Quito and Otavalo

Sign at the equator.

Otavalo food market fruit stand

Quechua children near Otavalo

Otavalo market

Woman making bread dough figurines.

On Thursday we flew back to Quito.  All of us suffered from the altitude - we felt dizzy, headachy, and tired. That evening we had a meeting to talk about what went well and what could be improved and how to improve it.  Most of us went to bed after the meeting because we were so tired.  The next day we all went on one of three day trips: Otavalo market, the cloud forest reserve, or old town Quito.  I went to the Otavalo market.  On the way we stopped at the equator for some pictures.  I lost count of how many times I crossed the equator on this trip.

Straddling the equator.

Me straddling the equator.

Government marker on the equator.

We saw the avocado and rose farms along the way.  Roses are a huge export product for Ecuador and Otavalo is a town that makes a lot of money from rose production and farming.  First we went to a food market which is on a block in the middle of town.  It is not at all like a US food market.  The stands are mostly outside and there is all kinds of interesting food.  Fruits and vegetables, grains, prepared foods such empanadas and soups, and meats all in huge piles.  There are people who butcher the meat right in front of you so you can see piles of chicken heads and feet and parts of pigs and whole pigs.  We did not see any cuy (guinea pig) at this market.

Otavalo food market grain stand

Otavalo food market.

From there we went to the textile and craft market.  There were blankets, scarves, sweaters, hats, tapestries, and all kinds of woven and knitted items.  Most are made of cotton or alpaca (a type of llama) wool.  Jewelry and simple wooden toys were also sold there.  I bought a few scarves and hats for my family.  The group that went to the cloud forest saw many kinds of beautiful hummingbirds - species that are only found in that area - and a giant earthworm, the size of a big snake!

1/2 of the giant earthworm! (this was roadkill and the other half is missing)

That night we had a farewell dinner in the courtyard of an old church in the center of town.  It was Quito Founders Day, like our Indepedence Day, and we saw fireworks over the church while eating dinner.  Nice!

Fireworks over the church.

We drove back to the hotel in a Chiva, a wooden double-decker bus with a live band on the top.  Along the way, the bus driver got us off the bus and made us all dance.  Then we got back on and drove slowly through Quito with the band playing on top of the bus the whole time and us making as much noise as possible.  It was great fun and fine way to end our trip to Ecuador.

The chiva we rode.

Chiva with musicians on top. (photo credit accidentalexplorer.com)