Vilcabamba is located in southern Ecuador, 45K (28 miles) from Loja.
5,000 feet above sea level
A mountain, called Mandango overlooks the valley and is said to protect it from
natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes.
It originally was a retreat for the Inca royalty.
It is a definite tourist destination because it is believed its' inhabitants grow
to a very old age. It is not uncommon for people to live past 100 to sometimes 134.
It is often called VALLEY OF LONGEVITY.
Some studies show diet and climate to be the reason.
From Wikipedia:
Medical researchers have confirmed that the retinas of 100 year-old residents are often comparable with those of 45 year-old city-dwellers.
(I thought this was pretty funny.)
Even as Vilcabamba's international fame grew, scientists continued to investigate the secret of the villagers' longevity, but some were beginning to grow skeptical. In particular, Dr. Alexander Leaf, the Harvard Medical School researcher who had been among the first to conduct research in Vilcabamba, was having doubts. His suspicions were aroused when he realized that the villagers were inconsistent in their self-reported ages. For instance, in 1971 he had met a man who reported his age as 122. When Leaf returned three years later, that same man claimed to be 134 years old.
Temps range from 65F - 82F year round.
Two seasons, Oct. to May, rainy, June to Sept., dry.
On entering Vilcabama all we see are gringos.
This town is known for younger gringos with an alternative live style (hippie type).
They have meditation rooms, lots of yoga studios etc. and
they had 3 gringo babies born here in the last 6 months.
I'm not implying it's bad, just different from what Bob and I would want.
Vilcabamba even has a gated community for
gringos. Beautiful homes and landscapes.
Gated community
The center of town park.
Almost every town has a central park where the church is located.
Bob in the central park
Church
Interesting cross with the risen Christ above
At the holy water font
Local Taxi
Street scenes
Outdoor restaurant with painting by local artist
Our lunch spot!
This is the path to our hotel room - more like individual cabins.
From inside our cabin - each cabin comes complete with a hammock.
The entire area was filled with flowers, plants and trees.
This is the outdoor area where we had breakfast each morning.
In the afternoon, we took a bus tour of the whole Vilcabamba valley.
We saw the sugar cane fields as well as mules being packed with the canes to carry them to the top of the hill because the valleys are so steep.
Our guide for this tour was John Curran from Wisconsin. He also, we found out, is a friend of Heather and John, our friends that have the B&B on the coast of Ecuador. He and Heather went to high school together. Such a small world! John and his wife Sue have lived in the valley for several years. They own a house in the middle of a conclave of an Ecuadorian family - brothers, uncles and grandparents. They have a garden, dog and chickens. They love it there but rarely go into town. John told us that when Sue went to the states to attend to her father, he realized he had not left their home for 33 days. They like their privacy but also dislike all the gringo's that have infiltrated the area. Most of their friends are Ecuadorian.
The scenery is absolutely beautiful.
We left Vilcabamba early morning for Malacatos and Loja then home.
More later............
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