Travel

By Julian Smith “I love how the sun paints the city,” says Julio Rivas Garcia as he gazes over Quito’s historic heart from the roof of the Church of La Merced. Where we’re standing, at 9,200 feet and only 15 miles from the equator, the late-afternoon sun still has the power to make 400-year-old stonework...
Editor’s note: Travel writer Chris Moss explores Ecuador’s Mashpi eco-lodge in the cloud forest north of Quito. It’s been called Ecuador’s most glamorous lodging option, even though it’s in the middle of a tropical wilderness, and has been reviewed by all the world’s top travel magazines. For naturalists with money (a week here will set...
by Jane Pinney [Editor’s Note: Jane Pinney was an Ecuador expat for nearly a year, who just moved to Chile, overland, with two dogs, thanks to her driver from Cuenca, Jon LaBoeuf. Jane is a writer and published author whose work can be seen at letterstogodtwo.com.]   Seven is the number of perfection and the length...
Although the Pawkar Raymi is one of the highlights of the year in Saraguro, with roots going back hundreds of years, the modern celebration dates only to 2000. The reestablishment of the festival is a reconnection by the people of Saraguro with their heritage, according to locals. The community was created more than 500 years...
By Geoff Bendeck   Reggaeton blaring, we zoomed along the coast of Esmeraldas, past a series of resort towns, white sand beaches spoiled only by concrete hotel towers. Our Ranchera, an Ecuadorean open-air bus, paused just long enough for schoolchildren to climb atop the roof before we veered slightly inland away from the jagged, rocky coast...
Editor’s note: To save time on their 90-day T3 passport visa stamps so they could monitor construction progress on their Cuenca condo, Chiyemi and Terry Doyle were recently forced into temporary exile from Ecuador. They cooled their heels in Peru and Colombia until they returned to Cuenca, checking out the attractions of Lima, Bogota and...
National Assemblyman Gabriel Rivera has introduced legislation that would streamline the process for obtaining an Ecuadorian driver’s license, a move that could save expats time and money. Current rules require all applicants applying for a license to take 33 hours of driving lessons. The lessons are administered by private companies that provide the cars. Rivera’s...

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is getting its first nonstop service to Quito. The airport and TAME, an Ecuador-based airline, announced the new route Thursday. TAME will start the daily service on Oct. 17; the airline will use an Airbus A320 with 140 seats for the route.    

As work continues on what will be Cuenca’s largest hotel, a Sheraton Hotel at Mall del Rio, other hotel owners complain that the market is saturated. Although Cuenca officials say the city is in dire need of more high-end hotel rooms, the local hotel association says that there are too many rooms already and that...
By Susan Schenck The Cuenca Zoo may be one of Cuenca’s least advertised and most overlooked amusements. I lived here over four years before I discovered it. Any cab driver should know how to find the zoo, which is across from Hospital del Rio. But if you feel like taking a nice long walk, just...
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/producer William MacNamara and Ecuadorian television producer Laszlo Karolyi....
By Susan Schenck Culture shock usually revolves around traveling to and through a country you’ve never visited before. So it’s a surprise to experience it in the culture to which you’re most accustomed. I took a bus to Guayaquil to catch my flight on Copa, which allows a second bag for free. At the airport,...

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The Cuenca Dispatch

Week of March 24

“They are pressuring me to resign so they can remove me from office,” denounced Verónica Abad, Vice President of the Republic.

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Ecuador Navigates Economic Challenges with IMF Agreement Looming.

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“Since when does thinking differently mean being a traitor?” Pierina Correa questions in reference to the Tourism Law.

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