Otavalo and Cotacachi

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The trip to Cotopaxi was cancelled, but I did manage to get out to Otavalo on Saturday, a two hour journey from Quito. Matt, Kira and myself were not on our best form having been out late on Friday in the New Town drinking beers and Margaritas, but we soon felt better when we got out of the city and into some amazing mountainous landscapes. Danny, our driver and guide pointed out numerous mountains, volcanos and lakes, each one as spectacular as the last. We stopped near Imbabura, a volcano that reaches a height of over 4500 metres and overlooks Lago San Pedro. After watching a display of indigenous music and dancing we set off again for Otavalo. The outdoor market there is absolutely huge and there is a vast array of weavings, hammocks, rugs, clothes, jewellery, artwork, panpipes, food and just about anything else. It takes a long time to walk around and we didn´t see everything but you could quite easily spend a day wandering round and come back loaded up with all kinds of stuff. The atmosphere is great and although you get approached by most of the stallholders you walk past nobody gives you the hard sell. It´s all relatively inexpensive and you´re expected to barter so you can get some great deals. As I have to go backpacking in Peru next week and I already have a full rucksack I couldn´t buy too much, just a couple of presents and a t-shirt.

After eating huge sandwiches in a cafe next to the market we continued on to the Cotacachi/Cayapas Ecological Reserve which is a large area of protected land and takes in the mountains to the coastal rain forests of the Esmeraldas province. It´s home to an incredible range of wildlife, including 500 different bird species and over 2000 identified plant species. We didn´t venture far into the reserve, just to a beautiful high altitude lake, Lago Cuicocha, formed from a volcano crater that filled with water. It contains islands in the middle, which are actually lava domes that were at one time blasted out of the volcano and are now covered in vegetation and guinea pigs! It takes about 6 hours to walk around the lake so we just walked until we were tired and headed back to Quito.

Ecuador is Spanish for Equator. And that´s where I´m going tomorrow!

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