Cuenca Updates: Monday June 25, 2012

Monday June 25/12 update

Monday is grocery day and banking day for Bella while I was off to Spanish class.

On the way out of class our teacher pointed out a poster for a photography contest which I may enter, if I can understand the instructions… I have to register by Wednesday and have some work submitted at the end of July.

After class I decided to give up on JD’s Private Transportation and get myself booked on the Terra Diversa tour to Yunguilla and the Giron waterfalls. Here is the blurb that was on GringoTree: ~~~~ GringoTree and TerraDiversa announces a new GringoTree Tour: "Two Worlds of Yunguilla," Thursday, June 28. This is a day-trip featuring Ecuadorian history and two fascinating and starkly different ecosystems: the cloud forest of the El Chorro waterfalls near Giron, and the amazing Jubones Desert.

The tour will visit the Tarqui Battle Memorial that commemorates the 1829 victory, under the leadership of General Simon Bolivar, by the short-lived confederation of Gran Colombia over Peru; the Museum of Military History in Giron; the El Chorro waterfalls and cloud forest, in the mountains north of Giron (we will not visit the higher falls, which require a strenuous three to four hour hike, to reach); and the Jubones Desert, an area of remarkable desert plant and animal life and an excellent example of Ecuador´s many micro climates.

Difficulty level: Moderate. There will be some walking, including short climbs up and down steep hills. Clothing: Bring a jacket since the battle memorial is on the South American continental divide at almost 9,000 ft. elevation and is cool and windy. Later, in the Jubones Desert, we will be in 80+ degree temperatures at 3,500 ft. elevation. Don´t forget rain gear.

Tour details: Cost is $43 per person, including transportation, bilingual professional guide, admission fees, snack, and lunch. The tour will depart and return to the TerraDiversa office, Calle Larga 8-41 at Luis Cordero. Tour departs at 8:00 a.m. sharp and returns in the late afternoon, Thursday, June 28. Seating is limited. ~~~~~

I called Bella and she said we should both do it so I booked us both. It turns out that the trip is for Friday the 29^th, they had goofed in the ad. Later when I got home she told me that David and Kathy Ireland from Edmonton are taking the same tour so that should be fun (if I can get Bella out of bed for the 8am departure….).

Later I sent JD’s an email on how disappointed we are in their service and that we were rescinding our recommendation on our CuencaResidency blog, which is now done.

Then I caught the #3 to Monay Shopping, had a $2.50 pizza and Sprite, and poked around Coral for a few items. Little did I know Bella was on the main floor getting groceries. I ended up getting her a whistle with a thermometer and a compass for $1. I was hunting for a plastic travel shakers of salt and pepper but they didn’t have any. Then I searched for LED lighting for my bathroom for shaving but all they had were Hulk-sized versions, then I decided I could use the one from my bedroom if necessary, and save the expense.

As I was leaving I saw this kiosk for Servicable so I stopped and signed up for $23.19 per month 1.7Mbps Internet with free installation! We got the help of Jorge, our English translator at Coral and we did up the contract. They said this is cable supplied, not phone line, and it is 70% faster than the dreaded Etapa. They are coming Thursday at 11am to install everything.

Leaving the mall I had to recharge my cel phone at the Claro office. I hope the $10 will last me another 3 months.

I kept trying without success to reach David at Etapa to tell him I will come in Wednesday morning with their modem to cancel our contract because we are totally fed up with the lousy service. I will email them from their website very shortly. Their Internet can never stay up for a full 24 hours and it wastes more of my time because there is never an opportune time for a disruption, especially when it quits while uploading pictures. Ugh!!! Our NetTalk and Skype conversations with family constantly get interrupted and we have just had enough. They have been here several times to fix the problem and haven’t figured it out so we are giving up on them.

I guess this is my day for revenge on the poor service around here!!

I had to walk home to get our bank account # for the new contract and as I crossed the river I took a shot of the measuring rock which showed the level back to normal height at 3:39pm. I returned to Coral with the completed bank authorization and had to wait a few moments for the Internet guy, Klever. Then I returned home and saw that the river had risen another foot in a span of 46 minutes at 4:25pm! The heavy flow of water is really dirty and carrying full logs and all sorts of debris with it. This kind of flow is very normal with every major rainfall.

I had ignored Tom Thumb until now so I had to give him a quick feeding and grabbed a couple of quick shots with the small camera.

Enjoy the pics. That was today’s excitement. Hugs to all.