Back Home in Cuenca

 Dear Family and Friends,

Yesterday, the first thing we did after leaving Manta, was to get Puff Puff cleaned up.  We almost forgot what color she was.  She got a great bath, including underneath, tires, hubcaps and inside detailing all for $7.

We had never driven from Manta to Guayaquil before.  We went through one town that was almost surreal.  The town could have been a city in Thailand.  Check out these vehicles used as a taxi.

We spent last night in Guayaquil.  We got into Guayaquil about 3:00pm and spent a good hour and a half trying to find the Marriott Courtyard.  It really is not that difficult if you already know where it is.  Now we do.  We had a great room, the price was right and our breakfast buffet was included.  The Marriott is located within easy walking distance of the San Marino Mall.

We got up this morning, had a leisurely breakfast, packed up Puff Puff and headed out for home.  We decided to take the long route to Cuenca.  This route does not go through the Cajas, but goes through tons of little Andean villages.  It took longer, but we had an early start and I had never been that way before.

We stopped at just the right moment to see a man shooing his cattle across the highway.  It was cool watching all the traffic come to a halt and letting the cows have the right of way. 

We made it home to Cuenca without difficulty.  We still have suitcases to unpack, but I put out our purchases from the Fair Trade artisan store where we shopped at with Rox.  I told you I would show you what we got and here it is....

Despite the fact that we did not have sun and did not get to see the whales we had a grand adventure.  Lucky for us, we live here in Ecuador and we can do it again.

Now it is time to unpack those suitcases.

Hugs,
Nancy