Blogs from Cuenca, South, Ecuador, South America - page 2

From everyone that I had talked to and from everything that I had read, Ecuador sounded like a dangerous place. Overnight buses were apparently prone to hijacking and items have been reported as stolen from under your seat! I knew not to trust one bus company that had a lot of bad reviews including the drugging of passengers and subsequent stealing from them (CIFA - guess you can't trust any organisation with a acronym ending in -IFA) so I went with one taken by a guy I had met at the hostel who had no problems with them. And I had no problems with them in the end myself, as did Becca and Niels, both of whom were following me to Cuenca having met them at the hostel in Mancora. I didn't sleep great though, as ... read more

OK, here we are again catching up on my updates. Exactly a year ago I was down in Antarctica so one can see how time flies. So without wasting any more time here we go. After having had a fantastic time on the Galapagos Islands, and before the beaches in north Peru is was time for a change. Beach life is pretty cool, but there are so many cultural sights in Ecuador it was time to put my shorts away and get the cold weather gear out. On the morning of the flight from The Galapagos Islands back to the mainland my Aussie surfer friend and I took a taxi back to the airport and it was a bit sad to leave this wonderful location. But everything has and end and new adventures were waiting for ... read more

How to get there: I caught a 9am bus from Banos to Cuenca for $12 - I had to change in Riobamba but the conductor told you to get off & ushered you to the other bus with your packs. We had 1 stop for bus drivers to get food (& a bathroom break) & the trip took 8hrs. I met a girl called Jin from near Shanghai on the bus so we decided to find a hostel together. We caught a local bus into the city for 25c - exact change is needed. Where I stayed: La Casa Cuencana $8/night for dorm with bathroom had the dorm just for 2 of us. Clean, wifi good & water warm. Kitchen is ok but not that well supplied. What I did: Day 1: I wasn't feeling to ... read more

On Saturday we finally had the opportunity to volunteer with Happy Dogs Cuenca. This is a group of Ecuadorian veterinary doctors, vet students and vet techs that work with an organization called ARCA (I don't know what it stands for). They set up places in different neighborhoods where they can go and perform spay and neutering on the dogs and cats in those neighborhoods. On Saturday there were four people that performed 70 surgeries. We were there until they were working on the 62nd animal. Debi was working on sterilizing the instruments and getting them to the surgeons... read more

Some of you may not know what the Samaritans Purse Shoebox is. Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. Part of that is the Operation Christmas Child Program. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. In November each year people form all over the United States put together shoeboxes with items for needy children all over the world. The boxes are all ... read more