After our Amazon adventure, we spent a night in Quito before venturing north to the tiny town of Otavolo, known best for its massive indigenous craft market. We arrived at a gorgeous AirBnB just a twenty minute walk outside of town and found a llama named Pearlita, a wonderful hostess, and as much fresh fruit and avocados as we could pick. In addition, we were afforded 360 degree views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Since we arrived on a Friday, we decided to check out the ‘small’ version of the market, only taking up 4 city blocks. There were many beautiful crafts – woven shawls, alpaca blankets/ponchos/sweaters, wooden crafts, meticulously embroidered items – overflowing from all of the stalls. Unfortunately, each stall seemed to offer the same selection as the next, leading us to doubt the authenticity of the items. After perusing the wares we left with a plan to return in the morning to see how big this market actually got. On Saturday morning we were anticipating it to be a bit larger, and were shocked to find that it had exploded into a massive, wandering maze of stalls flowing through the majority of town, careening down side streets and into small alleys. It felt as if all of Ecuador had arrived at this epicenter of activity. Finally, after a few hours of browsing, looking for something that appeared both authentic and unique I found a beautiful handwoven table runner that will appear in our future home when we return to the states.
When we had our fill of navigating bustling bodies in narrow corridors we headed across the highway to the live animal market. As it came into view I steeled myself, preparing for any number of atrocities regarding animal well being. There were two main sections – one with large livestock up for auction, and another for the smaller animals. The small animals were so cute, pens of guinea pigs (locally called cuy), corrals of chicks of various sizes and species, quacking ducklings, and little bunnies. I wanted to jump in and snuggle with them all. It was heart wrenching to watch them be grabbed by handfuls and shoved into paper bags or cardboard boxes with hastily cut air holes. The most traumatizing of all was to see a full-size sow put into a bag with just her head sticking out. Knowing what I know about animal agriculture and feed lots in the US, I have to assume that all of these animals are off to live better lives or be slaughtered in a more humane way. The area of Ecuador we were in was surrounded by wide open farm land with lots of room for animals to graze. That afternoon we satiated our outdoor appetite by visiting nearby waterfalls. The first was heavily regulated and full of tourists so it was challenging to enjoy. The second was at the end of a short twenty minute walk through a small valley that we had all to ourselves. The most interesting part of both of these visits was hitchhiking back to town. From the first a woman pulled over and offered us a ride back to town, telling us all about her brother in law who spent a year studying abroad in Portland. The second trip was in the back of a pickup truck full of children playing games and giggling the whole way down poorly paved roads. Following three days in Otavolo we went straight to Mindo, a small adventure town tucked away in the cloud forest of northern Ecuador, known primarily for the ~550 endemic bird species that call this place home. For our one full day we started with a 10 cable zip lining tour across a wooded canyon. It was just us and two guides for the entirety of the tour. Some lines were fast, others “slow”, and a few we were able to ride superman style or mariposa (upside down) style, which I only braved once. Afterwards, Eric took part in the ‘Tarzan’ swing, twice. From here we hiked up the road to the waterfall valley which we had to access by cable car. We spent several hours hiking to five different waterfalls, taking several dips in the brisk water. Following our humid afternoon, we took showers to cool off and ate the best meal I have had since arriving – yucca soup, heart of palm ceviche, and garlic shrimp pasta. Having no plan, we went back to Quito to regroup and rest. And we are still here three days later trying to figure it out. Our time has been spent resting, vising the Guyasamin Museum (incredible) and the two equators. The equator with the giant monument is actually inaccurate as it was determined pre-GPS. The more accurate one, 500 meters north, is accompanied by a hokey science museum where you can watch water spin in different directions on each side of the equator and balance an egg on a nail. It was hokey but fun. After a day of rest and talking with all of the other travelers at our hostel, we decided spur of the moment to hop on a bus to Colombia and now here we are. Our plan is to stay for three weeks, but we are open to five or six or seven. Our only hard and fast ‘have-to-do’ is reach Buenos Aires for Christmas to meet our moms.
1 Comment
Bani
8/13/2017 05:40:50 pm
Looks fantastic!!! I'm jealous!
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AuthorJust two kids out exploring this big world of ours. Archives
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