Travel

Editor´s note: Edd Staton is a Cuenca resident, writer and community activist. He is author of the Edd Said blog, www.eddsaid.blogspot.com, and writes a column for Cuenca´s afternoon newspaper, La Tarde. My wife and I returned home from the United States Tuesday, and we felt Ecuador with us all the way. In the airport restaurant...

In a newspaper story translated by and posted on this website, the Ecuadorian Minister of Tourism claimed that Cuenca receives approximately 100,000 out-of-town visitors annually. If this is accurate, that averages out to a little less than 300 per night.    Naturally, this doesn’t account for high times: Christmas, New Year’s, the week of All Saints...

The following is by Charles R. Phillips, an Ecuador resident. He is the author of Blue Book for Grassroots Politics, published by Thomas Nelson & Co. Phillips is retired and lives in Cuenca. One of the most difficult decisions for new expats — after deciding to make Ecuador their home — is whether or not...

Editor’s Note: Frank and Shel Drake scouted Ecuador in February and March looking for a retirement and expatriation destination; the story of how and where they found it is told in 10 installments on CuencaHighLife.com. This is the second installment of a new series on getting ready to move to Cuenca. Frank is a seasoned globe-trotter...

Editor’s Note: Frank and Shel Drake scouted Ecuador in February and March looking for a retirement and expatriation destination; the story of how and where they found it is told in 10 installments on CuencaHighLife.com. This is the first installment of a new series on getting ready to move to Cuenca. Frank is a seasoned...

Editor’s note: This is the final installment of a multi-part series chronicling the adventures of Shel and Frank Drake on their first visit to Ecuador. Frank is a travel writer and Shel is a professional travel photographer. After breakfast at the sushi joint, we took a cab to the airport ($3 this time) and met...

Editor’s note: This is the ninth installment of a multi-part series chronicling the adventures of Shel and Frank Drake on their first visit to Ecuador. Frank is a travel writer and Shel is a professional travel photographer. We took our leave from breakfast and off we went to the fresh-food Mercado 9 de Octubre, which...

Editor’s note: This is the eighth installment of a multi-part series chronicling the adventures of Shel and Frank Drake on their first visit to Ecuador. Frank is a travel writer and Shel is a professional travel photographer.  In 2008 Stern, Germany’s version of Newsweek magazine, rated Cuenca the best place to live in Latin American...

Editor’s note: This is the seventh installment of a multi-part series chronicling the adventures of Shel and Frank Drake on their first visit to Ecuador. Frank is a travel writer and Shel is a professional travel photographer. The plane touched down at Cuenca’s Mariscal Lamar, the cutest little airport you ever saw, especially for a city of...

Editor’s note: This is the sixth installment of a multi-part series chronicling the adventures of Frank and Shel Drake on their first visit to Ecuador. Frank is a travel writer and Shel Drake is a professional travel photographer. We found Ibarra to be a heavy-duty Ecuadorian city, ninth largest in the country with a population...

Note: The following is a blog post by experienced trekker, RoundPicture. As he points out, hiking the Cajas can be strenuous and is often dangerous. Trails can be poorly marked and weather is unpredictable with temperatures falling well below freezing at night. Prepare well before hiking.   As I mentioned in my post about Cuenca,...