Up, Up and Away

May 1, we were up before dawn to get to Santa Maria and the LAX shuttle.  California seemed to have some shudders that we were leaving evidenced during our 4 hour drive.  First, some 14 year old boys decided to carjack a lady in Buellton and lead cops on a wild chase, ending badly in a 5 car collision and bringing Highway 101 to a standstill.  Our quick thinking driver made a U-turn to 154.  Next, phones started pinging about 3 earthquakes off Santa Barbara’s coast.  Then rain.  Getting on our flight and the transfer in San Salvador went smooth as silk after our wild ride on land.  It was super chill when we landed in Guayaquil, Equador at midnight.  People were relaxed and no customs forms or scrutiny.  A nice airport van driver saw us lugging our bags towards our hotel and picked us up for front door delivery. 

Next morning, Edwin, our driver from Cuenca, comes  right on time to fetch us.  Edwin lived in Connecticut and NYC for several years.  His daughter was born there and is now a college freshman, braving being greatly outnumbered by guys in her computer science courses.  She’s coming soon for a two month visit.  Edwin’s English is perfect so thankfully I don’t have to practice my Duolingo Spanish on him.

It is muggy in Guayaquil - no wonder since it right on the coast and and a river delta.  Nonetheless, watching pedestrians from our hotel room window, I can see no one wore skirts or shorts, only jeans,  I changeclothes before we go downstairs to breakfast.

The four hour drive to Cuenca started through lush tropical fields of mangos, bananas and rice.   An hour later we take our first break to get SIM cards for our phones, with Edwin’s help.  We drive on, now gaining elevation into a verdant cloud forest with white-out visibility.  At the half way point and now at 12000 feet elevation, we make a pit stop at an immaculate cafe. 

The solid wall of white lifts for a few moments giving us this amazing view.  

We are following advice to not eat much as we acclimate to the elevation, but can’t resist helados.

We reach the summit of Cajas National Park and it is time to put on a jacket.  It’s chilly - not cold - and we are on the highest peak of our lives at 14,000 feet.  It goes up from there, to a max of 15,000 feet.  We are now only 40 minutes from Cuenca and Edwin urges us to return by bus to hike the park trails  and meet more of these guys.

Yes, a dozen llamas are grazing unperturbed right beside us.

This fluffy baby is just waiting patiently for Mama in a nest of grasses.  We walk around slowly heeding Edwin’s warning about altitude sickness.

We drive down the mountains to a Cuenca, dropping about 6000 feet elevation in 40 minutes.  Cuenca spreads out before us.  May has daily rain showers, so the heavy clouds just add more drama to the contrasts between the city and it’s Andean mountain setting.  We are now at 8400 ft elevation and it’s time to get to know our new home for the next 3 months!

Our first view from our casa nuevo!  Our hosts, Ron and Danica, have thought of everything for us.  We are greeted by kind Maribel, they have left us soup for a light dinner and we are taking their advice to lay low to get used to the altitude.  More next on our new home and community!