Bravo team back aboard

It's been a great 5 week trip throughout Ecuador.  We've thoroughly enjoyed the people of this unique country, seen some beautiful places, and had some great adventures.  But it sure felt terrific to get back aboard 'Bravo' last night after a 9 hour bus ride from Quito, find her safe and sound, and begin to get back into our normal life on the water.  We haven't updated the blog for a while, but we've been on the move.  Here are a few highlights of the past couple of weeks.......

Cuenca

What a sweet city this is.  No wonder that so many folks are retiring here (many surveys rate Cuenca as the top city to retire, in the world!).







 

With a great mix of old colonial architecture and newer, more modern neighborhoods, amazing springlike climate all year around, and close proximity to great adventures in the Andes, we get it!  Spent 4 or 5 days here, enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of Cuenca.....
 

Who needs a Game Boy when mom sells grain???

 One fun thing about Ecuador is that it's where "Panama" hats are made.  They got the "Panama" name when they were worn by the guys working on the Panama Canal.  We couldn't resist visiting one of the better hat factories which was in Cuenca.  The hats are woven in houses of indigenous weavers around the area, and then finished in the factory.  Worn by rock and movie stars for years, the shop turns out some real beauties!!!

 

Guamote

Stopped for a night in this small indigenous community.  Got here as the weekly market was ending for the day, but still experienced a very traditional setting.  Only one hostal in town, this place is far off the "gringo trail".  The hostal, Inti Sisa, is run by a non-profit foundation dedicated to providing educational opportunities to the local indigenous children.  Run by a Belgian expat, the place was one of the nicest hostals we stayed at in Ecuador.....highly recommended!


Road from Riobamba to Macas
This new road through the Sangay National Park is a spectacular drive across the Andes.  Although controversial when it was built a few years ago, the dramatic road does travel over and around some amazing scenery.

All that we could find on it through Google searches was info about the deadly bus crash 2 years ago, killing the whole bus load, and info on the controversy surrounding its construction through the park.  Armed with that, we figured, "how can this be bad??"!!!  Turned out to be dramatic indeed, even though we hit it on a cloudy day.  Highly recommend this route to the jungle.


Tena

We stopped for a couple of days in Tena, a small city in the jungle, just about 4 hours outside of Quito.  Pretty touristy being so close to the big city, Tena serves as a gateway to Amazonia, and we enjoyed our jungle walks right around town.

Tena ferry service

There's a park at the juncture of two rivers, and it was chock-a-block with critters and beautiful jungle forest.  Saw our first tapir strolling on the trail, and a family of squirrel monkeys.

Awwwww...ya gotta admit, I'm kinda cute!!!

Cindi makes a new friend

Jungle flowers were everywhere

Quito

We spent nearly a week exploring Quito.  It's a really interesting city, an extremely dense mix of the old colonial town married to a bustling commercial hub, with large public parks and green spaces throughout the city. On Sundays they close several major roads throughout the city to cars, and open them only to bicycles and pedestrians!!!  Very cool.

Small part of Quito, seen from top of the TeleferiQo.

 Visited a historic observatory in downtown Quito.....at one time the largest observatory in Latin America, the viewing of the night sky must have been terrific before Quito got electric lights!!!  Now houses large refracting scope (open to the public on some clear nights), seismic, and metereologic instruments.  Very satisfying for Adam's "inner geek"!!!

Large clock displaying sidereal and solar time....I can't remember which is which!!!

And the time is.......???????

Belfry, seen from the clock tower....."It was a dark and stormy night"!!!!!

Enjoyed seeing the historic sites, including some amazing churches, nearly one on every corner in the colonial city.....the conquistadores really inspired the fear of god into the locals!!! We climbed to the top of the belfry in one, the large Basilica.

Inside the clock tower

Cindi climbing the belfry rampart

Walkway between the belfry and the clock towers

We visited with our friends Isabelle, Alfredo, and Isa at their beautiful home under the TeleferiQo, the gondola up a mountain overlooking the city.  (The TeleferiQo is a very worthwhile trip, by the way....Amazing views of the city below).   On our last night in Quito, Alfredo, who grew up in the old town, gave us a terrific tour of the area.  Nice!!!


We're now getting ready for a trip to the U.S., where we'll spend the month of September visiting family and friends, before returning to 'Bravo' at the end of the month, to begin our travels to Peru, Bolivia, and Patagonia.......

Ecuador rambles begin.....

A couple of days ago, we buttoned up 'Bravo' as well as we could.  All on deck which could not be locked was secured below, lines to our two mooring anchors were checked and rechecked, and we (more than a bit nervously) left her behind in Bahia while we head out for about one month to explore Ecuador.

Took an 8 hour bus ride to Quito.  Wow, what a change to be in a truly big city!!!  Traffic and crowds are not our day-to-day these days, and it was quite a shock to the system.  But Quito is a vibrant, interesting city, perched high in the Andes.  At 9,350 feet above sea level, it is the highest capitol city in the world.  These sea-level dwelling boat slugs noticed it right away, as we hiked up the 3 flights of stairs to our room at Hostel Sakti.  A nice, clean place to hang our hats, and it's hard to beat the $20/night cost.

With 7 images of Jesus in the cockpit, we felt safe indeed!!!

The next day, after a bit of shopping at the local climbing/trekking shops which are as common as rain drops in Seattle, we hopped another bus to Otavalo, an indigenous small city high in the mountains.  From what we read, the town should provide a great base of operations for several days, starting with the weekly Saturday market the morning after arrival.

This market, the largest in Latin America, actually has 3 parts. 

First, is the animal market, where indigenous people from all of the surrounding villages come to buy and sell critters.  As the saying goes....."they didn't throw this party for us!!!...."

It was an overwhelming scene, and not for those with strong P.E.T.A. sensitivities.  Animals of all sorts were being pushed, pulled, and shoved all around, as they were inspected and sold to their new owners.  We're talking large as well as small, old and young. 

So here are a few shots that tell the story.....

 

After a bit of walking about it was breakfast time, and the food stalls were smelling pretty good, even if we couldn't identify most of the delicacies.  Cindi settled on a hunk of pork with hominy, potatoes, a fried plantain, and salad.  Tasty business!!!

Adam was looking for a barbequed cuy (guinea pig), but apparently those just aren't suitable breakfast fare!!!

Cuy ladies looking for the big score!

But we did see lots of cuy changing hands, and soon the "cuy ladies" lining the path became a common sight.

Ahhhhh....here's a tasty one!!!

There were deals galore for the shrewd negotiator!!

Cindi was befriended by a woman selling finely woven scarves for $3.50 each.  The negotiations were fun for both sides, and we're the proud owners of four of the beauties.

Otavalo "drive-in movie"....the screen was small, but the interest was intent

After the animal market we headed up to the weekly street market, where vendors set up street stalls throughout the city.  Anything imagined could be found, and we spent hours wandering the streets.

"Snake oil" seller shows the magic of his elixer for eye health.....

After wandering the streets for a few hours, we moved to the permanent market, set up in "Poncho Square".  Here we found all sorts of weavings, grains and spices, leather work, and more.  Truly a hard to believe rabbit warren of smells, colors and people, it went on and on and on.  And yes, we bought a few things, after we found the post office will ship back to 'Bravo' in Bahia, to be waiting at the marina when we return in a month.

All in all, a great welcome to the wonders of Ecuador that await!!!