Our Day in Yungilla Valley

Yungilla Valley is a gorgeous stretch of land about 60 miles south of Cuenca, off the Pan American highway. We had met two other couples at our hostel (the Casa Ordonez) and all six of us decided to hire a driver, Fabian, for a day trip to Yungilla Valley. Fabian spoke excellent English which made the trip all that much more  enjoyable. One of the couples with us was from Phoenix, here on a stopover from a Peru visit. The other couple was from Florida and were visiting with the thought in mind of buying and renovating property here. Meeting and connecting with fellow American travelers was a real if unexpected bonus of our Cuenca stay.

As we made our way toward the Yungilla Valley, our altitude dropped from about 8500 feet to, I think, about 6500 feet. It became noticeably warmer as we descended.The scenery was breathtaking:

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Our ultimate goal was to view beautiful waterfalls near a town called Santa Elizabeth. To get there, we went through numerous other villages or towns such as Giron. Here are some pictures of the villages taken from our car:

 Finally, we made it to the waterfalls:

After a lunch of "trucha" (trout) and "papas fritos" (french fries) in a local restaurant, we headed home with our new friends. Just to give you a flavor of the type of people who come here, Tom (left) is an entrepreneur/businessman from Florida looking for an investment/business here. Bob (right) is a retired airline pilot/sculptor, professional traveler who has been to over 80 countries with his lovely wife.