Dear Family and Friends,
Chuck, Brad and I are leaving first thing tomorrow morning for a return trip to Vilcabamba. This is Brad's first visit to Vilcabamba. We look forward to staying at the Izhcayluma again.
Chuck said he would continue posting about his Amazon jungle adventure as soon as he can.
We are returning to Cuenca on Tuesday.
Have a nice weekend!
Nancy (and Chuck)
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Trip to the oriente - 1 - Getting There
Dear Family and Friends
Nancy decided to send me on a fact finding mission to the amazon rain forest (the Ecuadorans call this part of the country the "oriente"). Our friend, Brad, is visiting us and has always wanted to see the rain forest, so we arranged to meet in Quito, then fly to Coca to join a tour of the Sacha Lodge. In the photo below, Brad looks like he is really enjoying the adventure.
I will use this blog to show and explain how we arrived at such a pleasant scene. What a contrast it was to fly to Quito, high above the avenue of the volcanoes, and arrive in hot, humid, Coca.
We were met at the Coca airport and whisked away to a rendezvous , where we paused for lunch, then boarded a launch on the river Napo
After about two hours, we arrived at the Sacha Lodge dock.
But, we were not there yet. We had a 25 minute walk on a boardwalk across the swamp before we reached a quiet and serene lake.
The lodge, itself, is across the lake, which we crossed in canoes.
The first order of business was to get settled in our room, number 20 to the right of this cabin. We had a private bathroom with infinite hot water, a shaded porch with hammock, comfortable beds, and a ceiling fan (no air conditioning needed).
That evening we were introduced to our naturalist, David, and the other members of our group, a couple from the U.K. The five of ate our meals together the entire stay at our assigned table. Sacha Lodge is very well run; we often compared it to a luxury cruise ship. There was a large staff performing behind the scenes tasks to make our stay enjoyable.
After dinner we went on a night walk and saw many animals and insects, but, of course, there are no photos. In my next blog, I will focus on our tower adventures and the things we saw in the canopy.
Your friend and mine,
Chuck
Nancy decided to send me on a fact finding mission to the amazon rain forest (the Ecuadorans call this part of the country the "oriente"). Our friend, Brad, is visiting us and has always wanted to see the rain forest, so we arranged to meet in Quito, then fly to Coca to join a tour of the Sacha Lodge. In the photo below, Brad looks like he is really enjoying the adventure.
I will use this blog to show and explain how we arrived at such a pleasant scene. What a contrast it was to fly to Quito, high above the avenue of the volcanoes, and arrive in hot, humid, Coca.
We were met at the Coca airport and whisked away to a rendezvous , where we paused for lunch, then boarded a launch on the river Napo
After about two hours, we arrived at the Sacha Lodge dock.
But, we were not there yet. We had a 25 minute walk on a boardwalk across the swamp before we reached a quiet and serene lake.
The lodge, itself, is across the lake, which we crossed in canoes.
The first order of business was to get settled in our room, number 20 to the right of this cabin. We had a private bathroom with infinite hot water, a shaded porch with hammock, comfortable beds, and a ceiling fan (no air conditioning needed).
That evening we were introduced to our naturalist, David, and the other members of our group, a couple from the U.K. The five of ate our meals together the entire stay at our assigned table. Sacha Lodge is very well run; we often compared it to a luxury cruise ship. There was a large staff performing behind the scenes tasks to make our stay enjoyable.
After dinner we went on a night walk and saw many animals and insects, but, of course, there are no photos. In my next blog, I will focus on our tower adventures and the things we saw in the canopy.
Your friend and mine,
Chuck
Friday, March 12, 2010
Trolley Tour
Dear Family and Friends,
Rich and Nancy invited me to join them and Lourdes for dinner at Tiestos on Wednesday night. Although I had read her blog, I had not had actually met Lourdes. She is a very delightful lady. You can read about her experiences here in Ecuador by clicking here.
Here are two very beautiful ladies....
We had a great time, ate and drank more than our share and almost closed the restaurant. I shared a taxi home with Rich and Nancy. We were saying how we were going to sleep in the next morning when Nancy remembered that we had reservations for a tour that begins in San Sebastian plaza at 8:30am.
We decided that we would wait and see how we felt in the morning to decide if we would take the tour or not.
After getting back home I crawled into bed around midnight. As I was falling to sleep, I thought that I would be sleeping too late to go on the tour. But..I woke up at my usual 6:30 am time and actually felt pretty good. I called Nancy and Rich and they said they were good to go so we went on our tour.
TOUR
For those of you who live here in Cuenca, you may have noticed a new sight seeing bus. It looks a little like a cable car trolley. The other day I dropped by the tourist office and asked about the smaller tour bus. The lady explained that it is different from the double deck tour. A four hour tour that is on Wednesdays - Saturdays. The tour is a walking and riding tour and covers some areas not covered with the double deck bus tour.
I talked with Nancy to see if she might be interested in joining me in this "research" tour. She said she would be like to and that Rich might even be interested. I made reservations for three.
I use the word "research" because we are always on the look out for fun things to do with our guests.
I would recommend making reservations if you are going to do this tour. Not because it is so crowded but just the opposite. The tour is so new and just getting started and the schedule could change. Nancy, Rich and I were the only customers. Actually, this turned out great for us as we all had a front row seat.
The tour included a nice mix of walking and riding. We toured places that we already knew about and we also saw places we had not been before. It was interesting to learn more about places we are familiar with.
The four hour tour costs $12.00 per person.
One thing the tour included that we had not done before was a tour of the Homero Ortega Panama hat factory. It was a very good tour because we saw all the steps in producing these hats. We actually toured the factory.
At the end of the tour we were escorted to the show room. Here is a picture of Rich and our tour guide, Henry posing in some hats.
After the tour we had a bite to eat and we went back home to take a nap because we had another celebration to attend last evening.
A group of us Gringos met last evening at Terrace restaurant. We got together to celebrate some recent birthdays. As always we really enjoyed the food. Everyone was in very good spirits as we had not actually been together, as I remember, since New Years Eve.
The best for me is that Chuck and Brad walked into the restaurant about 45 minutes after we arrived. They had returned from their jungle adventure.
Yes, Chuck is back home and life is good!!
Love,
Nancy
PS: Chuck is going through his pictures as I am posting. He said it may take a little while to get them categorized but that he will put up posts about his adventure before too long.
Rich and Nancy invited me to join them and Lourdes for dinner at Tiestos on Wednesday night. Although I had read her blog, I had not had actually met Lourdes. She is a very delightful lady. You can read about her experiences here in Ecuador by clicking here.
Here are two very beautiful ladies....
We had a great time, ate and drank more than our share and almost closed the restaurant. I shared a taxi home with Rich and Nancy. We were saying how we were going to sleep in the next morning when Nancy remembered that we had reservations for a tour that begins in San Sebastian plaza at 8:30am.
We decided that we would wait and see how we felt in the morning to decide if we would take the tour or not.
After getting back home I crawled into bed around midnight. As I was falling to sleep, I thought that I would be sleeping too late to go on the tour. But..I woke up at my usual 6:30 am time and actually felt pretty good. I called Nancy and Rich and they said they were good to go so we went on our tour.
TOUR
For those of you who live here in Cuenca, you may have noticed a new sight seeing bus. It looks a little like a cable car trolley. The other day I dropped by the tourist office and asked about the smaller tour bus. The lady explained that it is different from the double deck tour. A four hour tour that is on Wednesdays - Saturdays. The tour is a walking and riding tour and covers some areas not covered with the double deck bus tour.
I talked with Nancy to see if she might be interested in joining me in this "research" tour. She said she would be like to and that Rich might even be interested. I made reservations for three.
I use the word "research" because we are always on the look out for fun things to do with our guests.
I would recommend making reservations if you are going to do this tour. Not because it is so crowded but just the opposite. The tour is so new and just getting started and the schedule could change. Nancy, Rich and I were the only customers. Actually, this turned out great for us as we all had a front row seat.
The tour included a nice mix of walking and riding. We toured places that we already knew about and we also saw places we had not been before. It was interesting to learn more about places we are familiar with.
The four hour tour costs $12.00 per person.
One thing the tour included that we had not done before was a tour of the Homero Ortega Panama hat factory. It was a very good tour because we saw all the steps in producing these hats. We actually toured the factory.
At the end of the tour we were escorted to the show room. Here is a picture of Rich and our tour guide, Henry posing in some hats.
After the tour we had a bite to eat and we went back home to take a nap because we had another celebration to attend last evening.
A group of us Gringos met last evening at Terrace restaurant. We got together to celebrate some recent birthdays. As always we really enjoyed the food. Everyone was in very good spirits as we had not actually been together, as I remember, since New Years Eve.
The best for me is that Chuck and Brad walked into the restaurant about 45 minutes after we arrived. They had returned from their jungle adventure.
Yes, Chuck is back home and life is good!!
Love,
Nancy
PS: Chuck is going through his pictures as I am posting. He said it may take a little while to get them categorized but that he will put up posts about his adventure before too long.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Wednesday, the day Chuck always buys Flowers
Dear Family and Friends,
Every Wednesday morning Chuck goes to the market to buy fresh flowers for our condo. He loves to buy them, arrange them and place them around.
Today, this became my job because Chuck is still touring with Brad. Normally I would just do without fresh flowers but since Brad will be our house guest we need to gussie up the place a bit.
I asked Lourdes if she would go with me to the market to pick out flowers. We went to Chuck's favorite vendor. I had my camera with me so I could show the vendor Chuck's picture, hoping that I would get the same good prices she gives to him. The sales lady smiled with recognition as I showed her Chuck's picture. Lourdes explained that he was out of town and we needed to buy flowers.
As Lourdes and I picked out the flowers, the lady asked Lourdes when Chuck would be back. I think she really looks forward to seeing him every week.
I think she honored me with the same great prices she gives to Chuck. We bought a lot of flowers for only $11.50. Here is Lourdes with our selections.
I asked Lourdes if she would negotiate for a pound of large shrimp for me. She went to the vendor while I stayed out of sight and got me a pound of beautiful large shrimp. She even helped me clean them when we got back home. She showed me an easy way to devein them.
I heard from Chuck last night. He and Brad are now in Banos. He said their trip in the jungle was FANTASTIC. He and Brad arrive in Cuenca tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to hear all about the adventure.
While Chuck has been gone, I have experimented with making ice cream, ordered new furniture for our bedroom. I have enjoyed being with friends and I didn't make time to study Spanish.
I sure will be glad when tomorrow afternoon gets here.
Love,
Nancy
Every Wednesday morning Chuck goes to the market to buy fresh flowers for our condo. He loves to buy them, arrange them and place them around.
Today, this became my job because Chuck is still touring with Brad. Normally I would just do without fresh flowers but since Brad will be our house guest we need to gussie up the place a bit.
I asked Lourdes if she would go with me to the market to pick out flowers. We went to Chuck's favorite vendor. I had my camera with me so I could show the vendor Chuck's picture, hoping that I would get the same good prices she gives to him. The sales lady smiled with recognition as I showed her Chuck's picture. Lourdes explained that he was out of town and we needed to buy flowers.
As Lourdes and I picked out the flowers, the lady asked Lourdes when Chuck would be back. I think she really looks forward to seeing him every week.
I think she honored me with the same great prices she gives to Chuck. We bought a lot of flowers for only $11.50. Here is Lourdes with our selections.
I asked Lourdes if she would negotiate for a pound of large shrimp for me. She went to the vendor while I stayed out of sight and got me a pound of beautiful large shrimp. She even helped me clean them when we got back home. She showed me an easy way to devein them.
I heard from Chuck last night. He and Brad are now in Banos. He said their trip in the jungle was FANTASTIC. He and Brad arrive in Cuenca tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to hear all about the adventure.
While Chuck has been gone, I have experimented with making ice cream, ordered new furniture for our bedroom. I have enjoyed being with friends and I didn't make time to study Spanish.
I sure will be glad when tomorrow afternoon gets here.
Love,
Nancy
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Thank you Jason!!! Keyboard Fixed!!
My computer keyboard problem is fixed!! Hoorah!!
Jason just emailed me from Aruba and suggested what might be the problem with my keyboard.
With his help I was able to fix the problem.
More information than you may want to know --
Notice that under some letters are little numbers. On a laptop these little numbers are like the number keys that are on the right side of a regular keyboard. I just needed to realize that I had accidentally put the num lock on.
Jason just emailed me from Aruba and suggested what might be the problem with my keyboard.
With his help I was able to fix the problem.
More information than you may want to know --
Notice that under some letters are little numbers. On a laptop these little numbers are like the number keys that are on the right side of a regular keyboard. I just needed to realize that I had accidentally put the num lock on.
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