San Antonio de Ibarra

San Antonio de Ibarra is a small suburb of the larger city of Ibarra, which is located about 30 minutes north of where we live. Between the 16th and 17th century, woodcarvers from Spain settled in San Antonio. Nowadays, San Antonio de Ibarra is considered to be the most important woodcarving center in South America. Back in August, we visited San Antonio with our friend Leslie, who was visiting us from Cuenca. We got to have a peak at some of the carvers at work. As you can see, the work is all done by hand. Some workshops are camouflaged; outside they look like shacks, or regular homes. Yet inside the fragrant smell of Cedar wood fills the air, as reddish shavings cover the floor next to delicately hand-crafted chairs, religious sculptures, and tables. San Antonio has become one gigantic carpentry workshop in which many families have found a relatively lucrative source of income, while at the same time preserving a wood sculpting tradition of hundreds of years.

Fly If You Can & Hold On To Your Wallet!!

We apologize for our long absence but we ran into some "technical" difficulties. Back in mid August on our way to the coast we had our first really negative experience since we've been in Ecuador. After enduring several long bus trips throughout the country, we had decided to fly to the coast. Unfortunately, there were no seats available on the days we wanted to travel so our options were to wait or endure another long bus trip. We were anxious to get to the surf and sun so we decided not to wait and boarded the bus. Having lived in the tranquil and safe village of Cotacachi for several months, we had become complacent, not thinking that we could become potential targets. We were very wrong! When we first arrived in Quito, one of the first things our driver told us was, "Be very very careful with your valuables when out in public, wallet, camera, purse, ect. Keep them close to your body at all times."

As we sat on the bus at the Quito terminal waiting for the bus to depart, somehow in the confusion of people crowding onto the bus, Pam's purse disappeared off her lap. Unfortunately, our passports, wallet with cash, credit cards & ID and our beloved camera vanished in a blink. Needless to say, our much anticipated trip to the coast began under a dark cloud. Although it was a major financial loss, there were two positive outcomes, no one was hurt and we are now much more vigilant. Oh, I guess there is one other positive outcome - maybe you can learn from our mistake!!

The day didn't get a whole lot better. We had been told it would be a 7 hour bus ride, starting at 6:30 AM. Well, 13 hours later we finally got off the bus. And to sum it all up, it wasn't worth it! The northern coast was no better than the south & central coast we had already traversed. However, at the end of the dirt road and a short boat ride across the river, we came upon a beautiful undeveloped palm lined beach called Portete. We spent most of the day there enjoying the peace and quiet. Sorry, we don't have any photographs to share of our favorite spot....no more camera! The photos we have attached are of Mompiche, where we stayed for 4 nights. They were taken by our friend and neighbor Deb, when she visited Mompiche last December. As you can see, there isn't much in Mompiche, but the water was warm, the beer was cold and the shrimp ceveche was outstanding and we devoured more than our share!

Needless to say, we flew back to Quito and it only took 30 minutes! Moral of the story, fly if you can and hold onto your wallet!