Cuenca — An Andean Expat Destination

October 25-26, 2015 — Cuenca was the primary destination of our Andean excursion last weekend. I arrived in Ecuador with the knowledge that the country is diverse. That diversity was merely theoretical for me before our excursion to Cuenca.

Cuenca combines factors in a city that I've never experienced before. Two data points from personal experience provide a rough point of comparison: Transplant Seville, Spain to the location where Colorado Springs, Colorado sits.  Cuenca brings ambience of a Spanish city. It sits at about the elevation of Colorado Springs (about 7,500 ft or about 2,300 m).

This comparison however understates Cuenca. Cuenca — with indigenous Andean influences — brings a sense of the exotic that Seville lacks. Its architectural beauty does however compare well with Seville.

Cuenca's Andean climate is also quite different from that of Colorado Springs. Cuenca enjoys a perpetual "Springtime in the Rockies." It lacks the moderately harsh Winters of a city on the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies.

Cuenca, a city of about 500,000 sits in an Andean basin at about 7,500 feet (2,300 m) in elevation.

Cuenca is one of the reasons why InterNations recognized Ecuador as the world's top destination for Expats. It shatters the stereotypes with which Americans in particular are burdened regarding Latin America. Cuenca is a clean, relatively well-organized city. One could be forgiven for mistaking it for any number of cities in Southern Europe.

Cuenca is a popular Expat city in Ecuador, the world's top destination for Expats. (Source: InterNations)

We spent most of our time in Cuenca in the historic center. Our hotel however was located outside of the center. We also ate lunch upon arrival in another neighborhood closer to Cuenca's suburbs.

The city is bisected by a small mountain river.  Several pedestrian footbridges across it help residents of this walking-friendly city get around. Parts of the historic center also sit on a hill. Visitors get their exercise from climbing lots of stairs.

A Sunday-morning flower market in the yard of a downtown-Cuenca church.

Cuenca's central square provides a terrific place in which to pass a Sunday morning. The area buzzes with leisurely activity of people going about their weekend business. Cafes are abundant. Open-air stalls indulge the curiosities of souvenir seekers and bookworms alike. Indigenous music fills the air.

Indigenous Andean sounds influence the color of Cuenca's ambience.

Lunch in the city market gave us an Andrew Zimmern experience. The grocery part of the market offers parts from domestic livestock that Americans commonly discard. Guinea pigs roasted on sticks are also available. 

I settled for a less-adventurous lunch on this occasion. Encebollado is Ecuador's "national dish." It is a hearty fish stew with onions and potatoes. A satisfying bowl set me back $1.50.

Lunch in Cuenca's city market provided us with an Andrew Zimmern experience.

For another dollar I scored a bunch — about 20 — of tree-ripened "miniature" bananas. These were about half the size of bananas to which Americans are accustomed. They are also sweeter. I cannot tell whether this is attributable to being ripened on the tree, or whether they are naturally sweeter.

CSC-Ecuador teammates enjoy a Saturday-evening walkabout through Cuenca's historic center.