Six expats who satisfy the appetites and help the poor of Cuenca; Illegal pill factory is busted; Gasoline prices rise again; Enjoy the natural beauty of El Pan

Bored? –
(De El Mercurio del sábado, 11/4) Naturaleza y vida rural (Nature and rural life) – The canton of El Pan, 63 km. northeast of Cuenca, offers visitors gastronomic routes, country estates, and hands-on experiences. Some of the attractions are the spectacled bear route, the Turi, Cari, and Huarmi Colly lookouts as well as the Río Coyai, the Ñuñurco peak and Peña Blanca. The economy is based on farming and ranching. There are also community tourism and gastronomic routes including the hornado (roast pig) of Mamá Panchita, Restaurante Corvel, Casona de Palmas, Frutiland and the Destilería Los Torres.

Adam Burton was born in Texas and moved to Cuenca 16 years ago. Today he manages the popular Café San Sebas on San Sebastian Plaza. (El Mercurio)

One of the rural experiences is at the Finca Agroturística Don Antonio where people live close to the land and can try handcrafted products such as liquors <Yoohoo, the booze is calling you.>, yogurt, manjar and jams and jellies. Your visit will include a guided tour of the crops, harvesting agricultural products <ironic – rich gringos coming south so they can pick crops whereas in their home country they’d never stoop to do this type of work>, explanations of agricultural practices and preparing traditional recipes with the fresh picked ingredients. <And maybe you could skip the table part of “farm to table” by wiping the dirt off the produce and just popping it into your mouth.>

40 minutes from the canton center, in the Collay Chico sector, is the access to the Las Dudas waterfalls which is a system of 12 waterfalls in the Collay forest. You will need to walk along irregular paths and through wet sections, so adequate footwear is recommended <you can find botas de siete vidas at lots of places in Cuenca>. The site also offers camping, fishing, and guided tours. The forest of Collay is part of this route and there are species that live in these mountain forests such as the spectacled bear, Andean tapir, and birds which can be seen along the trails.

Frank Illing moved to Cuenca from Germany in 1992 and started Wunderbar on the Hermano Miguel escalinata. Today, he also owns and manages Cafe Austria with his wife Mónica Lemus. (El Mercurio)

(De El Mercurio del sábado, 11/4) La Vicepresidencia convoca a un concurso de fotografía (Vice President’s Office is holding a photography contest) – El Concurso Nacional de Fotografía “Ecos de Identidad” is inviting professional and amateur photographers to portray the cultural diversity of the country, ancestral knowledge, and intangible patrimony that forms part of the Ecuadorian identity. Each photo should be accompanied by a brief narrative of up to 150 words, with a title and credits and will allow contextualizing the work. The contest is open to Ecuadorians and resident foreigners over 18. A category for talented youth under 25 is also being contemplated. The themes are organized into 3 parts: portraits, identity, and society; daily life, trades, and cultural economies; and symbols, clothing and territory. Submittals are due on el 30/4, the judging will be el 15/5, and the show and prizes el 29/5. Go to the web site for the Vice President of the country for the contest rules.

Hungry? –
(De El Mercurio del domingo, 12/4) Special holiday section, “Sin Fronteras” –
The articles are too long to translate and also allow me to get any sleep tonight, so I will just summarize. If you’re interested, you can go to elmercurio.com.ec and read the articles for yourselves.

Originally from California, Peter Dudar serves 160 meals a day free of charge to hungry people in Cuenca’s historic district. (El Mercurio)

Entre Alemania y Austria (Between Germany and Austria) – The article is about Frank Illing who came to Cuenca from Wurzburg in febrero of 1993, intending to stay about 5 years. Now he and his wife are the owners of the Café Austria on the corner of calles Hermano Miguel and Bolívar.

La historia de Héctor se la ‘cocina a fuego lento’ (Héctor’s story is “simmering away”) – Héctor Dahur arrived in Ecuador in 1994 thinking it would be a short stop on his horseback trip from Buenos Aires to New York. He opened ‘El Gaucho’ in 2021, serving Argentinean BBQ on Remigio Tamariz 2-25 y Federico Proaño.

Un holandés con “corazon de cuencano” (A Dutchman with the “heart of a Cuencano”) – Willem Adam Verhagen, an agronomist, arrived in Cuenca in 1985 when there were only 2 hectares planted with roses in the country. One of those was in San Joaquín. After working, traveling back to the Netherlands and to Guatemala, he returned to Cuenca and founded Euroagro, on calle Monseñor Leonidas Proaño on the vía a San Joaquín, which imports agricultural supplies from Europe.

El viaje que terminó en su “plan de vida” (The journey that led to his “life plan”) – Adam Burton was born in Texas and came to Cuenca 16 years ago to visit family. That simple trip ended in a life plan that is now the Café San Sebas which is also a bridge to the countryside. Burton works with farmers to produce organically and with respect for the soil.

Peter Dudar ‘alimenta la esperanza’ (Peter Dudar ‘feeds hope’) – From the US, this musician and philanthropist leads Compassion Kitchen which feeds people who are on the street. Each day, his team makes more than 160 servings of sandwiches and a banana or orito. Besides sharing food, he shares conversation and jokes with those he feeds.

Más morlaco que el mismo mote (More morlaco <a Cuencano> than mote itself) – Canadian Jost Yentin, also known as ‘Loco Living’ or ‘Gringo Loco’ came to Cuenca in 2017 and is now deeply linked to the City of Cuenca through his work to help the community. He also founded “Los Encebollados del Gringo,” and was a compadre del Carnaval in 2024.

Curious? –
(De El Mercurio del sábado, 11/4) Precios de gasolinas y el diésel siguen al alza (Gasoline and diesel prices continue to rise) – The war with the US and Israel against Iran has generated instability in international gas prices, and gas and diesel prices were expected to rise on el domingo <This article is from Saturday’s paper, so ahead of the monthly change in fuel prices.>. Regular gasoline was expected to go up to $3.03/gal, and diesel from $2.83 to $2.97. There is a system of “bands” for gas price changes, in which Extra, Ecopaís and diesel cannot rise by more than 5% per month, nor fall by more than 10%. Super is apart from the bands and changes based on the international market. It was expected to rise to above $4.00/gal.

(De El Mercurio del domingo, 12/4) FF.AA desmantela fábrica clandestina de medicinas (Armed Forces dismantle clandestine drug factory) – According to the Ministerio de Defensa, 1.5 million pills and capsules were seized with a value of about $2 million. In the operation, 20 industrial machines including capsule fillers, tablet presses, grinders, and dryers were found. Soldiers also found hundreds of kilos of chemical supplies, packing materials, and finished products ready for distribution in the local market. The Ministerio de Defensa reported that this represents a serious public health risk due to adulteration of pharmaceuticals. It is also an income source for the “Los Carniceros” organized criminal gang. <Although some of big pharma’s operating strategies could also be called criminal, or at least highly immoral.> The raids were at properties in the Bastión Popular and Mapasingue where the industrial scale clandestine factory operated. There were also indications that the products were distributed in neighboring countries.
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Information in this column, including dates, times and locations, is courtesy of the El Mercurio newspaper. Comments between the carrots, or guillemets (< … >), are the personal opinions of the author and not part of the news translation.