Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 638

Having raced across Colombia in three days we just made it in time to Otavalo to see in the New Year. If you like crafty things you can buy them in numbers in Ecuador where there is a huge market in the Plaza de Ponchos (Square of Ponchos). But it is otherwise a lovely place. You an walk among the mountains and visit a waterfall in a eucalyptus grove. The lakes are among the most beautiful in South America, although our photos don´t really do the countryside justice. Silvie thinks our photos represent the beauty there quite well, and I´m being cynical or falsely modest. The Otavaleño culture is unique. They managed to maintain a distinct identity despite the Incas, and then teh Spanish. They also speak a more antique version of Quechua. They are also ... read more

Hey everybody, sorry I haven't written in a while. The internet connection is a little sketchy so I'm just going to give a brief update and then, what you've all been waiting for, pictures! So, in brief, on Christmas I went to Chachimbiro hot springs, but I didn't actually go in. I spent the entire time looking for birds. It was so fun that I decided to switch the focus of my trip. I had thought that I didn't want to spend all my time chasing after birds because I'm going to do that for three months. The next day I went back to Quito and spent the day getting my clothes washed and all that good stuff. The next day I traveled to Mindo, a tiny town that is a birding mecca. I've been here ... read more

Recipe: 1 Christmas Turkey Preheat water over open fire. Chase after and catch 1 medium sized turkey. Pour 1 cup cane alcohol down caught turkey's throat. Once turkey is sufficiently intoxicated have two helpers hold the turkey as you snap its neck (with a twisting of both hands). Once turkey is dead put it in preheated water and remove feathers. Burn the remaining feathers off over the kitchen fire. Open the turkey and remove it's organs. Rinse the turkey in the rain bucket and chop it into portions. Grill and serve. ---------------------------- When Jose said we were going to spend some time with the farming community up the road and that we would be back by 7:30 I thought he meant PM not AM. It was a really lovely Christmas Eve. The few remaining at Yanayacu, ... read more

After spending a day in Quito, we went to Galapagos a few days before our tour started so we could do some diving and get a feel of the place. We flew to Santa Cruz on the 9th December, and went to Puerto Ayora, the main town on the Galapagos Islands. It was a very nice small town with a harbour a lots of boats. Our hotel was noisy so we moved the next day to one with a view of the sea, and from our balcony we could see some great new neighbours: some sea lions on a pier, a blue footed booby, marine iguanas (the only iguanas that swim!) and frigate birds flying across the sky circling on the look out for food (they survive by stealing food off other birds, and cant fish ... read more

After not doing Riobamba justice (didn't really look around that much) you would have thought that Emma and I would do a better job of seeing Cuenca, Ecuador's third largest city. Unfortunately the laziness hadn't yet worn off so we really only saw a portion of the city and didn't explore as we normally would. That said, we immediately felt at home in Cuenca. Despite the warnings in the guidebook that care should be taken after 10pm, we didn't once feel threatened, which wasn't true of Riobamba. We were in Cuenca as we'd heard that the Christmas processions were something worth seeing, and we didn't want to be travelling over Christmas, despite my "bah humbug" tendencies! Cuenca lived up to our expectations and then some.... We'd arrived with the same crew that we'd been in Ingapirca ... read more