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Wednesday, September 19, 2012 – Guayaquil – Cuenca
Oro Verde was just for sleeping anyway, as we were up, had a great breakfast and
met our guide, Wilson, and driver, Marco, at 8:15. Wilson explained the
geography of the area we’d be visiting in Ecuador, from Guayaquil to Cuenca. A
huge variety. To begin with, Guayaquil is hot, humid and cloudy most of the
time. It is also at sea level. We passed fields of sugar cane, cocoa trees,
bananas and rice as well as various types of fruit trees and grazing animals as
we left the city and drove toward the mountains. We stopped at a cocoa farm,
where the lady of the house showed us how the pods are cut from the trees and
hacked open. Scary operation with very sharp knives!! She also pointed out a
number of other kinds of fruit trees she grows and we watched two men extracting
the cocoa beans and spreading them to dry. We met her great-grand daughter,
Juanita, a cute little 3- or so-year-old. As we drove up through the transition
area into the beginnings of the Andes, we were right into the clouds. The road
was not bad, but twisted and turned its way upward. There were a few crazy
drivers and the visibility was limited. Suddenly, though, we were out under blue
sky and warm sun. What magnificent vistas we saw. We stopped at Tres Cruces,
the highest point of the highway at 4167 metres above sea level, and
gasped our way up to the overlook point – well worth the effort for sure. The
sign informed us we were 2 degrees, 46 minutes south of the equator. This is
also the continental divide, though the Atlantic is 5000km in one direction and
the Pacific only about 80km in the other. A little farther along we had a pit
stop at a nice little restaurant called Mirador de Los Andes with amazing views,
as well as pigs, and ducks and a shrine across the road. At Toreadora Lake in
the Parc Nacional Cajas, at an altitude of 3978 metres above sea level, we
walked down a flight of steps and along the Camino de Garcia Moreno that used to
be the only way to travel (on foot or with pack animals) from Cuenca to
Guayaquil or Quito. Indeed, in the 1860s when it was built, it was a great
improvement over simply walking uphill and down through wild country. Wilson is
very knowledgeable about the flora of the region and pointed out many
interesting plants. We caught glimpses of one of the unusual local birds. Our
last stop on the road was for a very late lunch at another lovely spot, Dos
Chorreras – trout ponds and gardens, lots of light and great food. It wasn’t too
much farther to Cuenca, a large and busy city with a wide variety of
architecture. Our boutique hotel, Mansion Alcazar, is just lovely. Larry and I
lucked into the best room apparently. It’s very big and luxurious, and there are
rose petals everywhere. I guess it’s the honeymoon suite. The hall party was in
our rook tonight. Everyone wanted to relax a bit, so we met in the bar for our
free welcome drink – Cuenca Sunrises – then came back to our room to share
peanut butter, twizzlers, nuts etc. and lots of wine. Another long day!
The sign informed us we were 2 degrees, 46 minutes south of the equator. This is
also the continental divide, though the Atlantic is 5000km in one direction and
the Pacific only about 80km in the other.
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19 Sep Photos
Next Day 20 Sep
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