Cuenca

(The third largest city in Ecuador.)

I'm currently in the middle of my eleven day spring break. I spent the first few days of it in Cuenca, a city towards the south of Ecuador. Cuenca is known throughout South America for its colonial architecture. In fact, Cuenca is consistently ranked as one of the top if not the top retirement haven by sources such as U.S. News & World Report and International Living.

Me in front of a cathedral.

A cool colonial-style building.

A nice park surrounded by a church. Notice the Spanish influence in the red roof tiles.

We flew to Cuenca on the same plane as the Liga de Cuenca team. Cuenca had just lost to Quito the night before 1-0. This is a picture of me with one of the players.

Quilatoa

(A small indigenous community that lives near a volcanic lake.)

I spent last Sunday visiting a nearby indigenous community. Ecuador has one of the largest indigenous populations in Latin America at almost 3.5 million people.

Some sheep we saw on the way down. Herding sheep has traditionally been the biggest source of income in Quilatoa (but is slowly being displaced by tourism).

The start of my $2 kayaking adventure on the lake. A few minutes later it started hailing giant pellets. Unfortunately we were in the center of the lake at that point, left trying to protect every inch of bare skin for the next half hour with limited success.

Two indigenous women in Quito roasting guinea pigs (a dish known as "cuy"). Cuy is a traditional food in Ecuador and is often considered a delicacy. I think I'll be trying some in the Amazon in a few weeks (hmmm...).