Brian Buckner

I did not become many of the things I am until later on in my life. And I’m still heartily invested in my “becoming.” It takes a long time to “grow up” in just about every sense of the term. There’s physical maturation, which we have little control over. And then there’s the maturation of...
Almost four years ago, I caught a bus for line #19 and rode it to its termination point west of Cuenca. It was a year before our truck, El Fantasma, would make his berth wherever Edie and I went. I entered the Yanuncay Valley on foot that day by way of Via Soldados, which was...
Of course, you’ve noticed there’s more than one type of rain. It falls at different rates in different amounts and is usually driven by various wind forces. It may come for a few moments or for days. Droplets quickly complete their journey from the heavens, their energies dissipating as they strike a myriad of surfaces....
Several months ago I took a trip from Ecuador, where I’m in my fourth year of residence, back to the USA. I visited family, watched my first grandchild enter the world and caught up with friends. We were enjoying visiting in my old stomping grounds of the Deep South. Edie, good friends and I were...
Hawaii has ‘em and so do California and Florida … but, Ecuador? You bet your bottom dollar! And before I’m headed off at the pass by those seeking to point out equality of the sexes … yes! There are not only Dudes but Surfer Dudettes to boot. It seems not only men and women but...
A couple of years ago, while in the far reaches of Ecuador’s northern coast, I found something out. I had known to never fully trust any map since I was a scout. But I didn’t know the inherent differences in a “lighthouse,” as the term is used along the Atlantic seaboard of North America, in...
Hi, I’m Martín…Señor Martín Pescador to be exact. Brian isn’t around right now, neither is Edie. El Fantasma is gone too. That’s why I’m doing the writing today. Brian and Edie are my buddies. We’re close enough that Brian is trusting to me to do the talking this time. He said if I did a...
Edie and I were laughing about our constant need to know what’s over the next hill when El Fantasma was almost swallowed by a truck-defying pothole. As we lurched through to the other side, hot coffee was sloshing about the cab and onto my bare legs. I wasn’t exercising on my explicative budget that early...
Hailing from Louisiana, I’ve weathered many summers with 90-plus straight days of temperatures above 100 and humidity to match. A quick trip outside my home would have sweat droplets as big as buckshot scattered across my forehead and rivulets of the same running down my cheeks. I grew up living on a bayou in Louisiana....
The experience of solo hiking in the Caja’s range of the Andes has cost more than one adventurer their lives. Several months ago, according to CuencaHighLife and local newspapers, an experienced hiker in his mid-sixties went missing while hiking there. The man was a native of Ecuador and had hiked for many years in the...
It was early in the morning, barely light out, as the lapping sounds of a rising tide grew more demanding. The ocean’s water was beginning  to flow into some backwater areas near the end of the beach. I kept walking, threading my way among the sinew like mangrove roots that reached up to snarl my...
A successful photographer must be adept at the skills of observation. I watch all types of people in all ways necessary for my purposes. And, I’m good at doing it without detection when I choose to execute that skill set. As I wander aimlessly around various settings, feigning distraction with other thoughts, I’m actually carefully...

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The Cuenca Dispatch

Week of March 24

“They are pressuring me to resign so they can remove me from office,” denounced Verónica Abad, Vice President of the Republic.

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Ecuador Navigates Economic Challenges with IMF Agreement Looming.

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“Since when does thinking differently mean being a traitor?” Pierina Correa questions in reference to the Tourism Law.

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