Caleta Tumbes

The first Sunday in November we attended Barrio Cruz del Sur, named for the Southern Cross.

This is a dynamic, well-run ward in the Talcahuano North Stake. One of the hermanas told us this is the ward Area Seventy Elder Zeballos and his family attended when they lived here.

I thought this was Bellis Perennis blooming in a vacant lot near the Institute building, but it is Erigeron Karvinskianus, Latin American fleabane, native to South America. I am thinking we will have to pick a bucket full of these tiny daisies for when the weather gets warmer and fleas become more active.

I finally got a photo of the hermano who makes copper engravings, white beard and all. He comes to the mission office on the day of Cambios, when missionaries whose service has ended are taken to the airport for the journey home, and new missionaries are picked up.

His rendering of the Concepcion Temple, scheduled to be built sometime in the future.

Tuesday and Thursday evening we attended a Planning for Success Workshop for potential Perpetual Education Fund participants, for members of the Chiguayante Stake. The teacher, Hermana Silva, was thoroughly prepared and did an excellent job. It was interesting hearing the different reasons for wanting further education and how the students would go about it.

Saturday we joined the Kauers for an outing to the northern tip of the Talcahuano peninsula on the Bay of Concepcion.

Caleta Tumbes is a charming fishing village complete with its fleet of vessels.

San Pedro, the patron saint of fishermen. As can be expected, this part of Talcahuano was hit especially hard by the 8.8  2010 earthquake and tsunami.

From the pier you could see Isla Quiriquina and the reef along the northern part of the Bay of Concepcion, which blocked some of the worst effects of the earthquake tsunami.

For lunch we went farther down the peninsula to Caleta Lenga, where we knew there were good restaurants. The two farmboys Elder Kennington and Elder Kauer were pleased to come across a Mahindra tractor, which reminded them of their life before becoming missionaries.

We saw a disappointed group of ladies wearing sunhats coming out of the alley in front of the Restaurant El Mono, The Monkey, the owner of which told them it was not open at 11:00 in the morning, so we thought we would come back at 12:00 noon along with everyone else. Plus, it had a bathroom.

In the second floor of the Restaurant El Mono. We ordered a Lomo a lo Pobre and cheese and seafood empanadas, served with onion and cilantro. The Kauers ordered salmon and boiled potatoes. It was all good.

From our view on the second floor, we could see about six red-headed buzzards, Jotes de cabeza colorada, circling over something on the ground.

Two women in a horse-drawn cart.

Hermana Kauer on the promenade along the beach after purchasing another over-the-shoulder bag, since her first one is getting a lot of wear. She is wearing a lilac-colored wool manta she bought from one of the Ecuadorans, since although the day was sunny and beautiful, the morning was still chilly and windy.

I bought a pair of bombachos, baggy pants with pockets and drawstring waist and ankles, which are very comfortable and made with a pretty fabric. The bombachos and the passport case were sold by Ecuadorans from the Otavalo province, where many of the Ecuadorans in Concepcion are from. The copper earrings I bought for more wall hangings I am making. The man selling them called the bird-shaped earrings "Aymara" -- probably the grey-hooded South American parakeet, although it might also be a reference to the Aymara people of the Andes in Peru.