Cuenca Ecuador and Sustainable Travel

CUENCA Ecuador – the capital of Azuay

The country’s most captivating city, Cuenca is the main urban

center

and the only large city of the southern sierra.

One of the most beautiful cities in Ecuador and most important export

points of the Panama Hat industry.

From Cuenca Ecuador you can easily visit:

* The country’s Inca ruins, INGAPIRCA, with

the temple of the sun

* Beautiful wilderness park – CAJAS NATIONAL PARK.

30 kilometres North West of Cuenca, in this wild primeval landscape of

hills, valleys and lakes you can:

• hike

• do trout fishing

• observe diverse flora and fauna, some of them endemic;

Ecuador has more orchid species than any other country:

* See 2500 species of orchids in Ecuagenera, the orchid reserve

not far from Cuenca.

* SIGSIG – a small agricultural village around Cuenca is one of

the most important centers of Ecuador Hat production in the province

of Sierra.

* 35 kilometres east of Cuenca Ecuador, on the banks of the Rio Gualaceo,

there is a small market town of GUALACEO.

Because of its mild climate and rich agricultural terrain, the town is called

the Jardin de Azuay – Garden of Azuay.

- a small Museum tells the visitor about weaving with paya toquilla (used

for Panama hat).

THE PANAMA HAT is really the ECUADOR HAT

It originated and has been only produced in Ecuador. Ecuadorian artisans

use the toquilla fibers to make the hats. The proper conditions for

toquilla in order to be used in manufacturing the hats are only in

Ecuador, the Guayas and Manabi provinces.

Toquilla can achieve 6 metres in height, but only the newer shoots, around

the base, are used. After splitting, cleaning, boiling and drying the

leaves, they are left in the sun to be bleached. Later, they

are cut into fine strands. Once again, they are boiled and dried before

being made into thickness as straw, or “paja toquilla”.

As the sun stiffens the straw prematurely, work is done early in the

morning or late in the evening.

After the hat is woven, there are unfinished ends to be trimmed and put

into place. The next stage is to take the unfinished hats to factory

for finishing. Again, they are washed, dried, bleached or dyed, and dried

again. Finally, the hats are steamed pressed into shape, such as Stetson,

Borsalina, or Fedora.

How much time the weaving process itself takes depends on the grade of

the hat. It could take from several days to several months.

The hats are graded according to the number of fiber per inch in one

direction,

You can see mostly the grade 2 to 8 grade hats nowadays. There are

however more sophisticated products, SUPERFINOS.

These hats, perfect for traveling in the tropics are flawlessly woven and

are given the highest grade. You can roll it up very tight, pack and

unpack, and there would not be a single wrinkle in it.

SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL = TRAVEL RESPONSIBLY

A responsible traveler is an eco-traveler.

Make sure that eco is included in your travels. Ask questions:

 How your visit can help to protect the habitat;

 Does the hotel recycle, conserves water and energy,

ecologically dispose of waste?

(grey water = waste laundry and shower water used again – water

recycling can save thousands of liters of water per person per year)

 Is the building sustainable?

 How are the locals profiting from your visit?

It is better to travel less
and stay longer at your destination.
Encourage sustainable tourism!

Ecuador

Shipwreck

Cuenca Ecuador en francais