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Cuenca´s tourist information office reports that complaints about taxi fares always increase during holiday seasons and this year is no exception. Juan Sebastian Maldonado, an official with iTUR, says that most complaints involve taxi fare from the...
Rosa Martinez used to stroll to the local money transfer office in Corona every week to send $200 to her family in Cuenca. She still goes to the Delgado Travel office, but not to send money. Instead, it is she who collects a little cash from those family members in...
After weeks of delays and hundreds of dollars in contributions from Cuenca’s expat community, the memorial mural honoring Gualaceao native Marcelo Lucero, murdered in the U.S. in 2008, was dedicated Saturday at Gualaceo’s Casona Municipal. The mural was...
Although there is overwhelming consensus that there was never a coup attempt during last week’s police strike, President Rafael Correa refuses to give up the idea that the strike was an effort to destabilize his government. In his weekly television and radio...
Cuenca remained peaceful Thursday as a strike by national police turned violent in Guayaquil and Quito. Many Cuenca stores and banks closed for part of the day but local police remained on duty. Because of an airport closure in Quito, Cuenca’s airport was shut...
Mike Olson, 65, lives in a modest apartment in Yonkers, a northern suburb of New York. Like many people, he plans to move south to a warmer climate when he retires next month. But in his case, that warmer climate is not just below the Mason-Dixon Line; it's in...
Jorge Rojas, director of the Azuay Civil Registry says that no marriages between Ecuadorians and non-Ecuadorians have been challenged in the province. Nationwide, immigration officials have revoked the citizenship of more than 200 foreigners married to Ecuadorians,...
Matt Scherr, a councilman in Minturn, a small town outside of Vail, Colorado, is packing up and moving to Ecuador. Scherr plans to spend about two and a half years in the South American country with his wife, Diana, 6-year-old daughter, Piper, and 4-year-old...
Those living on Cuenca’s west side, especially in neighborhoods bordering Av. Ordonez Lazo, can expect major traffic disruptions that will last for a year. According to Cuenca transportation officials, construction of an overpass at the Simón...
As he leads 100 children to the glacier of Ecuador's highest mountain, Chimborazo, Fabian Zurita does not utter a word. The inactive volcano tops out at more than 6,300 meters (20,718 feet) above sea level, and the wind is strong. Like any sportsman, Mr. Zurita...
Concerned with an increase in crime, provincial and city governments have increased the number of local law enforcement personnel in Cuenca by more than 600. The number includes 400 Army troops, trained in law enforcement, who are focusing on eliminating...
Marco Tapia, the 31-year-old mayor of Gualaceo, a town of 40,000 in the outskirts of Cuenca, wants his people back. "Basta, Gualaceños! You've made enough money,'' said Tapia during an interview last Sunday in the modest home a relative in the...
AirCuenca finally took to the skies August 2, four months behind schedule. According to a company spokesperson, the delay was due to an unexpectedly lengthy approval process by Ecuador’s civil aviation authority. The new airline flies between Cuenca, Quito and...
When ambitious siblings vie for political power there are two extremes. There is the Roman way: Romulus kills Remus for control of the city. There is the Labour way: David and Ed Miliband wish each other luck in the party leadership race. Somewhere in between –...
Cuenca city officials say that elimination of parking spaces on six historic district streets has improved traffic flow. They say that the full impact of the changes won’t be felt until roadwork, especially on Calle Simon Bolivar, is completed in September....
When a friend told me recently that there are 4,000 gringos living permanently in Cuenca, I asked where he got his information. “I read it in a blog,” he said. “Who’s blog?” I asked. “I don’t remember,” he...
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...
Referred to by a travel magazine in 2008 as Cuenca’s version of Rick’s Café of Casablanca movie fame, the Eucalyptus Café is easily the city’s best known restaurant and bar among tourists and foreign residents. Lonely Planet rates...
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...
The owners of bars, liquor stores and gas station convenience stores are up in arms about new nationwide restrictions on the sale of alcoholic. They say that tens of thousands of job will be lost and that the new rules are a draconian response to problems that could...
