the SW side of the Plaza de Independencia. It is was completed in 1565, which was 55 years before the Pilgrims hit the beach at Plymouth.

It is the oldest church in Quito by far.