Impressions of Cariamanga

Joseph K requested that I talk about my feelings for Cariamanga, Loja back in another thread about flights from GYE to Loja.  I had already knocked that thread off topic so instead of going off topic further, I'm starting a new thread.

  I've worked in Cariamanga 4 times.  I worked there for  22 days straight for one visit and have been in and out of the city for a total of 8 weeks.

Cariamanga is a small city about 2 hours west of Loja near the border of Peru. I was told there are roughly 15,000 people living in Cariamanga.  It's located about 2,000 meters above sea level, so sunny days are warm but not hot, and the nights are cool.  It rains there during the rainy seasons, but I think it's a little dryer than Loja City.  The city has a very picturesque landscape, and the best sunsets I've ever seen were in Cariamanga. There's little for a tourist to do, with the exception of the small mountain, Cerro Ahuaca, next to the city.  It offers easy hiking and great rock climbing.  I made a page about it on another website.  Search "Cerro Ahuaca and Summitpost" in Google for some basic info about the mountain.     

I've been living in Quito for the past year and a half, and I think I'd prefer to live in Cariamanga than Quito.  Cariamanga fits my personality better.  Cariamanga certainly lacks many of the amenities that the larger cities have, (we spent 2 hours looking for ice, only to find there wasn't any in the city) but the people were incredibly nice and I never felt like I was in any danger.  It was nice to see families out in the central park  well past dark.  Like most Ecuadorian cities, they seem to have a variety of festivals and events throughout the year.   I made more meaningful friendships in the first couple of weeks in Cariamanga than in the first year in Quito.  I met many people who spoke some English, because they had worked in the States for several years. 

There are few to zero Western expats living there.  I told one guy that I thought I was the only Gringo in the city and he said he thought so too.  This means that people tended to stare at me longer than in touristy locations, but a friendly "Buenos dias/Buenas tardes" snaps them out of it. 

Joseph K mentioned that his Ecuadorian family said Cariamanga is notorious for drug trafficking with Peru.  If so, they hide it well.  Nobody has ever offered me any drugs, and I've never heard the locals talk about it.  The only sign of possible trafficking I've seen are the occasional car/truck that seem too fancy for the area.  Also, one time while driving on a road a few miles out of town, two very nice pickup trucks past us, and our driver turned to me and just said "narcotráficos".  The city is anything but rough.  From on outsider's point of view, it just seems like a quiet, family-friendly, agricultural town.