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Charles Wiegand

Roaming South America

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There are 466 blog posts for you to enjoy.

Babahoyo, Ecuador

September 1, 2025

babahoyo-sign.jpg The Babahoyo city name sign is on the Malecon at the Muelle Municipal.

Babahoyo, Ecuador—home to just under 100,000 people—sits in the lowland plains west of the Andes. Though it’s far from the coast, it’s officially part of the 'Costa' region—one of Ecuador’s three major zones: the Coast (Costa), the Mountains (Sierra), and the Jungle (Selva). Babahoyo, AKA Santa Rita de Babahoyo. The word Babahoyo comes from the Chorrera culture and means "dark hawk," referring to the snail hawk, a bird that lives in the rice fields and feeds on snails. During the colonial era, Babahoyo was known as Bodegas de Babahoyo - Warehouses of Babahoyo - because the Customs and Royal Warehouses were located here, controlling trade between Guayaquil and the cities of the Ecuadorian Andes Mountains.
Wikipedia

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Ambato, Ecuador

August 30, 2025

ambato-sign.jpg The Ambato city name sign is in the main plaza called Parque Cevallos.

Ambato isn’t the kind of place that gave up when life got tough. Three big earthquakes—1698, 1797 (the Riobamba quake, which hit the same valley), and 1949—flattened the city, the last one killing over 5,000 people and transforming everything. But even after that level of destruction, Ambato just kept going. Stubborn, in the best possible way. I wrote more about the devestation caused by those earthquakes in the other Ambato blog from about two years ago. You can read it here.
Wikipedia

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Baños, Ecuador

August 28, 2025

banos-sign.jpg The Baños city name sign is in the Parque Sebastián Acosta - Parque la Basílica.

Baños, Ecuador. The full name is: Baños de Agua Santa.

Baños sits in a tight valley at the foot of Tungurahua volcano, an active volcano. It's a beautiful valley if you get to see it on a clear day - I didn't. It was not just cloudy but also misty and wet every day I was here. And cold! I don't like cold climates, so two nights were more than enough for me. I took lots of pics of the town and left. Outside the town there's and almost endless variety of things to see and do, and an almost endless number of tour agencies that will take you to any of them.

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Puyo, Ecuador

August 26, 2025

puyo_sign.jpg The Puyo city name sign at the Malecon

Puyo, Ecuador. The name "Puyo" comes from the indigenous language of Quechua and it literally means "cloudy." Which it was every day I was there. Not just cloudy, but it also rained every day. But that's to be expected, any lower expectations would be unrealistic. Why? Quite simple - this is in the Amazon.

History?

That was covered in my previous blogs about Puyo, easy to find by searching for Puyo here on my site.

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Gualaquiza, Ecuador - for love of the outdoors

August 20, 2025

gualaquiza-sign.jpg The city name sign is in the Parque Central.

Gualaquiza, Ecuador, was first founded in 1816, and has a population of around 24,000. The area was populated by the Shuar people long before it became a town. The city sits in a narrow valley, the bottom of which is at 850 meters (2788 feet). The town is listed as one of the Pueblos Magicos in Ecuador. Gualaquiza is a tourist destination in Ecuador because of it's waterfalls, eco-tourism opportunities, caves, and much more.

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Chip Wiegand

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Contact me:

chip at wiegand dot org

I used to teach English as a foreign language in Barranquilla, Colombia. Now I'm retired and traveling throughout South America.

I'm from Kennewick, Washington, USA. In my previous life, as I call it, I was an IT guy, systems administrator, computer tech, as well as a shipping/receiving guy and also worked as a merchandising guy in a RV/Camping store.

©2002 - 2026 Charles Wiegand