Author: Gary Denali
We walked out the door to our quaint little basement AirBnB apartment to a sunny day and gorgeous blue skies, to one of the main streets of Cuenca, Ecuador, Remigio Crespo. From the crisp, clean air of the apartment, we waded into a cloud of fumes, from diesel buses, two-cycle motorcycles, and cars. We were enveloped in the smoke, fumes, and the noise of traffic.
After being home for a month and a half, we still have many memories of Ecuador and our trip there and back. Our thoughts after Ecuador keep evolving as we live our lives back home, visiting with friends, going through our normal routines, and watching the happenings here and around the world. It’s good to be home…. but…. here are my afterthoughts.
Small towns in Ecuador each have their own unique specialties. Meaning, they focus on one craft and become a destination for that particular craft. We are staying in a town famous for it leather work, but there are other towns nearby and elsewhere in Ecuador that specialize in woodworking, weaving, pottery, guitar making, and more.
The most popular street in Cotacachi is Leather Street. That’s not the official name, it’s what it generally referred to because of all the leather shops lining the street. These shops are filled with leather jackets, vests, purses, pants, and assorted accessories, all, to my knowledge, made in Ecuador. The quality of these products is outstanding. You can buy a leather jacket in just about any color you can imagine. You can find leather shoes that are locally made. You can even watch them being made. It’s refreshing to see shoes made this way, and not imported from China.
Ecuador is a relatively poor country where most people cannot afford to own and operate a car or truck. Also, many of the towns and cities are very walkable. As a result, public transportation is abundant here. Buses and taxis are the most common mode of transportation, but there are also a lot of motorcycles and scooters on the road, which are cheaper to buy, own, and operate.
The major mode of transportation to get around Ecuador is buses. The majority of the people living here cannot afford to own cars, and there are many who simply choose not to own one because it’s not necessary. A bus ride from Cotacachi to Quito is currently about $2.50. One from Cotacachi to Otavalo is .35, and they run all of the time. The buses are all diesel so they are noisy and polluting but they are a necessity in Ecuador.
“Be careful in Ecuador, you could get thrown in jail”. Those were the words of my dad when we told him we were going to Ecuador for a visit. I have to say, I feel much safer here than in the US, especially since yet another school massacre has taken place up there since we have been here. There have been zero school shootings in Ecuador this year, and any year for that matter. Children here are precious, and you can see it every day with families holding hands walking down the sidewalks of Cotacachi.
In the week plus that we have been in this small town of Cotacachi, Ecuador, we have wandered all over town by foot. We’ve walked main streets and side streets, and not once, have we felt threatened in this beautiful foreign country.
This is a walking town, so when you walk, you pass many people on the street. Most of these are Mestizo, Spanish, or Quechua (indigenous). Most greet you, or you greet them with Buenos Dias, Buenas Tardes, or Buenas Noches, depending on the time of day. The smiles that come with these greetings are infectious. These are beautiful, friendly people.
The native people really light up when you attempt to speak to them in their language, no matter how bad your Spanish. They are always happy to help you. Gringos are the same way. We have met many in our short period of time here and they are always open to new friendships and sharing their experiences here.
We’ve been to dinner with one couple at their permaculture property on the slopes of Cotacachi volcano, and we have an invitation to visit and spend time on another permaculture farm (Finca), one and a half hours outside of Cotacachi. This, in two weeks time.
We have felt very welcomed and safe our whole time here. It’s very relaxing to be out of the negative vibrations we were feeling in the US. As our time here lengthens, we are starting to feel more and more comfortable. We have two more weeks to go before we head back home to the US.
And so it begins, our Ecuador journey starts with trying to arrange a shuttle ride from the Quito airport to the Wyndham Hotel where we will be staying. We were advised to arrange the shuttle to the hotel ahead of our arrival, at 11:58 pm. I called the Wyndham 800 number to get both the confirmation number and number for the hotel. When I tried the confirmation number on the website, it didn’t work. So, I called the Wyndham in Quito or tried to at least. It took me several tries before I discovered that you have to put 011 in front of the phone number for it to work. That’s Quito’s area code.
After my third try, the hotel answered with the person at the other end rapidly answering in Spanish. My Spanish still stinks, so I didn’t understand a word she said but assumed she was welcoming me to the hotel. After confirming that I didn’t speak or understand enough Spanish, she spoke in English beautifully. I only wished I could do the same in Spanish. As we were speaking, and trying to arrange the shuttle, the call started breaking up, badly. We tried for a good five minutes to find a good connection but it never came back. I ended up just hanging up. I think she got the information but I needed to make sure we had a shuttle pickup arranged. I emailed our friend, Lesley, in Ecuador, to call the hotel from her location and confirm our reservation.
It was a lot of work and time to just arrange a shuttle ride from the airport due to bad connections from the US to Ecuador.
Gary