I like a little history with my geocaches. This one provides it. We recently took a trip from Quito, Ecuador south to Cuenca. The drive along the Panamerican Highway has really improved over the last 13 years. I remember when it was some of the roughest roads in the country. Today it is well paved for the most part. Along the way we planned to visit the
Terremoto 1797 Reloaded (GC26M6K) cache. As we began our bypass of the city of Riobamba we turned on the GPSr. Upon arrival at the city of Cajabamba we left the main highway. The needle clearly indicated that the cache was on top of Cerro Cushca, a hill overlooking that city. We weaved our way through the city and followed what proved to be the most logical path for our 4WD. This took us through another small town and eventually to the top of the mountain. Thanks to a dirt road cut out by the local telecommunications company we were able to reach the top. The hill is the site of some pretty significant antennas. From the top we had a wonderful view of the whole valley all the way out to Colta Lake. From where we parked it was only 140 feet to the cache. We walked down hill and found the cache easily. Once we finished signing the log and getting a few photos, we returned to the top of the mountain to have a picnic lunch and enjoy the view. The cache page tells the story of how in 1797 an earthquake destroyed the original city of Riobamba, located below where today stands the city of Cajabamba. You can still see some of the landslide that destroyed the old city. Afterwards the survivors moved this city, one of Ecuador's first colonial cities, to its present location further northeast. We thought the stop signs in both Spanish and Quichua were interesting. Lake Colta is also an interesting place in the history of evangelical missions in Ecuador. Over one hundred years ago two brave single female missionaries, Julia Anderson and Ella Ozman, left the safety of the coastal city of Guayaquil to become the first evangelical missionaries among the Quichua of Chimborazo. Ella died of pneumonia within days of their arrival and Julia continued on for nearly five decades. She lived and worked in the area around Lake Colta. Today there is a large evangelical movement among the Quichua of this area. Check out the following
article from
Christianity Today in order to learn more. Visit this cache to get the full outdoor adventure!
The 9th of July is a special holiday in Argentina. It is their Independence Day. How fitting that I can tell a story of Argentine bravery on the battlefield to assist in the securing of Ecuadorian liberty today. During the early 1820's the South American continent struggled for liberty. The forces of Simon Bolivar in the north and those of Jose San Martin in the south continued to strip away Spanish control. On 21 April 1822 some of San Martin's Argentine cavalry were on loan to the forces of Bolivar as they fought in the pitch battle of Riobamba. The Argentine cavalry was commanded by Juan Galo de LaValle, later to become a political force in Argentina. LaValle had been sent out with nearly 100 men to reconnoiter the terrain on this rainy, muddy morning. The commanding general wanted to know where best to make his stand against the advancing Spanish forces. When LaValle came upon the Spanish infantry he attacked, even though the force was three times bigger than his own. The Spanish infantry broke and ran and the Argentines pursued them a distance, then turned and slowly meandered back towards the liberating army. This angered the Spanish commanders who ordered a full out pursuit of LaValle's forces. The Spanish charged forward in pursuit and found themselves entrapped as the rest of the liberating army was in position to defeat them. The victory at Riobamba paved the way for the victory on the slopes of Volcano Pichincha overlooking the city of Quito, Ecuador. This battle was the final blow in Ecuadorian's liberation from Spanish rule. So today I salute my Argentine friends and family recognizing the sacrifice that these heroes made so many years ago. Of the 1000 men who marched from Mendoza, Argentina to assist in the fighting in countries like Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia, only six were in the force when, some fourteen years after the creation of the regiment, they marched into Buenos Aires. I also appreciate jimnet2005 for showing me the hilltop park in downtown Riobamba where part of the battle was fought. I had hoped to hide a geocache there but was not able to. I do recommend that you visit the park. Maybe you can hide one there!
