Cuenca High Life

Where most woodworkers see problems, Ed Konderla sees possibilities.   "The wood I use would be thrown on the burn pile by most carpenters. It's unstable and gnarly, and it wouldn't work for furniture or general carpentry," he says. "It's kind of a paradox. For my... [More]

by Susan Schenck There’s a new American-owned clothes and artesanos store attached to the new restaurant San Sebas. Its contents drew me in: 100% cotton shirts, some tie dyed, for only $21. I’m always a sucker for tie dye and batik, and these shirts would cost double that here ha... [More]

During one of my many long walks last week, this one in quest of a good picture framer, I happened upon an excellent new Cuban restaurant. I was just a block off  Avenida Remigio Crespo, terra cognita for most of Cuenca´s expats, and it was time for a beer and a bite. Habana Vieja is... [More]

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa celebrated his fifth year in office, Friday night, January 13, in Cuenca. To mark the occasion, supporters threw a party in Alejandro Serrano Aguilar football stadium. Among the 25,000 in attendance were 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú and s... [More]

Motorcycles. Far more than just transportation, motorcycles have always been associated with thrill-seekers and daredevils, rebels and outlaws, escapists and freedom-lovers. No mere car ever fueled the fantasies of an entire generations like the bikes ridden by Marlon Brando in The Wild One,... [More]

Cuenca’s holiday festivities continued Friday night as a crowd estimated at 25,000 turned out to observe and participate in the annual Day of the Innocents before rains chased most spectators away. The event, highlighted by a parade and performances on Av. Huayna Capac as thousands ... [More]

Cuenca´s  Museo de las Culturas Aborigenes, or Museum of Aboriginal Culture, is not your typical roadside attraction. Despite the fact that it is relatively small and privately owned, many consider it one of Ecuador’s best archeology museums. Operated by La Fundacion Cultural... [More]

A dozen coins tumbled away from the shoes of the elderly white-haired man who was standing on a corner in Cuenca, Ecuador. Cuenca is a beautiful city in the southern part of the country that is now a magnet for expatriates looking for a place to retire outside the United States. "Let me h... [More]

One of Latin America’s most colorful -- and bizarre -- traditions is the year-end burning of the dummies. When the clock ticks over to 2012 on Saturday night, an observer with a good vantage point in Cuenca will behold an other-worldly sight of thousands of burning d... [More]

by Mark Raderstorf Thanksgiving 2011 in Cuenca began with a beautiful sunny day -- the perfect weather for the Turkey Trot scheduled for 9 a.m. We met at the starting point, Otorongo Plaza, along the Rio Tomebamba. More than 50 people showed for this inaugural event, ready for some exercise ... [More]

As announced on Gringo Tree, the big fundraising event of the holiday season is the Christmas Gold for Children Gringo Team Challenge. Each $5 donation, delivered in person to DiBacco Restaurante (Tarqui between Simon Bolivar and Gran Colombia), will purchase a Navidad gift for local children at L... [More]

Guayaquil declared its independence from Spain on October 9, 1820, seizing military control of the city in a nearly bloodless coup. Less than a month later, on November 3, Cuenca won its own independence after a handful of skirmishes between revolutionaries and Spanish soldiers that lasted two day... [More]

Get ready to rumble! The artisans are coming! For seven days, beginning Mon., Oct. 31, Cuenca will become Ecuador’s party central as the city celebrates the 191st anniverary of its independence from Spain. Although the nightly concerts and fireworks shows will make the most ... [More]

by Susan Schenck The Foundation for the Service of the Illness of Cancer (FASEC), the Cancer Foundation here in Cuenca, is funded and operated primarily by volunteers. Since 1983, FASEC has housed 13,546 patients who couldn’t afford to stay in the hospital while receiving cancer treatm... [More]

Living with one's parents until age 30 is not appealing to most North Americans. At 18, many teenagers say goodbye and leave the nest. Suddenly, a new life starts away from family, friends and everything one has known until that point. This is a coming-of-age moment that most U.S. and Canadian... [More]

The famous indigenous outdoor market in the town of Otavalo, a two-hour drive north of Quito, is one of the best places to buy Andean art, crafts, textiles and indigenous jewelry in Ecuador. But if you're visiting Ecuador and your trip is limited to Cuenca and environs, you'll find plenty ... [More]

With the notable exception of the Otavalan craftspeople and merchants of northern Ecuador, no other indigenous Ecuadorian community has maintained its ethnic identity like the Saraguros. Centered around the town of Saraguro, 80 miles south of Cuenca, the Saraguro nation, which numbers between... [More]

At 72, Cuenca ceramicist Eduardo Segovia shows no sign of slowing down. On most days, in fact, you can find him working in his Cuenca studio. "I still have the enthusiasm for creation. I can't imagine life without it," says Segovia. "Every day, I absorb the colors, the tex... [More]

By Edd Staton Last Saturday, I visited my dermatologist to have a few troublesome spots frozen on my head. Such is the downside of my grooming choice. If you've never had this done, it's a simple procedure with liquid nitrogen in an aerosol container that removes possible pre-c... [More]

GringoTree and two of Cuenca´s top tour agencies are teaming up to offer a series of tours of the Cuenca area and beyond. The first tour, “Two Worlds of Yunguilla,” is Tuesday, Sept. 6, and will visit Giron, the Tarqui Battle Memorial and Museum, the El Chorro waterfalls and the ... [More]

Tucked away in the deep south of the Ecuadorian Andes, Vilcabamba is a place steeped in legend.   It has been called the "Valley of Longevity" for claims of its large population of elderly residents. Locals, and some scientists, say that it possesses special, almost magical... [More]

As Calvin Trillin wrote in the November 2010 Condé Nast Traveler, the central colonial section of Cuenca “doesn't look like a sixteenth-century city that has been preserved; it looks like a city that has been in use since the sixteenth century.” Trillin describes himself as ... [More]

By Susan Schenck Ten days of no talking, no dinner, no reading or writing, no TV, radio or internet, no meat, no caffeine, no contact with the opposite sex, 12 hours of sitting, getting awakened at 4 a.m. with the sound of a clanging gong—sounds like hell? For many Cuencanos and foreign... [More]

by Susan Schenck I’ve been fascinated with belly dancing for 30 years. I took classes in San Diego and even performed a couple of times. Then I was invited to an all-women party in Cuenca, celebrating the revolution of Middle Eastern women. We were each to contribute a poem, blog, or s... [More]

Gualaceo is a big town located 36 km (22 miles) from Cuenca, a bus ride that takes 45 minutes and costs 60 cents. Known as “La Jardin del Azuay,” Gualaceo has a population of just under 50,000. Its tourist information center is next to a suspension bridge over the Rio Santa Barbara; Pl... [More]