We are often asked what we do with ourselves all day while we are living in Cotacachi. Both Gina and I feel a little guilty when we reply…oh, not much. Just spend time with the kids, homeschool in the morning and Spanish and Music lessons in the afternoons. We visit with friends, either stopping on...
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We headed into the big city today…Ibarra. I have heard population estimates from 70,000 to 120,000, regardless it is a much bigger town than Cotacachi with a population of around 8,000. Many people drive to Ibarra to go shopping for hard to find items, or for products and services that simply are not available in...
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Rooftops are used in Ecuador similarly to how backyards are used in the U.S.. It is very common to see laundry hanging on a rooftop to dry, and in fact, many buildings have traditional wash racks on top of the roofs as well. I have seen a few BBQ’s or other cooking apparatus on nearby...
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Our plan was to try and “plug into” the cultures of the various cities/countries we travel to…trying to be less of a full blown tourist and more of a local. Ok, so a blond haired, blue eyed family stands little chance of becoming “locals” in a land of dark skinned, dark haired people…but the point...
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It is less than a 2 hour flight from the capital of Panama, Panama City, to the capital of Ecuador, Quito, but the cities could not be more different. You feel as if you have gone back in time actually, from the new skyscrapers and frantic pace of the banking district of Panama, to the...
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The primary reason for “stopping” in Panama was to visit the Canal and see it operating first hand. It is an amazing testament to mans ingenuity and creativity, both things good and bad. For the past 12 years I was involved in the import of many food products and the Panama Canal was a route...
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Culebra Island is one of 4 islands at the Pacific entrance to the Panama canal. At one time these islands were a very strategic military base, the U.S. established them as Fort Grant to guard the southern entrance to the canal. Between 1913 and WWII the U.S. made Fort Grant into the most powerful defense...
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While Americans were heading to the polls to vote for their 44th president, Panamanians had already begun celebrating. They were not celebrating the victory of Barack Obama as the next U.S. president, but their own independence. We left Costa Rica for Panama yesterday. Our visit will be short, a week to visit Panama City and...
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Well finally figured out how to create and post a video online. The Oscar is probably safe this year…but we will keep our eye on it for next year. Everyone had a hand making this, we all took turns shooting footage. The video shows the kids interacting with the white face Capuchin monkeys in Montezuma,...
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Our 2 weeks in Jaco are up and we are heading to San Jose. Actually, the bus runs to San Jose but we will take a detour to Alejuella. This is our 5th or 6th move since we set out from Oregon on August 1st…bound for lands unknown. I am not counting, but we are...
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