It was early January 2013. Gold dredging season was nearly over. I still kept my dredge in the river but most of the time water was too high for work. Thankfully Maria came to the rescue visiting me from Colombia.
Shortly after Maria's arrival we went for a ride up the river to check out the dredge.
To get to the dredge we had to cross the river.
We were lucky, it wasn't raining for few days, otherwise this place would be no go without rubber wellies. The most popular feet attire in whole Amazon this includes men, women and children.
We visited nearby Zamora. Only 35 km away. Zamora is a capital of the district.
Appropriate statue on the entrance - gold prospector.
Maria on the main square.
Overlooking park along the river.
Zamora river is gold bearnig too. I had an offer to dredge on this river but my dredge was to big. Incidentally this river joins the Yacuambi river. River where I was dredging for gold..
Maria in the park along the river.
These type of monuments are very popular in Ecuador. They usually represent some famous local native Ecuadorians.
Maria left her country Colombia for the very first time. I wanted to show her around. We decided to see Cuenca about 250 km away. For the record I never visited Cuenca myself. Cuenca is a very historical place in Ecuador. It is considered to be Incas second capital.
Just outside Zamora we stopped at the waterfalls.
This was a beginning of the rainy season so plenty of water.
Maria in her new wellies.
The 65 km road stretch between Zamora and Loja is mountainous and very picturesque. Unfortunately it started to rain. Apparently it rained for a few more days. So much so that very large landslide cut off the road just before the waterfall.
Outside Loja the weather cleared but because of the altitude it was very cold.
We stopped for a lunch.
On the menu tasty traditional Ecuadorian cheese soup and fried trout .
We climbed even higher to about 3600 m. The temperature dropped to about 6 degrees Celsius. I provided Maria with some of my riding gear to prevent her from freezing. She was en excellent riding companion, not a complain - not always too common......
We descended to about 2400 m. Cuenca within a reach. It was getting warmer too.
Still high mountain views.
We arrived in Cuenca late afternoon. We wanted to stay in old town. One of the best preserved colonial towns in South America. It was pretty hard to find a hostel with parking. We had to separate from our bike. I found parking spot only a couple streets away.
Next morning we walked to Park Calderon only few blocks away. This is the main plaza in Cuenca.
Cathedral de la Immaculada Concepcion in the background.
More of Park Calderon
We took bus tour around Cuenca.
Some views from the bus deck
Old town in Cuenca is very pretty arguable the prettiest old town in whole Ecuador.
Number of churches here is staggering
We are leaving old town
Inca ruins
...and Inca leader Huayna Capac himself.
These houses are right on the river edge marking the limits of the old town.
Cuenca's university building.
Bus went to the Mirador de Turi.
Our bus.
From here we had panoramic view of the city
Tree line through the middle marks the limits of the old town.
We are on the way down
.... and back on the square where we started
Cuenca has a lot very fine restaurants often located in historical buildings. This one we chose for the evening.
Food was very good but I wish I had picked what Maria ordered.
We spent five days in Cuenca. We wanted to go to a nightclub. Maria brought all the gear we couldn't use in Guadalupe. She even brought my dancing shoes from Colombia. There is a lot of clubs and pubs in Cuenca, all seemed to be dead. People listen to music and drink but no dancing. This is striking difference to Colombia where people don't miss any opportunity to dance. In fact just about every village in Colombia has prosperous disco.
Instead of dancing we did a lot of walking and sightseeing.
A lot fine historical buildings in Cuenca. This is a Government building. Its walls are covered with marble
Cheap Ecuadorian solution to keep would be robbers away...
The park along the river
This historical buildings often house hostels and the restaurants.
Most of them were well restored
In late afternoon sun
Our time in Cuenca passed really quickly. Soon we were on our way back to Guadalupe. We stopped for lunch at the same restaurant where we stopped five days ago. As usual, I checked motorbike's chain and then to my horror I discovered that rear rim has very nasty split.
Five days ago when we were entering Cuenca I was driving behind the truck. Suddenly in front of me I saw manhole with missing top cover. I had no time to avoid it. I rode right through the middle. Thanks to speed I managed to stay up. The bang was pretty hard but I didn't think much about it at the time. I was happy I made it through without the accident. This obviously caused the split.
The split rim got me really worried. I drove really carefully for the rest of the trip. The damage didn't get worse. In fact I was driving for another week before Michael my mechanic in Zamora welded it.
For Maria time in Ecuador was nearly over. After 3 weeks together, there was time to separate. But before she leaves for Colombia we wanted to visit Quito. This is about 10 hour drive by bus with few bus changes. It would be nice to do it on the motorcycle. Unfortunately thanks to Maria's luggage this option wasn't very practical.
First we had bus from Guadalupe to Zamora then we caught bus to Loja and finally overnighter to Quito.
In Quito we stayed in Zona Rosa in the same hostel were I stayed before.
At night this square is full of people. This is the main entertainment area in Quito. This place reminds Colombia in some way - a lot of dancing. Finally we could practice some dancing moves again.
More of Zona Rosa.
The best coffee in Ecuador is in Colombian coffee chain Juan Valdez. Maria prefer something sweet instead.
The following day we visit Quito's Teleferico.
I missed it on my previous visits to Quito, due to the weather.
This time the weather was perfect.
The altitude 4050 m.
Cotopaxi volcano in the distance. The highest active volcano in the world. The altitude 5897 m.
Maria y Yo.
.... and the church never far away in South America.
Maria accepted the hat but declined to wear the poncho.
At this altitude the walking was quite tough. I lost my breath a few times.
Maria and the view.
I wanted to show I can do it too...
Living on the edge.
Maria is very keen horse enthusiast.
So we couldn't miss this opportunity.
The was time to go back down.
Next we visited Mitad del Mundo.
.... and we were definitely there.
Maria really enjoyed the visit
There was several museums there. One had scaled replica of Quito's old town where we headed next.
After long bus ride we arrived in Quito's old town.
Iglesia de La Compania was unfortunately closed. Only opens in the mornings. It is famous for its 4 tons of gold.
San Francisco convent and the plaza.
This was en early evening.
San Francisco Plaza from different angle. We were running out of daylight.
The Ecuadorian wedding in progress
The following day Maria had her plane to catch.
In the Airport Cafe.
Time to leave.
We had a great time together. Luckily we only say goodbye to each for a short time. I am planning to visit Maria in Colombia real soon. As soon as I will wind down my dredging operation in Guadalupe.
See you soon.
My flat appeared very lonely since Maria left.
Gold dredging season was over. I had to pull out my dredge from the river. I had to wait until river will drop. Gold dredging was en excellent experience and adventure for me. The condition for dredging were pretty bad. I miss many days without dredging especially due to water clarity. I wanted to return the next season. This year was an election time in Ecuador. Rafael Correa got reelected. In his election promises he promised to fight illegal mining, if so I had a chance for a better next season. Fingers crossed.
While waiting for the river to drop I could devote myself to cooking. My Polish followers should recognize what I was up to.
In the meantime my friend Marco and his brother tried their luck excavating for gold with heavy machinery.
Excavation site where he got permission from the owner.
The setup usually consists of: one or more excavators....
usually diesel motor driving a large pump....
.... and so called Z wash-plant unfortunately not very efficient. About 40% of fine gold is lost.
This took 4 days and nights to excavate. Gold bearing layer is right on the bottom - darker colored.
After four days of excavation there was the time to check the results.
The land owner is watching it closely - these are the final stages.
Unfortunately the results were pretty average. The only winner was the owner. My friend was close to cover his costs.
Local old timers in action after day of work. Maybe better this way ...very low overheads.
Finally I had my dredge stored on dry lend and started heading north to Colombia. First I visited Las Cajas just outside Cuenca on the way to Guayaquil.
Going up from Cuenca.
I passed several locals on the way up.
Entrance to the park.
I was here
The lakes are very spectacular unfortunately it was overcasted
Several alpine lakes are spread on the large area
Alpine vegetation. In some way reminded me Roraima in Venezuela.
It was very cold here about 6 degrees Celsius. I wanted to visit Las Cajas with Maria. At the time we decided against fearing it might too cold. Maria didn't have her winter cloth.
This is the highest point in Las Cajas park ......
....and the view in Cuenca direction
From here I descended towards Guayaquil. This was one of the most difficult rides I had so far on my entire trip. Constant rain, fog and very, very cold. Fortunately I made it safely. I passed through Guayaquil and continued my ride towards Montanita.
Montanita - most famous party town in Ecuador.
Very popular with surfers too.
I stayed in my favorite hostel. After few visits here I was welcomed with open arms by the owner. I had a very special rate too
I planned to spend at least a week in Montanita. Large very busy beach was very good for my metal detector. Again I failed to find any gold jewelry, despite this, I had great time and the coins I found payed for my stay there.
Roberto, the caretaker.
The rooms are large and comfortable
There was time to say farewell again.
My next stop Canoa
I stopped here only for a day. I wanted to meet Don. First time we met in Medellin Colombia about a year ago. Don is an expat from USA seeking permanent residency in Ecuador.
Cabana where I stayed while in Canoa.
Next I continued to Ibarra and to Colombian border. My next blog from Colombia. Stay tuned.
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