DECEMBER IN ECUADOR!

December 3, I flew out of Lima, and landed in Quito. On the way there, the plane passed over Cotopaxi, Ecuador's largest volcano. Below are photos of the airplane schedule of departures and the plane I was on.  Next are photos as the plane approached Quito, followed by scenes of airline personnel and people in line at customs after landing in Ecuador.

The chauffer I hired to pick me up (along with my packs) showed up exactly on time and whisked me off from Quito on a magical ride to Cotacachi. Although I knew the area around Cotacachi was quite beautiful, I found myself unprepared for the awesome aftenoon ahead of me. What a terrific day! I'll never forget it. The following photos were taken on that trip, including one in which I am standing right on the equator.

Cotacachi is uniquely beautiful because of being nestled between two volcanoes, Imbabura and Cotacachi. The above photos are of Imbabura. The latter photo was taken from the roof of the hostel I stayed my first 2 days in town. Next is a photo taken at the entrance of Cotacachi. The town's symbol is viewed below.

I especially enjoyed my first two weeks in Cotacachi. It was the first time in a long time that I've had the opportunity to socialize with American women my own age. Cotacachi is filled with American expatriates.  I had been wanting to visit this town for a while. The day after arriving, I met with a friend in Otavalo, which is on the way to Cotacachi from Quito. Otavalo is the much bigger town, and has about 100,000 inhabitants. It is known for its market. Below are scenes of the market.

Buses tend to fill up on Saturdays, the primary market day in Otavalo. 

 Below my friend Cheryl is viewing jewelry made by an artist she knows and respects.

Below is another photo of the market, and a placard for the restaurant at which we had our lunch.

The evening I returned from visiting Otavalo, I went to hear Ecuadorian musicians in Cotacachi.

A few days later I was off with a friend, Renate, to visit Peguche Falls, easily accessible by taking a bus to Otavalo and paying a taxi $2.00 for a ride to the falls. Next are scenes of that afternoon.

And a few days later I went hiking with another friend, Karla, at Cuicocha Lake, accessible by taking a $5 cab ride from Cotacachi. What a whirlwind week with new friends, and I enjoyed every moment, because of being in nature. Cotacachi Volcano is seen in the photos of Lago Cuicocha below.

Next, Renate, Karla and I all joined together and paid a driver $15 each for a ride to Lake Mojanda. Lake Mojanda is about an hour's drive from Cotacachi. We enjoyed hiking a half of a day above another beautiful lake. On the way to the lake we thrilled to many beautiful views. Below are scenes of the beautiful agricultural fields in the area, Lake Mojanda, and the Cotacachi Volcano.

Next is a scene from another walk with Renate. Below is the Ami Theater, and the surrounding fields.

The following week was Christmas, and volunteers at the Soup Kitchen hosted a Christmas gathering, organized by Jennifer, for some of the elderly indigenous people in the community. Truly, these beautiful elderly women (and men) serve us by showing up.  Below are some of the participants that day after eating breakfast together.

Below are photos of  the Indigenous Market, which is only open on Saturdays.

And I'm also adding a scene from the regular Cotacachi Market, and including a photo of a bouquet of roses purchased for $2.50 that stayed fresh all week.

The day before Christmas Renate and I went to Parque Condor. We had a terrific time viewing all of the hawks, owls and condors available for visitors to observe. Many of these birds have been rescued and rehabilitated. The steep ride up to the Parque Condor fom Otavalo, afforded spectacular views of Lago San Pablo and the Otavalo Valley. The flight demonstration given by a talented bird trainer at Parque Condor lasted a full hour.

 

 Parque Matriz was looking Christmas-y for a few weeks before Christmas, as evident in the photo below, taken at dusk a week or so prior to the holiday.

 Christmas Eve at Parque Matriz in Cotacachi was the scene of a dazzling fireworks display. The evening's event was stunning, despite the use of a primitive contraption to set the lights into motion.

At first, the firework show didn't look too promising. The air was filled with smoke, and no display worth seeing was evident. Yet minutes later, the fireworks turned extraordinary.

The day after Christmas I happened to catch one of many parades in town celebrating the holidays.

So by the time Christmas passed, I was ready for a change of scenery. Cotacachi was enjoyable, yet I never found accommodations with which I was comfortable.  Also, I was distracted by all of the Americans in town, and everything began to seem too much like California. I took my friend's recommendation and came to Mindo. I left Cotacachi on a 5:30 am bus to Quito, then took the bus to Mindo. The rest of this blog post chronicles my past week in the rain forest town of Mindo. I will spend the month of January in the town of Canoa, on the Coast of Ecuador.

As it turns out the town of  Mindo is torn up my construction right now, and it is messy getting around, especially when it rains (which is every day). Fortunately, the nature surrounding Mindo is beautiful, and I had a good time. Below are a few scenes in downtown Mindo.

Above is the central park in Mindo, and below is the restaurant, owned by a German woman named Barbara, and a Swiss woman, named Andrea. These women are so nurturing.  I ate there nearly every day while in Mindo. Met some wonderful expats here, Gary and Karen, who have lived outside of Mindo for the past 6 years. They introduced me to their friend, Cynthia. I'm enjoying so many expats in Ecuador. Maybe I will end up living here after all!

The chocolate tour at El Quetzal was fun yet over-priced. This place seemed kind of "preppie" for my taste, yet the owners seem to provide an important community service.

The first full day I was in Mindo, I went on a tarabita, or tram, across the river, and spent the day hiking up trails to 6 different waterfalls. Luckily I was accompanied by some wonderful Ecuadorians. The hike on muddy trails was extensive, and I ended up having a fantastic day. 

The German couple below were among the only people I saw on the paths to different waterfalls wearing practical footwear. What a contrast to the flimsy sandals and imitation crocs worn by most Ecuadorians! Nonetheless, they all seemed to sprint about effortlessly.

The family above came to my rescue when I thought I lost the return trail. I hadn't, yet it was great to have their support for the steep uphill climb back to the trail's beginning. We took the tarabita back to the road together, and they gave me a ride back to town in their 4-wheel drive.

The very next day, I spent the whole morning ziplining! The young men who work at the adventure company I went with made everything so easy, and secure, that I really enjoyed myself.

One day when the sun came out, I took a walk to see the hostel featuring a greenhouse filled with thousands of butterflies. There were lots of families with children there too.  It was a packed house!

One of my last days in Mindo I visited a hostal that hundreds of different kinds of hummingbirds (28 species, I was told) and other birds too, including tanagers. I did not succeed in putting together a group so that we go in together on a bird tour.  Bird tours in Mindo are big business and I found out that going individually can be surprisingly expensive. This discovery gave rise to a deeply felt appreciation for all of the free bird tours I took with Naturalists in the Dominican Republic!

Hope I will be able to return to Mindo for a bird tour. In the meantime, I enjoyed the hummingbirds.  Rodney, the man who built the hummingbird garden made his dream a reality when creating this fantasy garden. Rodney said that all of the animals on the poster below live on his property, too!

I spent New Year's Eve strolling around downtown Mindo. Below is a young man dressed as a viuda, or widow, who managed to extract a dime from me on New Year's Eve. The viudas mythologize the year's ending and announce their need for a hand-out by making a whirring sound followed by placing their palm out. Symbolically it seemed important to comply with this young widow's request!

Wrapping this blog post up, I've been staying at he Cabanas Eden, and below is my cabin, as well as the lovely couple, Maria and Nelson, who own this hostel. I was happy to find inexpensive and wonderful accommodations with welcoming owners in Mindo.

That's all for now, and thank you for reading my blog update. I'll be posting at the end of the month, and probably earlier too, at mid-month. Every month tends to be crammed with so much. It's hard to get all of my photos to upload in one update. So, I'll have to post more often. Happy New Year to all!