Rainy days in the northern highland town of Otavalo

---

Our next destination was the highland town of Otavalo, 2550 meters above sea level, and two hours north of Quito. The town is known for it’s huge Saturday market (which we weren’t going to be there for) - a mainly tourist affair where traditionally dressed indigenous people sell their handicrafts. Otavalo is very prosperous as the indigenous population sell their woven products world wide. We caught a local bus from the northern bus station in Quito - nearly an hours taxi ride from our hotel there- Quito is a long city! Close to Quito we passed some deep canyons - no doubt formed during previous volcanic action - then acres of plastic covered greenhouses where all the gorgeous long stemmed roses on sale in the streets of Quito were grown.
Soon we were in the vibrant green hills which surround Otavalo and ten minutes after arriving were settling into our guesthouse. The city is surrounded by extinct volcanoes but as there was low cloud cover we couldn’t see the peaks of any of them upon arrival. The snow capped peak of Imbabura (4620 meters) did appear at various times during our few days there. Otavalo was a very clean town - the civic pride was evident in the wide footpaths and pretty street lamps throughout the centre district. The street lamps were all topped with lovely stained glass panels - of churches, birds and flowers. We found the main square (Poncho Plaza) which was less attractive as it was covered in plastic covered handicraft stalls. It appeared that the tourist market was on everyday of the week - it just got bigger on Saturdays.
There were many traditionally dressed locals in the town - the women wore white lined navy or black straight ankle length skirts with brightly embroidered white blouses. They all had a single plait, the length of which was wound with a woven ribbon. Heavy gold bead necklaces, fine coral bead bracelets on both wrists, a wide woven waistband, a dark rectangular shawl tide around their body and flat black fabric espadrilles on their feet completed their outfit’s. The men wore white shirts, three quarter length white trousers, a poncho, espadrilles and a single long plait of hair. The streets were lined with shops selling the embroidered blouses that the women wore. They were all made locally - other shops were full of large reels of the embroidery cotton - very colourful! We found a lovely restaurant overlooking Poncho Plaza and spent the early evening watching the stall holders dismantle their stalls and pack up all the heavy fabric items. Next morning it was all set up again - and there was barely a tourist in town so I doubt any of the stallholders sold too much each day.
Next day we were up early and caught a local bus to the small village of Cotacachi - renowned for it’s leather craft. The streets were lined with shops selling leather products - none of which were open when we arrived! Eventually they opened and I was tempted by a handbag - very cheap! Again a pretty little village - there are many ex pats living there - we had lunch in a café owned by one and it was busy with them all catching up on each others news. Every shop had a workshop behind where you could watch the handbags, purses or coats being made. No shoes were made there however. The weather wasn’t brilliant the entire time we were in Otavalo - it was either raining or trying to rain! There are some lovely hikes in the area but it was muddy and wet so we didn’t go to far out of the villages. That afternoon we caught a taxi to another village - Penuche - to visit the weaving workshops but the only one we found open was selling wall hangings - very heavy and colourful. It was in a sad little village - though maybe the rain made it look worse then it actually was! It rained very heavily later that afternoon so we cancelled our visit to a nearby bird sanctuary hoping the weather would improve by next day.
No such luck as it was very wet next day! However it was our last day here so decided to catch a taxi to the Condor Parque anyway. The road up the hill above Otavalo was cobbled most of the way but we did feel a bit sorry for the taxi driver (a lady - unusual here) as the last kilometre or so the road was very slippery. The park is run by a Dutch owned foundation that rehabilitates raptors, vultures and other birds of prey. It was beautifully set out with a 360* view of the surrounding countryside. We were the only visitors (it was raining!) and were a little sad when we were told that the flight demonstrations would not be happening because the birds hate the rain and won’t fly in it! We did have a great morning though - the park was a pleasure to wander around in as it was so well landscaped and the views wonderful though misty. The hills were a patchwork of tiny colourful squares of agriculture in all directions, with a large lake (which we had been planning to walk down to) below the park. Most of the birds were out of their shelter in the aviaries so we had some great views of them. The two Andean condors were only peeping out of their caves so we only glimpsed them unfortunately.
The people who ran the park made us a welcome cup of coffee before we decided to walk the 5 kilometres back to Otavalo. It was still raining but we were suffering a bit of cabin fever and needed a long walk. It was great - we thoroughly enjoyed it - despite getting damp. We left Otavalo next day but not before exploring the local fruit and vegetable market which we eventually found in a back street. It had been a very enjoyable few days in what is a pretty and friendly town. The local people were very open and happy to see us - I guess they make a lot of their income from tourism but they still pass their daily lives as if the tourists aren’t there which was great to see.
Next morning we were back on the local bus heading back down to Quito - we had been considering going to the bird watching area of Mindo (west of the capital) but the weather forecast was for increasing rain in the region so decided to head south of Quito instead to Latacunga from where we were going to spend a few days doing a 200 kilometre loop called the Quilatoa Loop/ It is a relatively unnourished area and we had read numerous reports about how stunning the countryside was there.

---

Comments

[Animals of India]

http://www.wild-india.com/IndianAnimals/
Belts are so nice and attractive, its so beautifully woven