Ah Cuenca! I adore Cuenca and wish to return one day. It was here that I truly had a chance to embrace the life of the solo traveller. It wasn’t all fun and games, as you’ll find out soon enough, but so affected was I by this gorgeous colonial city that I was well set-up for enjoying my subsequent solo travels around South America.
I stayed in Cuenca for just over a week and view this time as a true initiation into a solo travelling lifestyle. It may have been all of under 5 days, but I remember my time in Cuenca as though I was there much longer. Staying in one place for that amount of time helps you to feel you know a place better. It’s not always possible of course, but I would recommend an extended stay in your first location to ease you into the ways of the world you’re in.
Cuenca (fun fact: it means basin) is hands down one of the prettiest places I stayed in during all of my travels. It’s up there with Cusco and Arequipa in Peru (though I didn’t connect nearly as deeply with Arequipa, for various reasons I’ll get into in a later post.)
If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know that I spent the night in Cuenca on my way to Terra Frutis, the raw vegan community I visited as filmmaker for the Amazon Fruit Festival 2020. I loved this city from the get-go and swore to come back and stay for longer than I had planned.
If I’m honest, I hadn’t planned for anything at all after the festival, other than booking flights to the Galapagos and Peru. I knew how to get to Terra Frutis and I had prepared to film the event, but after that… well, that was anyone’s guess, least of all mine! And that, as it turns out, is just how I like my travelling – the freedom to be truly spontaneous.
A Cracking Time in Cuenca
Cuenca is a Spanish colonial city nestled amongst the high sierra of the Andes. Which really, is a beautifully poetic rendering of a gorgeously rendered city. I presume that it’s named after the Spanish city of Cuenca, which is also impossibly gorgeous and on my list of future travels. Google it. Who’s coming with?
The old city centre where I stayed during my visit is listed as a World Heritage site, (as is its Spanish namesake) and it’s truly easy to see why. Laid out in the colonial grid-style, the old centre, now the tourist hub, is peppered with well-preserved buildings that speak to its heyday of years past.
My week in Cuenca was truly spectacular, though it did not come without its fair share of misfortunes (more on those later). The main reason I returned to Cuenca was because I really wanted to see the Amaru Zoológico Bioparque, a non-profit conservation organisation. As a keen conservationist-in-the-making I was drawn to the park because of its focus on protecting biodiversity. Also, I wanted to see the jaguars.
I spent much of the time within the confines of the centre, trawling the streets, seeing the sights. Most of my time was spent searching for a hard drive and adaptor, one of the lingering and frustrating problems I dealt with while there. Yet even that couldn’t stop me from soaking up the beauty. If anything, it made me realise how lovely all the people were there… especially when they anticipated a sale!
My week here flew by. I found that the days were long, but the weeks seemed to sail past, a phenomenon that seems to happen during holidays. It is also afflicting me in my normal, hum-drum everyday lockdowned life at the moment though. Le sigh.
Exploring is what I love to do most (why would I be on the South American continent otherwise?), with day 1 seeing me head out on Mission Hard Drive, resulting in 1 purchased adaptor and 1 purchased hard drive (with a discount, because the lady took pity on my technical Spanish vocab (pretty non-existent) and how hard I had been trying to get an adaptor!) Result: iPads are not compatible with hard drives… at all! However, I did not manage to figure this out until a quest round Guayaquil armed with limited Spanish. Le big sigh.
After this episode had concluded, I headed off, with GoPro in tow, to explore further afield. I discover the Puente Roto (which I tried to find last time, but ran out of time because I had a bus to catch) the artists quarter and the street of BOOKS! Anyone who knows me will know that I LOVE my jewellery (rings, bracelets and in particular BIG earrings), and my books. I found an English bookstore, but sadly buying books was off the agenda, because they are heavy and cumbersome things. My kindle would serve me on my travels well enough!
As for the jewellery… I popped into every boutique because, hey that’s just me. Except this time there was no one nagging me to hurry up because they were bored! Cuenca is well known for it’s crafts, and there are multiple places to meander and admire the handiwork.
And speaking of handicrafts, here’s a fun fact for you: the famous Panama hat actually originates in Ecuador, NOT Panama. Why are they called Panama hats I hear you wondering? Because they were exported from Ecuador to Panama during the 19th century, during the building of the Panama Canal (which is actually located in Panama FYI). Cuenca is one of the hotspots for these bad boys, though unfortunately I look awful in hats and thus did not purchase one for my travels.
A further note on handicrafts is that I recommend you DO NOT buy anything with feathers. It’s illegal to take them back to some countries (UK included). I totally agree with this sentiment – feathers from rare birds have no place in jewellery, only perhaps in traditional costume. At the time, this was not something I realised, I saw only pretty feathers, but lots of hassle transporting them in a backpack for months! Rare birds may have been killed for their feathers and I for one want no part of buying into this. I’m sure you agree.
The intricate beaded earrings were a highly approved Jenni-purchase though. I browsed all the shops and markets and ended up going back to a specific boutique that was completely out of my way, because I liked their products best. Another great thing about solo travelling – going back to places with no moaning companion! I bought a green beaded pair, which you’ll probably see me wearing one of these days.
An Unfortunate Series of Events – Bedbugs and Bites
I did have an unfortunate time here as my bed was afflicted with bedbugs! An unfortunate hazard of travelling, yet one that seems to afflict me more than others. My first dealing with this unpleasant species, on holiday in Lisbon with my brother, proved that I am sadly highly allergic to these awful bugs. The patches where I had been bitten swelled up alarmingly and painfully.
The bedbugs in Ecuador were significantly worse. The majority of the bites were on my back, with a few choice nibbles sprinkled over my face. These bites swelled up hugely, causing my entire left arm to be painful, with a deep interior pain that affected my entire mood, making me lethargic and emotional.
This episode wasn’t great, I’ll be honest. Dealing with it was difficult, but the guy at the hostel who helped me out was great. We found and squished the parasite and moved me to another room once we’d checked my bags. Thomas, a friend I made who was over from Germany, helped me explain my problem to a pharmacist, for which they gave me some over-the-counter tablets to help.
Looking back, I remember it being awful, but writing about Cuenca, it actually took me a while to remember this happened at all! Looking on the bright side, this episode made me realise that I was able to adapt and overcome. (On a final note, people can go their whole lives without experiencing bedbugs, like Thomas, who’d been travelling for a year. My ‘sugar-blood’ means I’m more prone to biting insect attacks and it’s something I’ve learned to live with… and prevent wherever possible!)
The plus side of this episode was that I managed to figure out the laundry situation for travellers. In the main tourist cities of South America, a laundry service is all inclusive – they wash and tumble dry your clothes for you. I had all the jungle washed from my clothes, and they smelt so lovely afterwards!
I’ll leave you for now, and will be back soon with a new post!
From me to you,
Jenni
🦋
Collecting Continents 