A few favorite pictures

This will be the last post for a while. Family matters will keep us busy for a few months; however, our next trip is in the works and we will be blogging from Italy - and just when I was getting a handle on Spanish.

I found out the second time I witnessed a net pull how the catch is divided. If you show up and pull you get some fish.
 Go ahead and click to enlarge pics. They are better full screen. (Next 3 pics by Helena Dusseljee)

Two little girls examine their bag of fish

Several stingray caught in the net are freed

OH NO! Not another picture at the point!

At Thanksgiving dinner Lordis, the attorney is on the phone again and hiding behind the potted plant

Vivi (Colombian) and Gary (German) decorating for Christmas

Yes, I did climb these stairs in Cuecna

And finally - the classic shot that sums up Ecuador

Valeri

Our stay in Cuecna was all the more enjoyable because of Valeri. We first met Valeri in Manta on our trip last spring. She had lived at Linda's while her condo was being finished and they became close friends. It was her Manta condo I referred to in a previous post. After our return to the States she moved to Cuecna.

 Val is a British/American expat with a droll humor, a sharp mind, and she is quite unwilling to let a perceptive comment go unspoken. Naturally our views on the world mesh seamlessly.

 We had dinner with her 3 of our 4 nights in Cuecua - each time allowing her to pick the restaurant. Every time was a gourmet experience enhanced by a classy, sophisticated dinner companion.

Walk through Cuecna

On our last full day of our two months in Ecuador we took a 2 dollar taxi ride to the Inca ruins on the other side of the city. After an interesting couple hours in the Pumapungo Museum we walked through the terraced ruins.

In one section we saw a collection of indigious birds including these parrots:

De Anne, the rentless walker, decided we should walk back to the heart of the old city. Her inticement for me was the final destination - a wonderful ice cream shop on the main square discovered the day before.
Scenes along the way:

Politician and his followers:

While enjoying my walking reward De Anne came up with a new plan. We would walk back to the river and follow it back to Bonnie's apartment. She offered me an out - I could catch a cab back; however, macho man that I am, I agreed to accompany her on foot, knowing I could hail a taxi anywhere in the city within 60 seconds should I feel close to expiring.
The way down to the river:

Four miles later she praised my perseverance while never complaining about the slow pace of my short, stubby legs.

The last 24 hours

Our final day in Ecuador was a bittersweet mix. Just as we were preparing to leave Cuecna Linda called with the sad news that her long-time friend Hank (pictured with his back to the camera in the Dec. 3rd blog entry) died of a massive heart attack. My picture five days earlier proved to be his last.

We had made a reservation for a van to take us back to Guayaquil, avoiding the bus for 2 reasons - memories of news stories about buses careening off roads in the Andes and the uncomfortable bus conditions on the ride to Cuecna.

In the van company waiting room we learned our van was being detained at a police checkpoint; however a taxi had been hired to take us and an Ecuadorian couple to Guayaquil. The bus ride from Guayaquil to Cuecna was just shy of 5 hours. The taxi driver following the maxim: "Time is money", made the return in two and a half hours. Most of that time was with all four of his wheels on the road, but seldom in his own lane. I believe - although unprovable - that he used my weight in the passenger seat as a counter balance on a few hairpin curves while allowing De Anne and the Ecuadorian couple in the sub-compact's back seat to become better acquainted, first on one side of the taxi then the other.

Our safe arrival at the airport was not the end of our fun. Standing in front of the immigration official we were informed we had overstayed our visa and the police were summoned. I was ready for this because a few weeks earlier I had noticed (after a prompting by an expat) that our passports were stamped with an expiration date of Dec. 4th. While pulling out my iPad which had my prepared speech about how their system was incorrect De Anne overheard the policeman say "this is why I hate Americans".

 After allowing us to cool our heels a while we were given back our now stamped passports and bid a bon voyage. We scampered out to the international concourse whispering jokes to each other about missing the accommodations afforded in third world jails.

Meanwhile, back in the USA, forces were marshaling to make our re-entry perfect. An on-time flight, a short immigration line and an officer who approached us before we were fully cued in line and escorted us to the flight crew check-in line for an instant entry. I am sure the reason must have been the shellacking I gave them months ago on my blog. The power of the press. As you can tell, I am proud of my humility.

Although we are home now I still have a couple stories to tell and a picture recap. Let us pretend the next couple posts are done from Ecuador.

 On the main square in Cuenca palms grow beside fir trees:

A mile and a half up

We arrived in Cuenca Monday evening after a slow and winding bus trip up the Andes mountains. The buses going the other way were zipping by. I anticipate the gravity assisted trip back to take about an hour less. Bonnie's apartment is quite nice and we are settled in. The guards already recognize us (or at least De Anne - a six foot blonde being cause for stares in Ecuador). We had dinner out with Bonnie and Val Monday night. Very upscale restaurant, dinners for four and a bottle of wine from Chile, recommended by the owner, all for $42.00. I am stocking up pictures for my return to the USA and high-speed Internet.

Puerto Lopez

We took a short trip down the coast to visit Puerto Lopez. Although we managed to visit a couple of Linda's friends there and have a lunch out the main purpose of the trip was to get rid of a dog.

 Linda has permanent dogs and transitional dogs. This was a street dog she rescued a couple weeks ago. People who want to see a dog rescued but not enough to sully their own hands call Linda and their consciences are salved. Linda rides to the rescue and makes the vet her first stop. She gets a volume discount for spay/neuter and then nurses the cat or dog back to health while trying to place it in a good home. Today's success story was a small shepherd mutt with a very good temperament.

It takes a village

Fishing is a team effort. A dozen fisherman from the nearby village used a boat to string a net in front of Linda's place yesterday.

They started with 5 men ashore anchoring a rope fixed to a long net. The boat containing 3 men and a huge pile of net slowly unwound the net into the ocean. Making a half-mile arc they fed the line on the other end ashore to more waiting men. With slow but steady pressure they pulled the lines in at both ends and sideways down the beach. Once the wood spreader ends that held the net open were in the surf a couple men on both sides started working the net itself.

More folks from the village showed up for the final pull. The excitement among the birds increased as did the number of birds, all anticipating the catch. Their anticipation was justified as the small fish were flung into the air for the birds to pick off in flight.

The men and women had what looked to be a free-for-all picking fish out of the net; however, I suspect some unwritten agreement prevailed, as everyone left with a bag or box of fish and a happy expression.

Thanksgiving on the beach

75 expats and fellow travelers (like us) gathered at 18 for Thanksgiving. The resturants are numbered along the beach front, and although they all have names it is easier for gringos to just refer to the numbers each has as part of their sign.

Our table with Joe in the red shirt, Justin and Janet (his new bride), John standing with his lovely Ecuadorian wife of 3 years, Jassolyne who was moving quickly and almost escaped the picture completely.

We had turkey, dressing, mixed steamed veggies, purple sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, mushroom rosotti, and rolls. I even got a drumstick! For dessert we had rum cake, pumpkin pie and apple pie. The meal serving was orderly; however, the dessert was a free-for-all. I'm not real proud to report I had 4 slices of apple pie with whipped cream. In my defense the pieces were thin cut and the pie was not very thick, with a half inch apple layer. Something may have slipped a bit in the translation. On the plus side the whipped cream was a real treat - very stiff, very thick, and I think slightly sweetened. During my second attack on the dessert table I wielded the serving spoon with abandon and hid my apple pie in a rough textured white mountain. I think I heard an artery snap shut; but I rely on the satin drug I take every night (just like every man over 50 does - or should) to roto-router my arteries while in nightly repose.

Note you can just make out the beach and Pacific ocean in the background. I still don't miss snow and cold weather.

Holes

I love going to the point. A 3 mile round trip hike on my own private beach to a scenic spot of natural beauty!

Note the daylight center right:

Same hole closer shot:

De Anne wanted me to climb the 20 feet up and see if it was stable. Try to guess my answer:

It's all precarious:

Dogs on Patrol

Even though Linda's dogs are 'free range' dogs they still accompany us on our beach walks. Sometimes, because of some wanton behavior  we feel the need to pretend we don't know them; however, that always seems to end in the miscreants happily bounding up to us.

Now one might think of a beach as barren sand and rock, but that is far from the truth. All sorts of denizens of the deep die and repose in various stages of decay on the beach. The dead population is refreshed by a twice daily high tide. I have so far spared my gentle readers 3.5 meg pictures of these graphic nature shots... and the vultures feeding rambunctiously.... and the enthusiastic canine investigations of same.

Scenery is wasted on dogs:

Today the dogs had their interest peaked more by wild goats. A mother and two kids, separated from the herd, proved to be an irresistible sport - at least until the mother goat gained the high ground on a small knoll and turned to face her antagonists. The dogs conferred ever so briefly and decided life was better back on the beach.

During a second goat encounter Barney (the ugly one) surprised himself when he caught a young kid. Of course De Anne insisted I '''do something''. I demurred pointing out they were on a cliff 200 yards east and 100 feet up. Since Barney did not understand the concept of prey and the next logical step he wandered away and the kid rejoined it's distraught mother. Both most likely in need of long-term counseling.

The cute little tan dog, Bailey, is the smart one. Pepe, the black dog, is sadly the stupidest mutt in the world. He chases cars and runs head first into trash cans that have been in the same place for years.

Eventful Day

We packed two cars on Friday with Manta expats and zoomed north on a field trip to San Clemente. Linda and Bonnie were the drivers. They could not agree on the route so - race on! Linda is not normally a timid driver. She follows the old saying "drive it like you stole it". Linda knew Bonnie would be pedal to the metal the whole way and she wasn't about to lose the race. We got to the restaurant a minute ahead of Bonnie.

Miers, the restaurant owner, had lobsters in stock so 12 of us indulged in the $7 lobster lunch. A pound of the bottom feeder plus salad and a large pile of homemade chips. The real treat was a trip to the "back room". I stocked up on a couple of my favorite bad habits at fell off the truck prices. The rest of the group was crowded in behind me, either indulging in similar vices or just gawking.

Waiting for lobsters. No idea why I have such a stupid look on my face.

The trip back was uneventful until the last 50 feet. A crew of men was erecting an enormous sign on the other side of the sand road in front of Linda's house. Linda gunned the car up right in front of their truck and jumped out yelling in her broken Spanish "VERY BAD! STOP! GET OUT!".

I ran to the house to get Edger to translate some of the finer points. Meanwhile, with De Anne at her side, Linda picked up a big rock - still yelling. Edger arrived on the run and the men pleaded with him to tell the crazy woman to put down the rock. What the men did not know was that the rock was not as bad as it could have gotten. I was ready to instantly execute a duck and cover maneuver if Linda really got mad.

With great acumen the workmen quickly agreed to remove the sign. I think they realized just what they were up against. They had turned the power off for the whole beach since one of the workmen had unwisely touched the power line with a sign pole. Of course, we had to wait until after sunset for the power to be turned back on.

Finally, a bit of peace and quiet! I got my iPad out and started reading emails. Suddenly, the whole days' events paled. De Anne's sister De Linda sent an email about their Father passing away. De Vere was 86 and had just been put into a nursing home a month ago. He had Alzheimer's but died quickly from a stroke. I remember some advice my Mother gave me when she was in a nursing home - Have some fun now because you don't know when it will end. Words to live by and we are.

Obit to be published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Captain DeVere (Dee) Bunnell took his final flight on Thursday, Nov. 15th.  He rejoins his wife of 50 years, Opal “Dixie”, who predeceased him in 2000. Dee Bunnell was an Army soldier stationed in Austria during the European Occupation.  He returned home to finish college, learned to fly and became an Air Force cargo pilot during the golden age of large piston engine aircraft.  He was a veteran who logged many years of long Pacific flights, flying supplies to the Korean conflict and flying wounded soldiers home.  His military contribution was followed by 30 years of flying for Eastern Airlines, piloting large piston engine aircraft through the era of transition to modern computerized jet aircraft.  He finished his career as captain in the Airbus A300.  Dee retired in 1986 and enjoyed a long happy retirement traveling, boating and gardening.  He is survived by his son Alexander and three daughters, DeLinda, DeAnne and Denise and by seven grandsons.    His life will be celebrated on Sat, Nov. 24th, at 11:00pm at 5630 Queensborough Dr, Dunwoody 30338.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the ALZHEIMER’S FOUNDATION OF AMERICA (www.alzfdn.org). 

De Anne's Adventure

While I spent a few days supervising a staff of affable, hard-working Ecuadorians, Linda and De Anne had an interesting trip to Cuenua (quink ah).

The 2 kittens were together in a carrier for the first 100 yards of the trip. After breaking up the cat fight De Anne held the kitten for the rest of the 8 hour trip.

De Anne loved Cuenua. Clean, drinkable tap water, cobblestone streets, and sophisticated locals who look down on the coastal Ecuadorians as crude and uneducated. De Anne says it looks like a whole different country up in the Andes.

I have heard stories from several expats about Linda's good luck. It was in effect on the trip back. On mountain roads the car overheated. De Anne said they were out in the wilderness on narrow winding roads with not even a place to pull over for miles at a time.

When the car started spewing steam they just happened to be at a pull off spot. To compound the good luck a fire truck was parked there too. Adding to the luck there was an english-speaking Frenchman training the firemen about how to use the truck. After help from the Fire truck mechanic who just happened to be there also, they were ready to travel again.  From that point on it was downhill the rest of the way and they made it back to the beach late but without further crisis.

De Anne has now made a deal with Bonnie, an expat resident of Cuenua, that in return for feeding her cat (at least a 2 minute job every day) we can use her condo from Dec. 3rd until our return Dec. 9th while she is in America. So we will spend our last days in Ecuador in the Andes.

Picture of Cuenua stolen from Michigan Tech:

Back in Management

With Linda and De Anne gone I am in charge now. Lucky for me Edgar from Spain is here to provide translation. My pitiful Spanish is not near good enough to supervise the staff. Edgar is helping with my Spanish; but, it is hard for an old dog to learn new tricks.

 Linda bought a waffle iron this weekend, so tomorrow I teach the cooks to make waffles. I anticipate a big breakfast tomorrow morning!

 Edgar is painting a new sign and Jacqueline the maid, has her back to the camera, while Fernanda, the cook is admiring Edgar - or at least his work:

It's a small world

The photo below is breakfast time at Linda's Donkey Den Cafe a couple days ago. The people you see represent six countries.

John from France is the gray haired gentleman sitting in the foreground with Nicholas a temp worker for Linda, from Sweden, sitting across from him. Andy, from Germany, is talking to John. Lordis, from Ecuador, is Linda's attorney and like lawyers all over the world is on the phone. Frank, from America, is in the green shirt in front of the bar. Linda is talking to Oleg - a big, muscular Russian.

Today Linda and De Anne leave for a short trip to Cuenca to visit Val. Val was so happy that Linda rented out her condo that she asked what she could do in return. By the end of today Val will have two more cats and Linda two less. One of the cats moving to Cuenca will be our foster kitten.

Another kitten picture:

A small addition

Linda allows some customers in her cafe to run tabs. Roberto paid his large tab last week and Linda gave $5 of it to the cook/waitress as a tip. In return the cook, as a thank you, bought Linda a tiny kitten. Of course the last thing Linda needed was another cat.

 Luckily Dennis and Cheryl (mentioned in a previous post) took it with them to their new apartment in Manta. Unfortunately, the building manager found out and evicted the kitten.

 The end result is a kitten too small to be released into the general population of dogs and cats. De Anne offered temporary asylum to the wee one.

 De Anne lending a shoulder:

A white kitten on my black pillow with gray toy mouse:

Mañana

The correct way to define mañana is not "tomorrow", but rather "not today".

Linda ordered a bed from her handyman who works on her house 3 or 4 days a week. She showed him another bed and wanted an exact duplicate. She paid him $150 which was twice what she would have paid in a store, but she wanted an exact copy. Sanchez - the handyman - did not deliver it when promised; however, Linda never expects deadlines to be met in Ecuador.

A week after the original delivery date passed she rented out Val's condo for 3 months and decided to use the new bed in one of bedrooms. She called Sanchez and he promised to deliver it at 8:00 am the next morning. At 9:30am the next morning Linda called him and he said it was an hour away. At 11:00am another call to Sanchez got a promise that it was a half hour away. The noon call promise was that delivery was just 15 minutes away. During the final call that afternoon Sanchez said it was not his fault - the carpenter had not finished the bed but it would be delivered tomorrow.

Without going into details, the next day was more of the same. On the third day of this comic scenario Linda called his bluff after several telephone exchanges and hired a truck for $15 to go to Sanchez's house since he now claimed to have no way to deliver the bed. Sanchez gave the driver instructions on how to get to his house. When the driver arrived Sanchez then admitted he did not have the bed.

 Day four was move-in day for the new tenants. After a couple more calls to Sanchez Linda gave up and hired the truck driver again to take her own bed apart and truck it over to the condo. Just as we were loading into the truck Sanchez arrived in a taxi with the bed. The bed was the wrong color and style. Linda suspected he bought it from a cheap furniture store in town. He wanted another $30 for cab ride. Of course readers will remember a cab ride from town is only $9 or $10. Linda told him he was fired and never to show his lying face on her property again.

The moral of the story is not that Ecuadorians are liars. It is that they will say anything to avoid saying "no". It is a culture difference that leaves gringos feeling cheated and lied to when exactly the opposite is intended.

Another day in paradise:

Holiday in Ecuador

We had nothing scheduled for the weekend except laying low because it was an Ecuadorian holiday weekend. The Ecuadorians take their holidays seriously. The partying is intense and loud. Alas, relaxing and hiding from the masses was just not going to happen.

 Linda rented out her friend Val's condo as furnished. Val is a British expat we met on our last visit, who has since moved to Cuenca (in the mountains). Val had left some furniture behind , but a few more pieces were needed, so Saturday was furniture buying day. Sunday was my time to shine putting it together. While I did that De Anne organized the kitchen with new dishes, coffee maker, etc. The delivery of the bed did not happen as promised - but that is a whole story in itself.

 View from Val's patio:

Waiting for something to die:

Relaxing cats favor our patio:

Party girl

De Anne has had a week of parties. First off was an all-girls party in Cruceita:

Next was her birthday party Tuesday night. Twenty expats and a few Ecuadorian friends joined us at Restaurante Martinica for a fun evening. Linda had a special cake prepared for De Anne by Hotel Oro Verde.

On Wednesday afternoon De Anne finished her whirlwind party circuit attending a Red Hat Society pool party in Manta.

Full House

We have gone from empty last week to full this week. The additional folks represent the UK, Canada, Russia, and Austria. Lucky for us that English is the common language, plus several of them speak Spanish too. In fact, most Europeans seem to have a good handle on Spanish while most of us Americans fall woefully short in the bi and tri-language category.

Tonight we are all going to the finest restaurant in Manta to celebrate De Anne's birthday. I got her a set of earrings and a necklace made in Ecuador and thanks to Linda's negotiating skills they were purchased at quite a reasonable price.

Pretty girl, ugly dog