Posts:
One of the things Cuenca does especially well is variety. Cafés here are not interchangeable. Each one attracts a slightly different mix of people, activities, and expectations, often without anyone saying a word. Knowing which café fits your rhythm makes all the...
Cuenca has received another “best in class” distinction, being named the "Best City in South America" by the World Travel Index. The city’s new number one ranking follows earlier designations as the safest city in Latin America and best for quality of life by the...
Bored? - (De El Mercurio del miércoles, 14/1) Florecimiento de guayacanes (Flowering of guayacan trees) - The City of Zapotillo announced that the flowering of the guayacanes will start el 17/1 thanks to the recent rains <no hour given, you'll just have to drive...
According to two university studies, foreign tourists visiting Cuenca are younger and more European than they were ten years ago. One of the studies found that newer expats also reflect the demographic trend. By far the biggest change in the city's tourism market,...
Where are you from? I’m never quite sure how to answer this question. In my experience, North Americans tend to move around more than others, but rarely is anyone asking for my life’s story when they ask where I’m from. Do I respond with where I was born, where I grew...
Cuenca’s four rivers are running full again, thanks to four days of rain. According to ETAPA meteorologist Rigoberto Guerrero, the city has officially received 38 millimeters (1.5 inches) of rain since Thursday and more is on the way. “If the prediction is correct, I...
By Alia Chughtai After the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the United States on January 3, nearby countries that host large Venezuelan communities, including Colombia and Peru, have warned of a potential new influx of refugees if the country is...
Hungry? - (De El Mercurio del domingo, 11/1) El sabor venezolano en Cuenca (The taste of Venezuela in Cuenca) - Some immigrants shared their stories full of sacrifice and resilience and maintaining the essence of their land with each culinary creation. Yasenia...
After you start noticing the different tables in Cuenca, something else becomes harder to ignore. It is not just that people gather at different cafés or at different hours. It is that those tables often reflect very different assumptions about risk, visibility, and...
By Calvin Trillin "But haven't you been there before?" That's what people tended to say when they heard that I was about to spend a week or so in Cuenca. "Funny, I never get that sort of response with Paris," I would reply. If I mentioned that I was about to spend a...
By Larry Scherwitz, PhD Those of us who live in Cuenca know how fortunate we are to have physicians who truly listen—doctors who take time, think carefully, and treat us as whole human beings. One of those doctors is Dr. Pablo Parra. For more than 35 years, Dr. Parra...
Curious? - (De El Mercurio del martes, 6/1/2026) Proyectan lluvias (Forecast for rain) - A high probability of rain in Cuenca is predicted for this week according to the daily forecast published by ETAPA EP based on information from The Weather Channel. <So if...
There was a time, and it was not so very long ago, when the Republic of Ecuador would hand you a retirement visa if you could prove an income of about seven hundred dollars a month. That was back when rotary dial phones still worked and avocado toast had not yet been...
To conserve water, management of the Mazar hydroelectric complex is operating only two of three generation stations downstream from the reservoir. CelecSur said Tuesday that the power generation shortfall is being made up by other generation plants in the country as...
Bored? - (De El Mercurio del domingo, 4/1/2026) Nueva app UDA Book reúne más de 350 obras (New UDA Book app brings together more than 350 works) - <This would probably only be an antidote to boredom in Spanish.> The Universidad del Azuay launched a free, new...
Spend enough time in Cuenca’s cafés and you start to notice something subtle. The room is full, yet the tables rarely mix. Older expats often sit with people who arrived around the same time, share similar routines, and meet at familiar hours. Younger expats are...
Feliz Año Nuevo a todos y espero que el año empazó con bendiciones para todos ustedes. Curious? - (From El Mercurio del miércoles, 31/12/2025) Ultiman tasa en pago de agua (Rate finalized in water bill) - La Empresa Municipal de Aseo de Cuenca (EMAC EP - the city...
Someone once asked me how long it takes for a package to be shipped from Temu in China to Cuenca, and the question simply is not that easy as it involves multiple actors, customs clearance in Quito, and taking into account factors like days of the week and public...
By Liam Higgins An immigration researcher says Cuenca’s population of North American and European expats is growing again. “The numbers were steady for several years despite the bad news about crime on the coast, but they began to increase in late 2024 and this...
Cuencanos celebrated the new year Wednesday night with concerts, fireworks, the burning of año viejo monigotes and plenty of holiday drink. The largest party was at Parque Calderon where celebrants were treated to musical performances on the big stage in front of the...
