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]

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  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]

Though he says, “Everyone thinks I’m an extrovert, but I’m not really,” Lee Dubs can often be found chatting with customers at Carolina Bookstore, which he co-owns with his wife Carol. He’s not only one of the friendliest and most visible gringos in Cuenca, he’s... [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]

It's the sort of thing most people fantasize about while stuck in yet-another rush-hour back-up: chucking it all and moving to a tropical country. For Barb and John Porter, it's more than fantasy -- come October, the Burnaby couple will be in their new home in Ecuador, South America,... [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]

On a recent day, the man known in Ecuador as the Gringo Chief wore a traditional black smock and a necklace strung with jaguar and wild boar's teeth, perfectly suitable for the Cofan Indian ceremony marking the acquisition of yet another slice of rain forest. With his fellow Cofan listen... [More]

From a spare, second-floor office in Queens, an outpost of the Ecuadorean government offers English classes, computer training and after-school programs to immigrants building new lives in New York City. But these days, the office’s busiest program works in the opposite direction — hel... [More]

[Editor's note: An exposition of the work of Cuenca cermacist Eduardo Segovia opens tonight at Larrazabal Gallery on San Sebastian Plaza and continues through mid-May. The show features new work by the artist and is titled "Compositions Between Black and Grey."] As a child, ... [More]

By Mark Blazis Having been a part of 40 expeditions into Amazonia and the Andes and a dozen more into the Galapagos Islands, I was recently invited to be the consulting biologist for a television documentary in Ecuador featuring CSI Miami’s Jorja Fox, Extreme Animal Rescue actor/produc... [More]

The ornate lobby of the nation’s vice presidential palace is teeming with people in wheelchairs and on crutches, mothers leading the blind and the developmentally disabled. Many are here because they believe that the man upstairs is one of their own. Ever since a thief’s bu... [More]

A plane from Ecuador lands in Europe. Those carrying European passports go quickly through migration, while the queue of Ecuadorians does not move. They are questioned at length, as their luggage is scanned. Eventually their passports are taken away, and they are all moved to a waiting room ... [More]

Editor´s note: Ashley Armstrong is an archeology graduate student at the University of California - Berkeley. She is currently working on an excavation project in Challuabamba, northeast of Cuenca. Earlier this year there was an article in Cuenca High Life about what Cuencanos think of... [More]

[Editor’s Note: The following starts a new series of posts from veteran travel writer Deke Castleman and photographer Shirlee Severs. The blog of Deke and Shirlee’s first two weeks in Ecuador ran on this website in April. This series covers the month they spent in Cuenca last October.]... [More]

[Editor´s note: The following was submitted by Linn Vermilion Smith, a Cuenca expat working with a project to assist two rural schools and the children attending them.] This is a call for help to the Gringo community in Cuenca and beyond. In November, Edd and Cynthia Staton ... [More]

Rosa Vintimilla, president of Roviza, S.A., one of Cuenca´s largest and oldest insurance agencies, says that misunderstandings among both foreign residents and citizens keep many Ecuadorians uninsured. “One thing I hear is that good, reliable insurance is not avail... [More]

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 son, Duncan. &ldq... [More]

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 believes that the key to s... [More]

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 United States has lent h... [More]

I’ve barely stepped off the plane when the stories about the Valle de Longevidad — Valley of Longevity — start. My cabdriver asks what I’m doing in this small town in southern Ecuador, and I tell him I’m in search of the legendary old people of Vilcabamba. The cabbie ... [More]

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 it the “Pick of Cuenca&r... [More]

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from Vagabonding Down the Andes by Harry A. Franck. Published in 1917, the book is a travelogue of the author’s 1912 journey, mostly by foot, from Panama to Buenos Aires. The following selection and the three that follow describe Franck’... [More]

It's fitting that Chris and Jenny Bluefields named their business Kookaburra Cafe. As they reflect on why a couple from Queensland with almost no hospitality experience would set up an eatery in southern Ecuador, Jenny's cackle demonstrates the comedy of it all. "I waited tables... [More]

Editor’s note: Curves Gym is one of Cuenca’s growing number of expat-owned businesses. Owner Jon Wright, a three-year Cuenca resident and former personal trainer, explains his approach to achieving positive exercise results – and why a program like Curves can help women live heal... [More]