Orchid Tour with Lourdes

We are absolutely delighted that our friend, Lourdes, has returned to Cuenca! 
Welcome Home, Lourdes! 

Some of our readers will remember we first met Lourdes at our very first expat evening  a year ago.  Lourdes, then from New York City, is thinking of moving here permanently and we're so happy with this news!  Her story/blog is on the sidebar, Looloo in Ecuador.

Lourdes recently joined us to a trip to the countryside...we all were eager to visit the orchid farm.

Our first stop in the countryside on the way to the orchids, was a small IKAT business.  (IKAT is like tie-dye, but more complicated...using plant and commercial dyes for the threads, then woven into cloth using a back-strap loom.) 

This picture shows the 'ties'...almost ready for the dye pots.

The Senora also has a guinea pig business, as well as many chickens in the back of the studio.  She sells eggs/chickens, guinea pigs and vegetables from her garden  for extra income.  Her 'barn' was a delight to tour!  We really enjoyed this little glimpse of 'country', including a little kitty that reminded us of Mr. Boots.   He was busy keeping all the animals company (wish we'd gotten a picture of the kitty to share, he was a cutie!)

Then, we were on the road to the orchid place.  Our driver drove us out to the Ecuagenera location outside of Gualaceo.  The orchids are to die for!  Ecuagenera participates in orchid shows all over the world.  Be sure to check the show schedule on their site.

Did you know that Ecuador is orchid-central?  There are over 4000 species of orchids in this Country.  We remember Nancy's Dad grew orchids...He would have loved this tour.

We toured the greenhouses with a guide...first,to see the 'starts' (in sealed bottles, so many of them!),

then to see the plants in 'dirt',

then to see the plants in bloom.........The beauty of the blooms is breathtaking.
We took about a zillion pictures!  Here's a few to share. 

Spiral leaves.

This last picture is a little blurry, but it shows a 'monkey face'!
We're looking forward to seeing Lourdes' pictures, too...she's a much better picture-taker than we are!

We toured the lovely grounds...We fed fresh, just-picked, orange slices to the parrots.

Grapes!

We stopped for a lunch of roasted chicken at a street-side cafe on the way home.  'Sides' included cheese potatoes and beans (and a soup with chicken feet), a little different menu, but good!

Another fun day!