Jack and Claudia's Adventure

Saturday, February 11, 2012

January 2012

Hi all, sorry for the delay in writing but again we have been dealing with health issues. Jack fell and sprained his ankle three weeks ago so we have been laying pretty low with his leg elevated. I wont share a picture of the purple thing but it was pretty ugly!

Additionally, my Mom passed away January 19th. I did not go north as we had pretty much said good bye when I visited last May. Her Parkinson's kicked into high gear very quickly and she passed in her sleep. She will be buried with my dad at the National Cemetery in White City, Oregon. They were both WWII veterans and we are very proud of their service.

January in Cuenca continues to have parades celebrating the Christ Child with angles, wise men, and the Holy Family. I love the beautiful little ones on great big horses in the parades.

Before the fall we had a great dinner at the Parrillada de Hector which is on the hillside off the autopista. Its a traditional grill and the view of great and the food pretty good.

We are finally getting out a little and are looking forward to a dinner at Calvary Chapel which is part of the new outreach to the English speaking community in Cuenca. Services are now offered in English on Sunday's at 10 AM and have been a blessing. http://www.calvarychapelec.info/ check it out.

The other big thing is while Jack put his leg up I painted the kitchen and just had ceramic tile put down. It was a week of eating out or bringing home take-out but I love the new brighter look of the kitchen!

Well take care and thanks for reading!

Remember Tuesday is Dia de San Valentin! Ecuadorian roses are probably in your flower markets where ever you are in the world as rose growers here ship all over the world.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Small Efficiency Apartment For Short Term Rent

We have had a great time sharing the little one bedroom apartment over the back of our house with gringos from other parts of Ecuador and gringos from abroad. Thought I would share picures of the place.

Our Place

Living/Dining Room

Storage in Living Room

Efficiency Kitchen

With Single but but now have a Queen!

So if you are coming to Cuenca and need a little place to park for a short term let us know!

No Way It's January

I was looking at the last post and wondering where the time has gone! I had great plans to share our Thanksgiving Feast at Doyle and Nancy's but got very ill the night before and missed it! Then Christmas came and cookies were made by Rubin, Mateo, and Sara

and went with Jack developing a case of cellulitus and spending 4 days in the hospital (Sinia) where the care was great but the food not worth eating, and I am fighting with my new camera program that wont transfer the photos in to the blog with the correct orientation . . .

We were advised that if you want different results you need to do something different so we resolved to go to out for New Years Eve. Had a great time at California Kitchen but headed for home at 12:07! had to dodge the street parties and burning of the old year on the way home.

Another favorite new place is the San Sebas Cafe. The food is wonderful, the people great, and the prices right!

Enjoying Brunch

We have enjoyed making new friends who have stayed in our little apartment upstairs...details to follow!

Happy New Year!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Early November - North to Riobamba

At the beginning of the month we loaded all three dogs in the car and headed north. Riobamba was the goal and it was the first time the puppies had a long drive. Riobamba is the capital of the Chimborazo Provance. I had bought a kennel to put in the back of the car for the puppies, big mistake. They both got car sick! Oh well lesson learned. We stopped along the way and got medicine for them and moved them to my lap. They were much happier!!

The trip was another amazing lesson in the varied topography of Ecuador.

High green pastures

Dry mountain sides

River canyons

Just WOW

And more WOW

The road is a good road and the views are fabulous. We passed through many small towns each with its church hundreds of years old. I think the date on this one was in the late 1500!

Riobamba has a population of about 95,000 and at an elevation slightly higher than Cuenca. The streets are wide, not nearly as clean as Cuenca but a perosn we met who knows both cities compares Riobamba to Cuenca 15 years ago.

Riobamba

The streets downtown were closed for a fiesta!

Jack and the kids at the Hostel Oasis

Hostel Oasis, not much to look at from the street but

Inside is an Oasis!!!!

Row of tailers with their tredal machines in the plaza market

Mercado - you can't really see but all the vendors wear green uniforms

Just north of Riobamba is Guano known for its rugs

Central Park in Guano

Jack and the girls taking a nap after a hard day of sightseeing!

The camera could not capture the expanse of the mountains and the deep canyons we saw on this trip you just have to come and see for yourself!!! The volcano Chimborazo hid itself in clouds while we where there. Chimborazo is the tallest mountain in Ecuador (6,310 meters that's 20,702 feet) and due to the bulge of the earth at the equator its' peak is actually the farthest point from the center of the earth, farther than Mt. Everest.

We had two great dinners in Riobamba one at Bonny Restaurant and another at an Italian place that was fabulous. No point in giving the name as they are closing and have to move as the property they rent has been sold. They may move to Cuenca which would be fabulous as it was delicious!!!

The return trip was uneventful, just a review of the wonderful sights of drivng in the Andes. We will make this trip again!

After our return home we tried a new coffee shop - Moca Cafe on Gran Columbia west of Unidad Nacional in the Excaliber Building for a breakfast burrito. Jack said the coffee was GREAT and I really enjoyed a whole pot of tea with my burrito! Sorry no picture! Anyway a nice change of pace....German bakery products too to go with your coffee!!!

Hope all is well in your world. Thanks for following!!!! Chau for now.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Birthday Trip Part 2 - The Road Home

After a good nights sleep we headed for Cuenca via the road to Paute on which we came. When we got a few miles up the road out of Mendez we came to a line of trucks stopped and the road closed. I asked the fellow in the hard hat how much longer and he said until about 3 PM! This was 10 AM. Jack says we are not sitting in this sun and humidity for 5 hours even if we are at the head of the line. Famous last words, "there must be another way". Out comes the map and we decied to head for Gualaquiza, it's only 124 km south and then over the Andes to SigSig....so we turn around and head down the mountain and then south.

Part of the way is great new concrete road . . . which suddenly truns to dirt, and then back to new road.

When we reach Gualaquiza we turn on the GPS and it tells us to turn around and head back the way we came . . hum, turns out it was set to avoid dirt roads....Shawn figures out how to change the preferences but only after I hire a cab to show us the road to SigSig. We climb out of the valley into the most breath taking scenery we have encountered in Ecuador thus far..

Night begins to fall and we are still climbing the Andes on a single lane dirt road.

We saw a waterfall that must be close to 2000 feet high but the picture did not turn out well so I guess we have to go again!

Anyway night fell, we entered the clouds and the rain and still we climbed the Andes! At one point we were going 5 to 10 km/hr with Shawn hanging out the window to keep us on the road!!!

To make a long story short, it took us 12 hours to get home instead of the 6 it took to get there but the reward was seeing parts of Ecuador that were fabulous. We are so thankful for all-wheel drive!!!

We had a great vist with our kids and look forward to their return. It was the best birthday present!

The drive to Guayaquil was peaceful and the wildlife came out to say "Hasta LaVista" in a grand way.

Thanks for following....Chau for now!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

My Birthday Trip!

It is hard to believe it is the end of October. Life has been it's usual chaos, Jacks blood clot returned so he has been taking nightly shots which has left him more tired than usual. I can't even remember the month of September, but October has been a blast. I will probably break the month up just for ease of telling the story!

October 1st our youngest son, Shawn and his wife, Amy, arrived for a 10 day visit. This was my 60th birthday gift! We drove to Guayaquil and stayed at the Continental Hotel which was quite nice and had a HUGE breakfast buffet included. Of course their flight was delayed by 2 hours in Panama so they arrived at about 2 AM but then that's not unusual. Sorry no pictures of the arrival but I will explain later. After the huge breakfast we drove over the Andes to Cuenca. The llamas in the Cajas were quite obliging. Our dear friends Noshy and company had stayed with the dogs over night and had a lovely typical Ecuadorian dinner waiting for us.

The next day we headed out to see the sights of Cuenca. First stop was the San Francisco Market. Jack stayed in the car while we wandered around. I left my bag in the car . . . well you probably guessed it but Jack fell asleep with the windows down and someone reached in and stole my bag with my purse, camera, Jacks blood sugar meter, etc., while he snored! Thus no arrival pictures, pictures of the iguanas in the park in Guayaquil, or llamas in the Cajas!!!!

Needless to say our plans for tourism quickly changed. I dashed home to make all the requisite phone calls to credit card and debit card companies while Jack and the kids had lunch and bought me a new camera. Our afternoon plan went unchanged and we headed to Hosteria Duran in Banos.

We enjoyed the hot pool and tried to relax. It is a lovely place! Just before dinner we realized the blood glucose meter was in my purse so I dashed back to Cuenca as I thought we had an old one and some tabs. Found one and enough tabs to get through the night and on the way back to Banos a miracle happened. I got a call from a lady who said she had my BAG! We arranged a meeting and sure enough, it was my bag and the credit cards were still in it! The camera, meter, $10, and my clip-on dark glasses and case were the only thing missing!

After a lazy morning we headed in to town and did a driving tour, met Gary and Sue Gaither for almuerso at La Molienda on Honorato Vasquez, great food, and $2.50 each. Guess Sue took the picture!

That afternoon Shawn and I had massages, Amy soaked in the pool, and Jack napped.

We arose early, and headed for our jungle adventure near Macas in the Oriente. Noshy made reservations at Casa Blanca in Macas and they recommended a guide for a day trip into the Shuar region of the jungle. The drive over was full of breath taking views and the expected dirt roads. The shortest way is via Limon but that road is still closed so we routed through Paute and Mendez.

Typical road work, this time from a slide

Lots of horses on the way

Views and more views

Orchids along the road

Future butterfly in Macas

Church of the Virgin of Macas

We stayed at the Casa Blanca, very nice folks, even a pool. Rooms are basic but we would stay again for $15-19 per person including breakfast.

The next morning Daniel Ayui (086144264) meet us at the hotel and off to the jungle in a taxi. We had our botas (rubber boots) with us, a day packs with water, insect repellant, and rain ponchos. Daniel was a great guide. He is Shuar, lives in the jungle with his wife and 11 children. As we walked through he stopped and told us about the medicinal values of various plans. He understands some English and speaks Spanish and Shuar. Even with my limited Spanish he did great job and he was able to share about his love of his jungle, his lifestyle, and his earnest desire to protect the jungle.