The Ecuador Chronicles - 2010-27
First Year Anniversary of The Ecuador Chronicles;
A Review of the Most Popular chronicles;
And Some You May Have Misssed
by Ray Almand
The first Ecuador Chronicle was released a year ago. When we started I was not sure if we would get very many viewers; if fact, I was not sure if I could come up with something of interest about Ecuador every week. Well, it did start slow - but the number of viewers has increased and increased. Some weeks I'm not sure what the Chronicle will be about until I sit down at the computer - but I have spent a lot of time in Ecuador, working with people on travel arrangements, working with Ecuadorians on various projects - and I have taken a lot of pictures with my trusty Cannon digital point and shoot camera. So there is a lot of material to work with. In addition, our founder and president - Mathieu Charles Guillory - has written several great Chronicles; there will be more to come from Matt.
Below links will be provided to some of the most popular Chronicles, and some that have not been as popular but perhaps deserve a look. This is a good opportunity for new viewers to take a look at Chronicles published before they came on board - and perhaps for regular viewers to have another look, or see something they may have missed.
I have received wonderful emails from many of you - I really appreciate that and I try to respond. I also try to incorporate your suggestions into the Chronicles. I have also had the pleasure of working with some of you on custom travel arrangements - that is also a pleasure for me. We have received very positive feedback on the trips. We have also solicited ideas for improvement from our travelers which we are incorporating as we move forward. So - we will get better and better at this.
Note: After Viewing a link the back arrow will bring you back to this page.
The Top Three Chronicles
The most viewed Chronicle is "Culture and the Beatles" - perhaps because The Beatles are still popular around the world. This Chronicle covers some cultural aspects of Quito, including a Beatles tribute concert at a Quito dinner theatre. At the end there are a couple of links to YouTube video clips of the actual Quito concert.
The second most popular is a real surprise to me "Tailor Made Suit". It is about having a suit made at a small tailor shop in Quito. It describes the process with words and pictures and then a photo of yours truly in my new suit.
Number three is "A Trip to the beach". Everyone loves the beach, but this also has photos of some really pretty girls - My wife, Dalynda; my sister and kids favorite, Aunt Tricie; my two daughters, Natalie and Jessica. My son, Jonathan is also featured. This covers Atacames and a whale watching adventure where we got some almost "National Geographic" quality photos of the whales.
The First Chronicle
The very first Chronicle, "San Marcos Church Story" has had a lot of views, but it was published before we had many viewers so you may have missed it. It is a humorous, true story from the christening of Mathieu and Amparo's youngest son, Francois. I open my mouth with an off the cuff remark and keep getting in trouble about it several months later. I was concerned that it might be offensive to Catholics, but quite the contrary - I received many emails from Catholics who loved it.
Other Popular Chronicles
Here are some other popular Chronicles - Some more recently released but already a lot of views:
"Guayaquil - Easter Weekend" is one of the Semana Santa Series by Matt about a family Easter weekend trip to Guayaquil - it has been quite popular along with the whole series.
"Renovation - 19th Century Home" - another recent but already popular Chronicle by Matt about the renovation of his Quito home.
"Expat Life" is about how to make the decision to move to another country; I have received several positive emails on this one.
"Ecuador Real Estate and the Wild West" covers how the real estate purchase process works in Ecuador - again, a lot of positive emails.
"New Year - Burning Dolls" and "The Widows - Men in Drag" describe some really unusual Ecuador traditions. Here we also introduce the humorous character "Don Juan" and the "Don Juan Explains" section to give a local explanation what is going on in a casual, relaxed way. Live Well Ecuador associate Juan Cevallos has been kind enough to let us use his image for the character. Juan is actually quite conservative and professional in working with LWE clients - and quite popular. He really does provide much of the input to "Don Juan Explains"
I will have to admit that "Religious Symbolism" is the least viewed Chronicle - but I think it deserves more. It has some beautiful photos of the Campo. But more importantly it has pictures of an amazing Totem / Manger Scene taken last Christmas in a small village. This image demonstrates a mixture of Christian and Pre-Columbian religious symbolism that co-exists to this day in a small Ecuador village - five hundred years after the Spanish Conquest. Mathieu Guillory offers some commentary on this - truly amazing.
And finally, "Live Well Ecuador Quito Office". This explains our company structure and how we operate, along with pictures of the key players. This may be of interest to people who are considering working with us on a custom travel experience.
Thanks again to all of you for a wonderful year of The Ecuador Chronicles
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