Friday December 21/12 update #320
I got a note on Facebook from my daughter “Dr.
McPhail found dead in ravine. "not considered suspicious". 66 years
old. so sad.” This is our former doctor in Edmonton
Bella and I were out the door at the crack of dawn to cab to
the SuperMaxi on Las Americas to meet with 7 other couples for a photography
excursion to Saraguro, south of here on the way to Loja. Daimler
at Cuenca Tours International came up with a lovely 27 passenger bus so we were
very comfortable indeed. With the driver
Maricio and the guide Xavier we began the 1.5 hour journey that took 3 hours,
don’t ask me why?? We only had a 20 minute potty stop.
We had great weather to begin with and, even though he was
originally from the area, Xavier stopped in the middle of Saraguro to pick up a
local guide. During this stop there was
a small parade of mostly children in Santa costumes.
The guides decided that the best solstice ceremony, The
Kapac Raymi, was to be in a neighboring town so off we went there, high on a
mountainside. Then the local guide disappeared,
never to be seen again. The first
ceremony was just beginning and we were told we were not allowed to photograph
during the actual ceremony. We had known
earlier that there were parts of the ceremony where this was applicable but
many of the photographers were a little angry over this. We were told this ceremony would break up and
another ceremony would begin at noon but we would be given the opportunity to
take pictures prior to this one so we were assuaged a little. There was a bit of a parade with many more
participants prior to the second ceremony so the photographers were having a
heyday and most of us got some really great shots of the indigenous people and
their costumes.
We had photographers in our group that ranged from
professionals to real novices and everyone has their own preferences and
desires and it is impossible to cater to everyone’s demands. Fortunately 80% of our group are really
wonderful go-with-the-flow people who understand the complexities of trying to
get things done in Ecuador .
If it wasn’t for that great nucleus of
people I wouldn’t bother organizing any tours.
We kept pressing the guide for other things for us to
photograph and he was really at a loss, claiming he had not been told this was
a photography tour! Most of us were not
pleased at all. So then we headed to
find a place for lunch. The guide
checked out a place that had chicken or pork dinners so we went in. 50 minutes later we got our meal so that
caused a lot more grumbling. The
chicken dinner was really good but I couldn’t say the same about the pork.
There was a textile manufacturing place that many of the
ladies wanted to see so we went there next, to see if it was open. Unfortunately it was closed due to the
celebrations this day.
So we just headed to downtown Saraguro and left everyone
wander around for an hour and a half before our scheduled departure at 3:30. The weather had clouded up a lot so the
photography wasn’t the greatest. We were
lucky enough to witness another small parade there. One local store had a gorgeous nativity scene
encompassing the town of Bethlehem
that was about 12 feet long but I only took a shot of the crèche scene. I bought some snacks for everyone for the
return trip and off we went back to Cuenca .
With no stops we made it back in 2 ½ hours
this time.
We stopped for supper with 2 of the couples at a pizza
restaurant next to SuperMaxi on Las Americas and Bella was in contact with
Paola and Julio who have a store next door. They came by to say hi for a few minutes
before we headed to our next appointment.
Mark and Karen were having a Christmas party a few blocks
away at 7:30 so we made our appearance. They live in the same building as Paola and
Julio who were also invited, and who made their appearance a little later. There was a huge tableful of food and lots of
hot wine to drink, so we enjoyed the munchies and the drinks. There was quite a crowd and lots of lively
conversation. Bella was thrilled to
meet Cathy, who is Mark & Karen’s landlord, because she is an avid bridge
player. Cathy speaks very little English
but her husband Oswaldo is pretty fluent, having lived in Toronto for some time. As we were preparing to leave Paola insisted
on driving us home but Oswaldo said he wanted the privilege because he wanted
to know where we lived. We had many
laughs on the way home but we were definitely ready to collapse into bed.
That was today’s excitement.
Hugs to all. Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/
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