Being tourists in Ecuador...the next week was jam-packed with playing tourist and preparing for Marco and Gerti´s wedding here. Marco was playing tour guide to his German family...so I tagged along as well. Jesus doesn´t like big touristy groups...he did a bit with us, but also enjoyed cleaning and playing handyman around the property. He loves pottering around and helping his mum out.
On saturday we all set out on a tour of Otavalo and its surrounds. Otavalo is an Indigenous town about 20 minutes from here...famous for its saturday art and crafts maket. The main plaza and all the streets are full of market stalls....selling everything from paintings to clothes to jewellery, shoes, bags, textiles etc etc etc!! This is the region here where all the colourful textiles and things made from these textiles are produced. On arriving, Marco bought chochos for everyone to try...these are a type of bean that are cooked and served cold with a tomoto/onion salad and sometimes meat or cheese. I bought a bag of "pan de yuca" (yuca bread) which is small round balls of a bread made with the root vegetable yuca...YUM!!!
We headed in to the town centre...the family were busy buying things...i was happy taking photos!!! I love this market...lots of colour and all the Otavalenos dressed in their traditional clothes.
Here are lots of the colourful photos i took!!!
And some of my people shots...I love photographing the indienous people here in their traditional clothes!!!
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| Marco bargaining the prices down for his German family!! |
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| Even the kids are put to work here!! |
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| Local all-in-one musician!! |
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| A view of the market. |
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| A view of Otavalo from above. |
After shoping we headed down to the main town plaza for lunch. All of the main plazas in big or small towns here are really pretty...the main Cathedral and with beautifully cared for gardens.
After a lunch of chochos...we all piled in to the back of a ute (the main form of transport here!!!) and off to our next stop...El Parque del Condor.
This is a reserve opened about 3 years ago...to care for birds of prey that are injured or abandoned. There was a range of eagles and hawks and owls..and 2 condors. We rushed past them to see a presentation of a couple of the eagles doing their "flying practice"...and when we came back they were hiding in their cave...so we didn´t get to see them...oh well!!! I am not a real fan of seeing animals in captivity...but, as these were all rescued birds...it was a good opportunity to see them. Those that are able to be released back in to the wild are released.
Next..back in to the ute and off to the waterfall in another nearby town, Peguche. This is a nice place to walk around and enjoy the waterfall and its surrounding bush-land.There was a swinging bridge to cross the river...which was a but scary considering some of the wooden planks were broken and repaired with a wire...repaired Ecuadorian style!!!
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| Peguche Waterfall. |
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| Bridge complete with holes to view the water below!!! |
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| The swinging bridge. |
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| Bridge repaired Ecuadorian style!!! |
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| A local kid playing football with one of the guys in our group. |
By this stage it was getting late...so back in to the ute and home.
After dinner, another night by the open fire enjoying a beer and family company. Lots of laughing and stories...everyone just happy to be together.
Gerti and I agreed that Marco and Jesus are very similar in a lot of ways. They don´t run around getting excited, but you can tell in their hearts that they are really content and happy to be in Ecuador with their family.
Mama Maria is also happy with all her family around her. We took photos of her with 9 out of her 10 kids all gathered together...and also her international daughter-in-laws!!!
A few more family shots to share with you.
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| Our niece Gaby with her 2 kids, Diego and Danae. |
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| Danae---cute!!! |
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| Jesus playing "dad"!! |
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| Jesus...being Jesus!! |
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| Mama Maria surrounded by her kids!! |
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| Mama Maria with us and Marco and Gerti. |
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| Our niece Evelyne and nephew Sebastian challenging Gerti's dad to a game of chess (he won!!) |
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| Fancy bread making!!! |
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| Ready for breaky!!! |
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| The cat trying to get out of the bread-oven!!! It wasn't alight!!! |
On monday, after a 6.00am shower in "El Dique"...the small water fall that flows in the valley at the base of the property (cold, but refreshing and invigorating!!!)...we headed off to Laguna Cuicocha...another "marvillosa del Ecuador".
We got the bus to the town of Cotacachi...a cute little town at the base of Volcano Cotacatchi...and then, yep, in to the back of a ute we got for the trip to the laguna. This is how pigs and sheep and cows..and people...travel in Ecuador!! Safe...hmmm....not so sure!!!
Laguna Cuicocha...WOW!!! This is a lake in the crater of a volcano which last exploded about 3000 years ago. It is at an altitude of 3068m and is an "active crater". It has no measured depth, and we did a boat trip on the lake...you could see the bubbles of gas coming up out of the water.
Ther lake...what a spectacle. With Volcano Cotacachi as the backdrop, and this incredible deep blue-green water. There is 2 islands in the middle of the lake...legend has it that these are the children of volcanos Taita Imbaburra and Mama Cotacachi!!
You can walk around the rim of the crater...about a 14km walk, climbing up and down the ridges of the rim. We walked to a look-out i guess about 1/3 of the way. This region boasts about 400 species of plants and vegetation growing on this volcanic base...so lots of pretty plants and flowers and a small berry called "mortino" that you could eat. There was another similar berry, a bit bigger, that is a bit of a halucinogenic...so had to be careful not to get the 2 mixed up!!!
We also had beautiful views of the surrounding mountains/volcanos...Imbaburra, Cayambe with its snow-capped peaks gleaming in the sun, and even to Cotopaxi with her beautiful snow-capped cone peak in the distant back-ground.
We stopped at the look-out to enjoy the spectacular views...and a yummy chocolate bought by the Germans!! Here I made a pact with Renee that one weekend we would return with Jesus to walk the complete circuit of he lake.
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| Taita Imbaburra and snow-capped Cayambe were our view!! |
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| Volcano Taita Imbaburra. |
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| Cayambe. |
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| The walking trail. Looking to Volcano Cotacachi. |
Here are some of the beautiful photos i took!!!
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| At the lookout with nephew Asyri and nieces Erica, Yesennia and Camilla. |
Some more flower photos!!
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| Marco and Gerti's kids Mayru and Aitana...ready for the boat trip. |
Time to head back down to the shores of the lake..hot and dusty!! Wished i had my bathers to go for a dip..but it was shallow near the boat landing...so i went in up to my thighs...AHHH!!!
We went for a short boat trip on the lake which was fun...and then time to head back in our ute to Cotacachi. I invited the family to an ice-cream, whilst the Germans went to a restaurant to try "carne rosado", a typical dish from this region. It is pork marinated in a red plant dye and cooked in a pan in the traditional manner here.
Then time to head home...our bus broke down in the middle of the busy 6-lane Pan-American highway...so we all had to get out on the side of the highway and wait for another bus to stop and take us on board!!! Welcome to Ecuador!!!
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| Sunset on our way home. |
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| Our broken down bus!!! |
More travel tales soon
Lots of love
Llamasbailando xxoo
