R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 136

Ecuador — Cuenca; More Ecuagenera orchids

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Ecuagenera Orcid Farm

One of the two largest species of flowers, ranging over most of the entire plant, is the orchid. Here at Ecuagenera over 8,000 species of orchids, as well as a wide selection of other types of flowering plants.

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Ecuagenera Orcid Farm

Eight thousand species of orchid is surely enough tor even the most famous collector of orchids in detective fiction, Rex Stout’s creation Nero Wolfe. Now, being both a fan and a writer of mysteries, you just know at some point I was going to...

Ecuador — Cuenca; Ecuagenera Orchid Farm

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Overlooking Cuenca — blue domes of the New Cathedral

Wednesday, February 17, 2016 our tour gathered for a little excursion just beyond Cuenca. Our first stop was the Eduardo Vega Gallery, which specializes in ceramic art from master artist Eduardo Vega. As lovely as the art was inside, the views of Cuenca from the hills high to the south were well worth the trip alone.

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Eduardo Vega Gallery

After a brief visit at the gallery we continued east for several miles to Ecuagenera Orchids of Ecuador....

Fun Food Friday — Cuenca, Ecuador; Cositas Restaurant Review

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Cositas Restaurant on Simón Bolívar

On our first evening in Cuenca, Ecuador, Ursula and I asked various locals where they enjoyed eating for a taste of traditional local food. Several recommended the place you see here — Cositas 10-24 Restaurante. How good was this place? Good enough that Ursula and I broke away from the tour group the next night and, with two tour comrades in tow, returned for a second helping. More on the second visit and our companions in a moment.

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Cositas 10-24 Restaurant...

Ecuador — Cuenca; Dusk to Dark

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Ministry of Social Welfare

It was getting late, and Ursula and I were getting hungry. So, after receiving some recommendations from the locals, we set out on foot to a restaurant that was so good we visited it twice, the second time with a couple from our tour group who asked to accompany us on the return. You’ll see a review of this little gem on this week’s Fun Food Friday.

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Cuenca Street Scene

Dusk was starting to settle, so I had to get creative on exposure control and finding ways to hold...

Ecuador — Cuenca; Church of Santo Domingo

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Iglesia de Santo Domingo

Not all the churches in Cuenca worth visiting are around Calderón Park. If you travel on foot northwest of the park you’ll come across another gem, but before you get there you’ll find some colorful buildings along the way:

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Street Color

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More Street Color

Eventually, at the corner of Gran Columbia and Padre Aguirre, you’ll stumble across the incredible Iglesia de Santo Domingo.

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Outside Iglesia de Santo Domingo

The exterior is nice, and fun to photograph:

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Iglesia de San...

Fun Photo Friday — Cuenca 1, Ecuador Favorites

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New Cathedral

Today’s Fun Photo Friday picture gallery and slide show (click on any image below to activate):

Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation Tagged: Cuenca, Ecuador, Fun Photo Friday, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, travel photography, vacation

Ecuador — Cuenca; Street scenes and buildings

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Holding hands in Cuenca

Today I present some street scenes and architectural shots of Cuenca. The Santuario Mariano is across the street from the New Cathedral:

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Santuario Mariano (Mariano Sanctuary)

Next to the Santuario is a flower market:

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Cuenca flower market

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Cuenca flower market

Near the flower market is the Church of San Francisco:

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As you can see, Cuenca is a picturesque destination with a lot going on. Below is a photo gallery/slide show of shots taken that evening:

Filed under: Ph...

Ecuador — Cuenca; Cathedrals and Calderón Park

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Old Cuenca Cathedral

We arrived into Cuenca, Ecuador, late in the afternoon on Tuesday, 16 February, 2016. This evening we were on our own, or we could choose to meet up for dinner with several from our tour much later that evening. Ursula and I decided to hit the streets on our own. We began at Cuenca’s two cathedrals, which are on separate ends of the Calderón Park. Calderón Park is named for Abdón Calderón, who fought for Ecuadorian independence.

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Memorial to Abdón Calderón in Calderón Park...

Fun Photo Friday — Road to Cuenca, Ecuador Favorites

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Dos Chorreras

Monday we begin the next phase of our Ecuador tour with the city of Cuenca. Until then, here are today’s Fun Photo Friday favorites of the road trip from Guayaquil to Cuenca:

Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation Tagged: Cajas National Park, Cuenca, Ecuador, Fun Photo Friday, Hosteria Dos Chorreras, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, travel photography, vacation

Ecuador — Road to Cuenca; Fruits and Cajas National Park

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Cajas National Park

Leaving behind the cocoa plantation, our tour began to climb high into the Andes. Before reaching the highest point on this segment of our trip, however, our tour guide granted us a stop at a group of local fruit stands along the road.

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Fruit Stand

This stop was a crowd-pleasing one, as we were still a ways from our lunch destination. Besides the bananas you see above, also available were passion fruit, guava, soursop, and many others I have no idea what they’re named.

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Frui...