Discover Cuenca Ecuador

The locals celebrate fiestas all over Cuenca for the end of the year. Music blares from different homes on the streets and every so often you hear a few fireworks go off. The real fireworks won't happen until January 1, 2013 however, and if you're in Cuenca then hopefully you'll be sitting somewhere where you can watch the beautiful display.

And then there are the ano viejo dolls (old year) displayed in stalls every where in the city.  Ecuador celebrates the end of the year as well as the new year to come. The dolls are the size of a person, stuffed with sawdust and then clothed and they look like mean people, some of them look really evil.  Apparently people burn the dolls on December 31, and then for some reason, jump over them which is supposed to bring you good luck for the coming new year. Here's a parade celebrating the coming new year.

                

This is one of our very popular videos on YT. It is a simple video showing the daily life of what it is like to live in Cuenca Ecuador, such as riding the bus, shopping in the mercado and hanging out in Park Calderon. This is Cuenca!

                

We are revisiting some of our videos on YT and on this Discover Cuenca Ecuador Blog. 

A concern of many new folks that move to Cuenca is safety, and rightly so. They want to know where the safe neighborhoods are. The fact is, there are only a few "not so good" areas in Cuenca and believe us, you'll be warned about them by other expats you meet and even by the Ecuadorians.  It is not so much "where you live" but "how you behave" where you live and when going out. A popular misnomer is people think it is safer to live where all the gringos live but that is not necessarily the case. Read the article we are revisiting today to find out where the two "not so good" areas of Cuenca are.

Is it Safer to live in the Gringo / Expat Areas of Cuenca?

 In nature, animals avoid becoming prey by blending in to their surroundings. How far do they take it? As you may know from the old Animal Kingdom shows, some animals go as far as changing their color, their texture, to blend in, and they bury themselves under sand, they camouflage themselves as sticks, etc. etc. and they usually will hang alone. 

When you look at animals that go together in packs, such as antelope or deer etc. or even school of fish, you will note that their predators always go to that location, because they know it’s fertile territory. The lion knows his chances of getting at least one of the weaker antelope is much higher stalking a pack then trying to find one single antelope. Similarly, whales will go after a school of fish, because it’s much easier and a more bountiful meal going after the whole school than just a single fish.     

Hanging Out in the Gringo Pack, Safe?  

So then, how is it that gringos think they’re safer by hanging out in the gringo pack, school, neighborhood.   Read More!

To read all of our articles on crime and personal safety in Cuenca, click here!

 

Now understand when we created this video for our viewers it was meant to be non-offensive. What it was created for was to show our viewers some of the things that may surprise them when they first get to Ecuador  It is merely meant to be an informational video for those people who are thinking of moving to Ecuador.  It is our most popular video but also has the most dislikes and comments.

We can be like most people and only talk about the good or share only those things that are positive about Cuenca but what good is that to potential expatters to Cuenca? This video has gotten a lot of flack and to be honest we can't figure out why? Tell us what you think...we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. BTW...there are way more surprises here in Cuenca than just these 10. These are the ones we knew about at the time. We're definitely going to be expanding on this video in the future. Until then, enjoy the video!

10 Things that May Surprise You (at first) about Ecuador

Some of the things we list in the video you already know about because you are a reader of this blog! But some of these surprises you may not know about yet. There is a lot more that could be said about "things" that are and can be surprising about living in Ecuador, especially when you first move here. But you know, after awhile you just start getting used to it. But you still need to keep an eye out, because if you aren't looking where you're walking there's sure to be a surprise on the sidewalk. And yes, we still love Ecuador!

                

This is a continuation of revisiting some of the most read articles on the Discover Cuenca Ecuador Blog. We will be displaying these popular articles through the month of December.


Some things have gone up a bit in Cuenca...there has been some inflation but it is not that noticeable. Our cost of living is still pretty much the same. Let's revisit a families cost of living in Cuenca Ecuador.


As promised here is our cost of living for our family of five adults living in Cuenca Ecuador.

Monthly Cost of Living in Cuenca Ecuador

Rent: $250
Water and Electric: $90
Propane (gas): $10
Food: $300
Internet: $72
Cell phone: $19
Vonage: $25
 Read More about our cost of living.

Some of our new readers may have not had a chance to read about finding a nice unfurnished rental for just $250 in Cuenca, so it is one of the articles we are revisiting in the month of December. We've done a lot of footwork research as far as finding nice homes in the local price range, so we know for a fact you can still find a nice 3 bedroom apartment or house in the $250 to $350 price range in Cuenca. 

We also know it is very easy to get gringo gouged just because you're a foreigner. Some of the foreigners that we have talked with tell us they got price gouged when searching for a rental and had to walk away. We're happy that there are some foreigners willing to walk away. We have been in some "very much in need of TLC" houses in Cuenca where the landlords were asking $600! Frank loves to tell them the price is too high and walk away. If more people walked away it will make a difference.  

For the rest of the month of December 2012 we're going to be revisiting some of the most read articles on the Discover Cuenca Ecuador Blog.  Here are three such articles we think you'll enjoy, especially if you are thinking of moving here or already here in Cuenca! Your comments and questions are always welcomed and appreciated.

Best Retirement City in the World: Cuenca Ecuador or...Hutchinson Kansas??

Some Cuenca Expats Want to Scare Gringos Away from Cuenca

You never know what is going to be happening in Park Caderon. Many events go on in and around this main city center park. Today there was a singer and he was very good.

               

This is the second part of our zoo video. The zoo is really nice with lots of animals and very natural surroundings are made for them; nothing artificial in this zoo. It takes about 2 hours to walk the whole zoo and see all of the animals. The animals have a lot of space to roam around. A monkey or two got loose and was wondering around in the trees in the zoo.



               

We finally made it to the Cuenca zoo, the Amaru Zoological.  It is a really nice zoo and all of the animals have a lot of space and room to roam. the Cuenca zoo houses about 35 animals and is located off the Pan American Autopista. This video is part 1 of 2.

               

Well let’s see now, what animals have we NOT seen in Cuenca? It strikes us as a bit odd but we have not seen very many wild animals in Cuenca Ecuador. We went to the Cuenca zoo and saw many animals there, but that does not count, does it? This article has to be titled “wild animals we have NOT seen in Cuenca because we haven’t seen any!

When we first moved here it seemed there were hardly any birds. We did not hear them nor see them.  In the northern country during summer, it was so hot that we would leave the bedroom window open overnight just to get an early morning breeze. This way we would also wake up to the music of the birds in the trees in our yard every morning. We’d go out in the yard and admire the bluebirds, yellow finches and red cardinals. What a sight for sore eyes.

Every other morning, we’d be treated to a pack of deer in the yard. The neighbor’s Guinea Hens would wander over and let themselves be known.  And then there were the crickets every night, our son misses them.  Our son also saw in the lake, a very large snapping turtle the size of a manhole cover. Smaller box turtles would be seen crossing the road while out driving on a hot summer day.

And here we have not been hearing any birds, until recently. But the birds have come back and they pleasantly chirp, sing and talk amongst one another every morning again.  Thank God.

We do not live in the densely populated section of the city center; in point of fact, nearby there are farmers growing vegetables in the fields, so there are not as many houses and even though it is right by the river, we have never seen squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, deer, or opossums. The only wild animals we have seen are rats and mice and now some different varieties of birds. It does strike us as a bit odd since we’re surrounded by so many beautiful mountains, and there appears to be so much nature not too far off.

On the other side of the coin, there are no snakes around here either. That’s a relief, although we’ve been told there are plenty of them in the lower country toward Guayaquil. 

We hiked up Cajas Mountain and spent the day and the only wild life we saw was some trout; didn’t even see one rabbit or deer. This was astonishing to us. Where are all the animals?

When you start traveling out of town on the Pan-American Highway next to the mountain you don’t even see any dead animals on the roadside that accidently got hit by cars. In the northern country you’d see dead animals on the roadsides all the time such as opossums, rabbits and even deer.
It appears there aren’t many wild animals here, and if there are, they sure do know how to hide themselves well. Haven’t seen a snake, lizard, or turtle in the wild here either, perhaps it is just too cold here for the reptiles.

If you want to see some animals in the wild in Ecuador, guess you have to go to the Amazon or the coastal regions where it is warmer.  We have seen in Cuenca a few insects and spiders however; you can read all about the insect population of Cuenca here.  And watch out for our upcoming video of the Cuenca Zoo where you'll see lots of wild animals and even a loose monkey or two.

When we first moved here the stray dogs roaming around Cuenca was a bit disconcerting. There were hungry, sickly dogs roaming around everywhere! We felt sorry  for the weak, scruffy dogs, but we were also fearful they might attack!  Luckily, this has not been the case. In fact, most of the stray dogs in Cuenca are gentle and timid of people.

They mostly roam the streets looking for garbage to eat and sometimes they get thrown some stale bread or old white rice from an Ecuadorian restaurant owner, but these dogs are mostly vitamin deficient and weak. Some of the dogs wobble around on only three legs, while others limp around because they got hit by a car.

Where Have the Dogs Gone?

We have noticed a BIG change in the amount of roaming dogs on the streets here in Cuenca. We remarked about seeing less roaming dogs to one expat lady and she told us there is an expat volunteer program working with a rescue and protection operation called ARCA. Together they are working steadily to pick up stray animals that have been living miserably on the streets of Cuenca.

ARCA is a veterinarian clinic and rescue company in Cuenca that offers low cost treatment for animals; it houses and feeds hundreds of dogs and cats and offers low cost to free spays and neuters to the animals. We have heard they have hundreds of dogs and numerous cats waiting to be adopted into caring homes.

Many of the dogs they rescue are sickly and in need a lot of TLC. After nursing the animals back to health they are put up for adoption into loving homes here in Cuenca. Here is the website for ARCA but unfortunately it is only in Spanish. http://fundacionarca.com/   Try putting it into Google Translate; it does not translate efficiently but it is better than nothing.

Should you bring your pets to Cuenca with you?

If you’re a pet lover and leaving your dog or cat with friends in the US, perhaps you would think about adopting one of these rescued dogs or cats and provide them with a caring home and family. Each new expat that moves to Cuenca and adopts one animal, if they so choose, would be giving these animals the loving homes they deserve. 

In the US it is so very easy to find loving homes for the pets we already have, but here in Ecuador, it is a bit more difficult. The Ecuadorians that have pets have the extra income to feed them nutritionally sound meals and provide a loving home. But many Ecuadorians can’t afford to feed a dog or cat and take care of the upkeep of owning a pet.

BTW…dog and cat food is VERY expensive here. The brands you know and love, and that are the most nutritious cost three to five times more here. One expat lady, who has three cats of her own, told us that one small can of Friskies wet food costs $2. And there aren't any alternatives. So if you have multiple pets you can be spending well over $100 a month on pet food.

On another note,  we have noticed that a lot of the foreigners want to rent furnished and with a yard for their pets, which is almost impossible to find.  And when you find it, the landlords don't want pets!! It is much easier to find, if you own a pet to rent unfurnished. We'll talk more about that in another article.

Anyway, the working Ecuadorians can eat a whole meal on $1.50, plus have $0.50 cents left over to buy a humita or plantain with cheese later on in the day.  And this is the point. It is not in the budget for most Ecuadorians to own even one dog or cat. Not only that, but the up-keep for the animal is not in the budget either. And this is the reason why many animals don’t have a loving Ecuadorian home to go to. This is where you come in.

We’re happy there are so many volunteers that are ambitious to this cause and being proactive about helping these poor animals… and we can bet the animals are also happy! Thank you ARCA and all of its faithful volunteers for a job well done. Keep up all the wonderful work!

ARCA Foundation - http://fundacionarca.com/