That brand new building behind me in Guayaquil is completely empty.
Remind anyone of office space in downtown San Francisco?
Yesterday's wake-up was early facilitate departure from the Polaris.
I realized that since I would be given a city tour of Guayaquil and there
was little to see in Guayaquil I would be best served by a prompt departure
from that port city.
An event which had been occupying the minds of several of us (those intending to travel further in Ecuador) was the eruption of the volcano Reventador sixty miles east of Quito, the capital of Ecuador.
So much ash was deposited on Quito that the airport closed for several days and 12,000 troops came into the city to help with sweeping up the ash. Taxis parked to block roads to stop traffic which would swirl the ash into the air. Realizing that Quito was a bad choice to visit, I reserved a seat on a Tamé flight to Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador, with a population of 200,000. It sits an the banks of the river Tomebamba. Bonus! Cuenca is also the center of Panama hat production in Ecuador: I can shop for hats! (Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador)
A few notes on yesterday's travels. Upon the shuttle bus depositing us at
the air terminal in Baltra in the Galapagos we waited in the terminal for a
bit. As we waited I espied the area where the next group of Polaris
passengers would arrive. I commented on how we were bewildered and ignorant
upon arrival on Baltra and the Polaris passengers prior to us
probably witnessed our arrival. It was like a science fiction story where
you experience something completely novel and then
time travel back to see yourself experiencing that situation, but
watching it from the experienced perspective. It was very surreal. Then I
had a bonus finish to our trip. I had been happily assigned a window seat.
Since we had mostly been experiencing grey skies during our Galapagos
voyage it was not unexpected for our airplane to top a cloud layer. Because
it was almost mid-day and near the equator, the sun was almost directly
above us. Looking down on the white clouds I could see a circular rainbow
imposed on the white clouds moving along with our airplance. It was at the
classic rainbow angle.
Since I had no idea what it was I ordered locro cuencano, a soup in
Cuenca style. I don't like it - the cheese or cottage chees in it doesn't
quite agree with me. Aha - my spanish phrase book says that
yaguarlocro has barely congealed blood sausage in it. Well I tried
it.
A really funny happenstance. Yesterday evening on the tour bus on the way back to the Hilton Colon, a fellow passenger, Clare Springs, realized I was going to dine alone so she invited me to join her and her friends for dinner that evening at the hotel grill. I had chatted with here a bit on the prior occasions during the Galapagos islands walks and on deck. It turns out that she travels with a group of friends: they total five - Nice folks. Chatting over dinner, my high school came up. Upon learning that I grew up in Bedford Clare asked more and also revealed that she grew up on Crow Hill Road. The very same road I lived on for the first eleven years of my childhood! My parents would likely have known her family's 400 acre parcel (with an 8 acre lake) by the name Kohlberg, for the Springs had sold to them. A very odd coincidence to meet someone in Guayaquil - a city neither of us had heard of six months prior - who grew up on the same street as me!
Guayaquil was hot and muggy - another reason for a hasty departure. As I had hoped, Cuenca turns out to be cool and drier - like San Francisco in some ways. It is due to Cuenca being located at an altitude of 8,298 feet. Wow.
That's pretty high. I wonder if I'll have trouble sleeping or headaches.
Another side note: during yesterday's Guayaquil city tour I asked our guide what percent of Ecuador's water is purified. She replied that the government claims that all of it is, but the people belive none of it is. She boils water twenty minutes for drinking or for washing babies. I was surprised that the government had not made greater efforts to provide clean water but others demurred saying that people were more concerned with finding food. The guide also said she thought that the middle class in Ecuador was diminishing, which was bad for the country. A doctor earns much more in Chile, she said.
there is a nice view of the city of Cuenca from the 9th floor restaurant at Hotel Presidente where I stayed |
and one can watch the schoolboys assembling at the school across the street |
there is a nice large place in Cuenca |
walking around the city I saw how milk is delivered - steel cans in the back of a pick-up |
