Fuya Fuya

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Fuya Fuya, Quichua for Point Point, is a mountain in the Lagos area close to Otavalo. Its two prominent points give it its name. We drove to Fuya Fuya with the group of volunteers and Christian, Pablo, Grace, and Max who are members of Gilberto´s family. The drive in the jeep was bumpy and, since most of us didn’t know exactly what we were doing, we were quite positive about what was to come.

When we got to the first lake, it was midday and the ripples of the lake were made more visible by the sun’s gleaming rays. All this was deceiving since the next three hours would be a just as gruesome as the climb up Mount Kenya five years back. Apart from the difference in length of the hikes, the vegetation was all too similar- mainly because both countries lie on the equator.

A couple of hours later, we found ourselves split into different groups depending on our chosen pace. Daylin and I were in the middle group, and Pablo was acting as our guide. It was challenging at first, but once we looked back at the view of the mountains, it all seemed worth it. As we got closer to the top, we came across a rock blocking the trail. We both looked back at Pablo, but he simply said ¨Vamos¨. So we ended up climbing up this rock, literally climbing up it vertically. Once over it, we had reached the top where we took a break and had lunch before heading back.

The rest of the afternoon was spent touring different lakes in the Lagos area. Before returning to the hostal for dinner, Christian took us to a trout farm by one of the lakes to buy trout for dinner. The farmer’s killing technique was questionable- he simply whacked the trout on the head with a knife handle. One time, he split a trout open and removed the heart, placing it on the back of his hand, to show us how the heart continued beating when removed. We returned home where Blanca, the cook, prepared some friend trout for dinner.

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Photos

The farmer holding a trout
The heart on the back of his hand was still pounding after it was removed from the trout