Hiking, Biking and Running in Cuenca

  We have now been in Cuenca for one month!  This has been a month of great change for Linda and I, filled with adjusting to a new culture, people, and community.   I feel very fortunate that I am able to experience Ecuador at this time in my life.  I have never done a blog before, and my intent here is not to be boastful or a braggart; rather I hope my writings here will give you a window into my new experiences in a developing country.   Many of you have helped us get here, and I am very grateful for your support along the way to assist on this path. 

      Probably no surprise to you, when I am not volunteering at a local school or studying Spanish for 2 hours a day, I am pursuing one of many favorite outdoor activities.  I have been running more than usual, because it is easiest of the three. We live in “El Centro”, the old colonial part of town.  Some of the buildings here date back to 1500’s.  The streets are narrow, made of brick or cobblestone. Unfortunately, car and bus traffic can be overwhelming during the work day.  We walk most everywhere.  We chose our apartment because of its close proximity to the Rio Tomebamba.  Sunrise begins at 5:30 am, so I am usually down at the river by 6am and do a 4 mile loop in Pargue Paraiso.  No Caribou or Starbucks coffee shops here (yeah!) so I stop at the local panderia (Bakery) to pick up 15 cent croissants, before returning home. 

Rio Tomebamba

Return home to El Centro

 More photos of my running route are available at: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=mark.raderstorf&target=ALBUM&id=5676855609937804993&authkey=Gv1sRgCKWhrZ2OuLTu-AE&feat=email

      We are very excited about the new bikes we purchased.  No road biking here, mountain bikes are a necessity because of the uneven of the streets, some of which are potholes filled dirt roads.  We have been advised to stay off the city streets until the weekend because of the car traffic. The drivers here are constantly in a hurry, and have an addiction to honking their horns, rarely yielding to pedestrians or bikers.  One needs to be constantly vigilant on a bike when in the city. My routine now is to bike out to my new friend Ken’s house early on Saturday morning and we head up the river valley to gorgeous views.  A killer climb takes us to another valley and then a fun ride back down into the city. The city car traffic is almost non-existent on Sundays….this is a very Catholic community so everyone goes to Church on Sunday and then heads to the country for relaxation.  This allows for many bike riding opportunities in town, including the “Ciclopaseo” that just happened this morning .  We joined several hundred other Cuencano’s biking around the city for 2 hours.   Next up is a 110 km bike ride for us on December 3rd from Giron to near the coast, an elevation drop of 8,000 feet.  A $10 bus ride gets us back up the Andes and home….my kind of bike ride!  

Mark and Ken overlooking San Joaquin Valley

Ciclopaseo start at Coliseo

Biking down El Centro

New Freinds Monica and Family

       We had our first opportunity to visit Cajas National park, which is 40 km up the Andes mountain range from Cuenca.  Our local English speaking taxi driver, Fabian, drove us up to the ranger station.  We were warned that you can easily get lost in this park because the trails are not marked and fog/rain can roll in quickly.   The ranger station had run out of park maps (a common occurrence) so I took a photo of the big map on my camera and referred to it many times as we embarked on our 6 mile hike.    We started at an elevation of 11,000 feet  and climbed up to 13,000, all of this was above tree line – I think in Colorado speak, this is called “bagging a 13 teener”, although the highest peaks in Cajas must be at 15 or 16,000 elevation.   As expected, clouds and rain rolled in for the last half hour of our hike and we were happy to hop a bus for our $3 ride back to town.  We look forward to many more beautiful hikes in the Andes….much different that the Rockies for sure. 

       An entry blog from me would not be complete without some comment about social  issues in Ecuador.  My Spanish teacher, Sonia, has enlightened me with her perspective that “immigration is the biggest threat to Ecuadorian family life.”   Most families here have an immediate or extended family member living in the United States, because of the economic disparity in wages.  Most often, the dad heads to the US and finds a job in the service industry, and sends money home to the family.  But this makes for an absentee parent, and social problems ensue.  Sonia tells me that Cuenca has the highest suicide rate among teenagers in Ecuador; her view is that this is due to the many Cuencano families with absentee parents.  For example, Mario, my local baker worked in Manhattan for 16 years, and returned home this past year after his Visa expired.  Now he has his own bakery, but on a good day he can make $25-30 , while in the US he could make $100-150 a day.  A sad byproduct of the US melting pot is the social schism it leaves in developing countries like Ecuador.  I hope to share some photos from my volunteer work in my next entry. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!