Posts:
By Sylvester Grahame La Olla Esmeraldena, Gran Colombia 13-62 and Estevez de Toral, is a jammed-packed joint that is as cheery as a day at the beach and has food that is both bright and welcoming. Ceviches from $5, a hearty almuerzos or the extravagant, Mariscos al...
CuencaHighLife editor David Morrill recently sent me a copy of a story he read in the Quito newspaper El Comercio. He said it was quite a sad story yet newsworthy and asked if I would rewrite it in English for our readers. I read the story twice but I heard a...
Although the oldest Generation Xers are only 58, the Gen X population is hot on the heels of the baby boomer generation exiting North America seeking a better life abroad. The Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Ys, and Millennia’s are familiar terms that reflect popular...
By Sylvan Hardy When Ronny Bustamante and Vera Boonyatarp heard that Cuenca’s Thai Connection restaurant was for sale, the timing couldn’t have been better. “We were living in Quito at the time and were ready to make a change in our lives,” says Ronny. “We had been...
By Julia Rux Ecuador has so many distinct regions — the Andes with volcanoes, the Amazon/Oriente, the Coast, and the Galapagos — that many expats never get a chance to thoroughly explore. I was intrigued by a new model for travel called Wanderbus that offers the...
Does going “gluten-free” mean you’ll automatically lose weight, shrink your “wheat belly” or prevent Alzheimer’s disease? Or as Jimmy Kimmel demonstrated quite hilariously, are you someone who has stopped eating gluten because someone in your Yoga class told you to?...
By Jill Cornfield Retirement may mean different things to different people, but most agree on one thing. It should be stress-free. However, lack of stress usually comes from years of planning and decades of saving — which not everyone can do. The average savings...
Editor's note: This is a first of a series of articles about exploring Latin America. By R.S. Gompertz Coca leaf was the original special ingredient in America’s now favorite soft drink. The “intellectual beverage” was advertised to be a “valuable brain tonic and cure...
I carry a camera with me nearly everywhere and almost every day. It encourages me to keep my eyes open to possibilities -- there is always something special happening in Cuenca, my job is to record a moment and share it with you. Here are ten of my favorites taken...
By Dr. Anna Wilson Soon after my arrival in Cuenca I noticed a phenomenon. I call it the “I’m-a-better-gringo-than-you” chorus. These are self-appointed expat police or behavior modification doctors. It starts when someone reports, on social media or at a social...
By Robert Bradley It may come as no surprise but being pampered while surrounded in natural beauty and enjoying fine dinners in a safe environment are the top requirements of people over 65 when planning their Ecuador vacation. Norma Cristina Bock, professor at the...
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...
“My grandfather brought this back from Bolivia in 1924. He was stationed down there, working for a mining company when he was young. He always spoke of South America with great fondness as being a very special place; ‘It is not the United States at all,’ he would...
By Silvia Marchetti Half a century ago, the picturesque Sicilian town of Poggioreale was hit by an earthquake that caused most of its citizens to flee for good, even though many buildings remained standing. About 350 citizens died in the magnitude 6.1 quake while...
A reader wrote to ask, "Is white rice bad for you?" She was talking about weight management. But let's talk nutrition too. The world is getting rounder, and I don't mean the geographical sphere we call planet Earth, I mean the inhabitants. As reported by the World...
By Sylvester Grahame One of the more ambitious restaurants I have had the pleasure to visit lately is, Huarmi’s at Coronel Talbot 9-39 and Gran Colombia. Open for a year, the sparsely decorated dining room is particularly fitting as it does not detract from the lively...
If you’ve been looking for Ecuadorian recipes with a little international flare, your hostess is Layla Pujol, commonly known as Laylita. Layla grew up in Vilcabamba and Loja, south of Cuenca, but lives today in Seattle, in the U.S., with her French husband and two...
Are you living in Ecuador or are you thinking of moving here? A regular query on social media posts is, “What should I bring from home?“ Recently, I’ve seen, “Should I bring down an Instant Pot?” Another was, “Can I buy an Instant Pot in Cuenca?” The answers are,...
Editor's note: This post has nothing to do with Ecuador, Cuenca or expatriatism. It is about one writer's enduring interest in the man who courted his great-great-grandmother during the U.S. Civil War. The article appeared originally as a newspaper column in 2001....
We recently returned from a three-week journey in Florida, U.S., traveling almost two-thousand miles around the state, visiting big and small cities, little towns and, of course, beaches. And everywhere was plastic, from plastic bags at every grocery store to...
Week of September 20
Ecuador turns to industrial power cuts to protect Mazar and keep homes from going dark.
Ecuador raises its 2026 growth forecast, but El Niño could spoil the outlook next year.
Cuenca retirees challenge medical and therapy changes at IESS senior center.
