There are 495 blog posts for you to enjoy.
Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador
December 6, 2022
Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador, a city of about 21,000, is a tourist destination city on the Pacific coast. The city is actually two distinct halves separated by the new bridge. There is a new mall located at the end of the bridge, too. The city was founded in 1628, so you'd expect to see a lot of historical buildings, but no, there aren't any left after the various natural disasters that have hit the town. Anyway, the half of the town on the coast, with the beaches, condos, hotels, etc, is the new side (the tourists' side). The other side, to the east of the bridge, is the city-proper. It is long and narrow, sitting between the hills and the bay.
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San Vicente, Ecuador
December 5, 2022
San Vicente, Ecuador—inhabited since the 1st century AD but not given status as a city until the early 20th century. The town has a population of around 20,000 and survives on agriculture and shrimp farming, with cattle ranching and fishing accounting for a smaller portion of the economy. The climate is pleasant year-round—daytime high year-round average: 28° C (83° F) and 22° C average nights (72° F) with a typical humidity of around 70%. But, being so close to the equator the UV is extremely high, pretty much always at 10 on the UV scale.
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Canoa, Ecuador
December 3, 2022
Canoa, Ecuador, is well known for it surf conditions, beaches, and paraglyding opportunities. I don't surf, but what I've heard is that the 10-mile long beach has a perfect break (whatever that means) for beginners and great surf swells (again, I have no idea what this is about), all year round. Canoa is a tiny town of maybe 7000 residents. There is no supermarket and no ATM, for those you have to drive/bus/taxi south about 15 kilometers to San Vicente. I noticed that while getting fresh fruit was no problem, as there is much grown in that region of Ecuador, getting good, fresh vegies in Canoa was not so easy.
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Pedernales, Ecuador
November 30, 2022
Pedernales, Ecuador, a beach town with a population of around 22,000. Back in April 2016 much of the town was leveled by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Much of the town has been rebuilt. Though there was the sidewalk I walked on, alongside the old cemetary, that appeared to be still in its earthquake condition, as did the cemetary (see the photo in the photo gallery). That earthquake killed at least 233 people and injured another 580. There were more than 135 aftershocks, some of which registered as high as 5.6. There were reports of it being felt all the way into Colombia.
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El Carmen, Ecuador
November 27, 2022
El Carmen, Ecuador, a pueblo between Quito and the Pacific coast. The town has a population of around 47,000 and sits at a low elevation of around 240 meters. Because it's only about 35 kilometers from Santo Domingo it is considered a bedroom town of SD. It's a relatively new town, founded at the beginning of the 20th century, so there's nothing particularly historical here. In fact, there's nothing particularly picturesque here, as you can see in the photos in my photo album. This part of the country is mostly used for agriculture, particularly bananas. Apparently, there are a few places to see but they are a ways outside of town and would require a car, taxi, or possibly a bus to get to them.
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