Blogs from Otavalo, North, Ecuador, South America - page 28

My Dad and I flew into Quito on the fourth and stayed there for a few days. We didn't do a whole lot, but we did go see the Virgen of Quito. It's a 40m tall silver statue of the Virgin standing on top of the world, stepping on a serpent. It's quite the sight! (Kai thank you for the recommendation!) Overall I found Quito rather overwhelming. It is a very fast, big, and loud city. And it is very hard to breath on the main streets because the diesel smell is so bad! Without much ado in Quito we left for Otavalo. Otavalo is much smaller, more friendly and safer. Thursday we hiked to Cascada Peguche, a nearby waterfall and Friday we went to Cotacachi a small volcano. We hiked around Cuicocha (Guinea Pig Lake) ... read more

After one week of voluntering, including activities like feding the hens, picking corn, digging, carrying wood, making an entrance sign for the reserve, chopping plants/herbs with machetes (oh yes, if you want to challenge me in armwrestling - any time with my new found muscles - hehe) and other less demanding activities like relaxing in the hammock (oh I love those hammocs), enjoying the beautiful views (have a look in the photo album), playing with the dogs, frisbees or dart, making art out of bamboo fibres and swimming in thermal baths; I feel like my baterries are charged. The highlight of the week was definitely the two-day hike to the volcano Cotacachi where we also had a wonderful view of a lagoon. I actually climbed my first 4000 m peak! We started Thursday morning, taking the ... read more

It's hard work, this blogging lark. No sooner do you commit to keeping an online diary of your travels and cheerfully tell everybody about it than you disappear into the sticks for two weeks, where they don't have hot water let alone email. So apologies for the lengthy radio silence. Here's what we've been up to... The first thing I did (this is Rob, by the way) after posting the last blog was have my wallet expertly pickpocketed on the tram: quite possibly a new world record, because it was all of five minutes into our first real bit of travelling. The lucky villain only got away with $15 and two swiftly cancelled credit cards, but I felt (a) like a bit of a tool and (b) that everybody in Quito was out to get us, ... read more

Last week it was the festival of the summer solstice combined with the festival for San Juan = one big party all over Ecuador! We decided to head back to Otavalo as our guide Luis from a few weeks ago invited us to his village to partake in some festivities. We got there on Friday night and the party was in full swing. Lots of different families and villages all dressed up in random costumes and playing great traditional music. The highlight of the night - the circular dancing. It was magic! Apparently the dancing in a circle symbolises the shape of the sun and it was only men who were allowed to dance. In a month the women have their own festival for the moon. It really was mesemerising and we stood and watched for ... read more

Hola, I have just returned to Quito after spending a night in the lovely market town of Otavalo. After arriving at around 2 pm with my travel party of six, under my navigating skills and a lonely planet guide we easily found our amazing hostel in the downtown. The hostel had a large cobblestone-floored, open square in the center equipped with hammocks and a firepit, making for a great social setting. Surrounding the square, on two floors, were the various rooms (all occupied by gringos, of course). After settling in to our three two-person rooms (at $6 each person, including a great breakfast the next day) we, now a total of seven people including a fellow hostel-er named Justin, from England, went for a good lunch and drinks at a nice little cafe overlooking the main ... read more