Can you really Live like a Local in Ecuador?

The more traveling you do, the more you’ll develop your travel style. How you travel really makes a lot of difference in terms of your experiences in a country. Apart from Guayaquil, Loja, Otavalo, San Pablo and Quito, we spent most of our two months in Ecuador hanging out in Cuenca and a little town 15 minutes away from Cuenca city center called Banos de Cuenca.

While in Cuenca we stayed in a three-story home that was once an orphanage and the owner converted it into a Spanish school with rooms on the second and third floors. My kids were the only students in Candor Spanish School. That gave us the luxury of staying in two floors without other tenants or students. The teacher came to the school- our home and gave them lessons in one of the four classrooms. The house is located at the Bilingue area of Cuenca.

This was the place where we had the most involvement with the locals. We attended a Spanish-speaking church, walked to the cafés and the local fresh market and even walked for half an hour to the Coral Supermarket and Mall del Rio, the biggest mall in Cuenca.

The teens worked out every morning in the hall downstairs, doing their P90X and jogged around the block and at times being chased by dogs. On Sundays after church a espumilla vendor would park his bicycle in front of the church. All the kids and adults would gather around him to purchase his sweets for 25 cents each.

Sometimes the Bible school students would come and sell caramelized tree tomato (a local fruit) for $2 to raise money for their college fund.

We walked everywhere in Cuenca. Once we were on our way to Mall del Rio we saw this roasted pig facing the street. I was freaked out. The head and face of the pig was facing us and part of it was already cut off. The tail was still hanging at its rear. There was no way we were going to avoid eating this pig. So we took a seat and ordered a plate to share for $3. It was not a place to call for a glass of wine to pair with my food.

Many days we walked for hours without a map and got lost in the city. Most of time we were trying to find a new place to eat only to end up going to the same place over and over again. Once my son and husband wanted to watch a soccer game and we end up at La Barraca for three hours – free WiFi, TV and menu del dia for $2.20. There was not a tourist inside- just the locals and us.

Another day we stopped at Mercado 10 de Agosto for encebollado (fish stew) and fried trout. If you are in Cuenca, stop by this fresh market and get a feel of the local lifestyle. Be cautious with your belongings.

The locals in Cuenca are genuinely helpful and friendly. They invited us to their homes for tea and taught us a few things about Ecuador like identifying an edible plant in our front yard and making a hot drink with the leaves.

Cuenca is uniquely different. You can see ladies of all ages in colorful traditional dresses walking, selling or shopping in the streets. This city is one of my favorites to live like a local in South America. It has all the conveniences and yet maintains some of their cultural heritage and local flair.

Did I mention it was cheap to have a haircut and to have our teeth cleaned by a dentist? My son’s visit to the hair salon – $2.00. My daughter’s visit to a dentist for a routine cleaning – $25.00.

Source: Claudia Looi