Cañar and Cojitambo

One of the reasons I was on this leg of the Inca Road trip was the project that I am doing currently with the community in Cañar, the web project. For those of you who don't know it, Indigenous Geography / Geografía Indígena is a website that gives indigenous communities a platform to discuss who they are. It's set in a comparative framework for educational purposes, and uses audio, video, photography, and Native language. In any case, the community there applied and was accepted, and this was a chance for me to check in with them and answer questions, as well as meet everyone.

The meeting was very good. I have a list of things to follow-up on for them, and some questions that I need to find answers to. I think everyone's more comfortable now with the project and its goals and objectives. I think they have wonderful ideas, and am so excited by how they want to use this project--their ideas really do mirror what we hope the project can be. And, as always, it was lovely to be in their homeland and to spend time with them. I only wish it had been longer.


Members of the local government and the project committee.


What a feast! The community wanted to host lunch after our meeting. This was an incredibly wonderful and humbling experience. Here you can see three different types of papas (potatoes); several varieties of corn, including mote, choclo, and choclo de Cuzco; fresh queso de vaca (cow's milk cheese), and chicha (a fermented corn drink). I took this before they were finished, however, so you don't see the cuy (guinea pig). This is a real delicacy, and was a sign of the importance of the meeting. What an honor!

My colleague went up to Ingapirca during my meeting, so I am sorry to say that I missed the famous ruins there. But my business was first in Cañar and, again, that's really where my heart was too. But on the drive back to Cuenca, we stopped in Cojitambo, which I'm sure you'll agree from the photos, is absolutely lovely. It's up on the side of a mountain, and breathtaking.


Friends in Cuenca! Our local guide Juan Carlos, me, my friend Lucía who owns a museum in Cuenca and whom I know through ICOM, and our terrific driver Lucha.


The view down the side of the mountain. One of many lovely wildflowers.



My colleague Ramiro and Lucía walking the ruins. A better view of some of the walls.


That evening, Ramiro and I had dinner with Lucía. The next day, after another morning of meetings, he would be off to Guayaquil, and I would begin my extra time in Cuenca.