Otavalo

After returning from Galapagos to the mainland we still had a few days left in Ecuador. None of us were feeling very adventurous but we felt we should really see some more of the country than just Quito. About 100km from the capital is the town of Otovalo, set in the beautiful Andean countryside and famed for its market. The real market is on Saturday starting at about 5am with the livestock market just out of town and continuing throughout the day selling, well, just about everything. It is purported to be the largest market in the Americas and the Otovalans to be the most successful tribe in Ecuador selling their fabrics and textile goods far and wide. We had heard that there was a smaller textile market on Wednesday mainly for tourists so Tuesday afternoon we set off for the town.

Rachel had managed to find a nice little B&B right in the heart of town, we checked in and set off to explore. The first thing to mention was the startling array of traditional dress. We had seen some evidence of this in Quito but in Otovalo there were definitely two camps. The ‘townies’ who dressed in Western style and the people from the outlying villages who wear the tradition dress and come to town to trade at the market.

The next morning we headed for ‘poncho plaza’ and spent a very lazy few hours mooching around the stalls and admiring the beautiful handmade clothes and rugs – and laughing at some of the unbelievable tourist tat! Rowan was in seventh heaven and couldn’t resist spending some of her birthday money on a new purse and bag. Jenna was treated to a ‘Tico’ jumper by her Mum and Rhys got a $2.50 pack of super hero action figures, which made his year (he has missed them so!!)

The Dutch lady who owned our B&B told us about a Condor park not far from the town that she thought the kids might like. We headed up there to find a fantastic bird sanctuary and rescue centre, funded entirely by donations, rearing many species of Andean birds of prey with, obviously, the Condor as its figurehead. On a breathtaking sunny morning we were the only people there and after walking around the aviaries we were treated to our very own ‘private’ falconry display and a fantastic chat with the director of the program. We learnt some startling facts: there are only 70 or so condors left in the whole of Ecuador (though thankfully there are more in Peru and Chile) and that this symbol of South American might, the world’s largest flying bird, is in fact not a bird of prey at all but actually a relative of the stork!
Rhys jumped at a chance to hold a kestrel, which turned out to be the tiniest specie imaginable. Once Rowan & Jenna saw the size of the thing they too were all for having a go. So after a hugely enjoyable morning and ignoring the park staffs’ looks of incredulity, we spurned the offer of a cab and decided to walk the 5km back to town.

After Quito, it was a lot of fun to get bewildered looks from the school children who thought it incredibly funny that a European family had decided to stop in there little hamlet for a Coke by the side of the road. It did give us a flavour of rural Ecuador to see people doing their washing in the river and cattle and pigs grazing along the banks of Lago St Pablo just out of town. Once we were fed up of walking we hopped onto the local bus, which was packed, mad and thankfully dropped us back at our B&B just in time for tea.

Buoyed by our successful walk we set out the next day to find the local waterfall. As instructed we followed the railway tracks out of town and only four or five requests for directions later we found it! After sitting for a while and taking in this beautiful spot we crossed the river and had to make our way around a group of people celebrating a birthday on the opposite bank. A simple enough task you would have thought but it is a testament to friendliness of the Ecuadorians that we had to stop and share the birthday cake, have a chat, and ultimately part like old friends. A few minutes later a young woman in traditional costume accompanied by her son, about Rhys’ aged engaged us in conversation. After exchanging all the usual pleasantries about the ages of the children, where we were from etc. we explained that we were not going home but travelling on to Peru.
‘Can I come with you’ she asked.
We laughed, ‘No seriously, take me with you.’ She said.
We exited quickly, not wishing to acquire an Ecuadorian nanny at this stage in our travels.

Without us really noticing it Saturday rolled around and we were able to see the main market before heading back to Quito. Friday night the little town swelled with people from all over, a good mix of North Americans, Europeans and Japanese. In the morning the whole place was transformed into one seething market, selling, well its true, just about everything. We finally had to drag Rowan kicking and screaming (well huffing and sulking actually) away from the stalls and headed back to the capital to get our flight to Peru.