We have had an excellent time so far in Ecuador. We have been staying at La Luna Mountain Lodge nested in the hills of Otavalo. Every morning we have woken up to views of the Volcano Imbabura to the West and Volcano Cotacacchi to the East with farmland all around. We have been treated excellently by the staff, Rosa, Susy, Fernando, and Gabriel. They have started fires for us each night, cooked us food, cleaned our room and done our laundry. Kieran asked Gabriel if he was an angel a la the Archangel from the Bible, which we all had a laugh about. We have also gotten to know our regular cab driver Bolivar who has two teenage daughters and a 5-year old son (God help him.) Language is always a challenge, but we are learning more words daily and we know enough for basic communication. We enjoy being in the country. The town of Otavalo is about 10 minutes by rocky road away, so we usually order food at the restaurant and enjoy hikes around the countryside.
We have had to modify our itinerary to slow down a bit. We cut out our 4th leg in Cotapaxi at a Hacienda and trimmed down our 3rd leg in Quito. Kieran got sick twice on our way to Otavalo either due to the food or car-sickness (it’s a very windy/rocky road) and traveling has been wearing him out as well. I tend to want to travel at a much faster pace than we should. We were also a bit spooked by the 6.7 and 6.8 earthquakes yesterday. In light of these things, we will now be at La Luna until Sunday when we will head to Quito for our final two nights.

Ecuador lies directly on the equator and the sunrise/sunset are almost always the same with very little variation. The sun rises at approximately 6 a.m. and sets at approximately 6 p.m. It is certainly different than what those of us in the northern hemisphere are used to, i.e. long summer days and short winter days. Ecuador is approximately the size of Nevada and it has a rich and complex culture. The cuisine is excellent and in our location Trout and Beef are plentiful. In our past travels to other countries, the livestock has not appeared particularly healthy or well fed, not so here in Ecuador. The cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, etc. are all very happy and healthy, it’s probably due to the climate, which has less to do with direction north/south and more to do with elevation and the Mountains which have their own microclimates. The sun is very strong, even on cloudy days and plants get plenty of it. In the sun, it can feel very warm even though it rarely gets into the 80s and at night it generally dips into the 50s. Vegetation grows everywhere and the most beautiful flowers pop up from even very tiny plants. Beef here is some of the best I’ve ever had. Tonight we will dine at a Hacienda north of Otavalo and tomorrow we plan on seeing the Mohanda Crater Lakes.

We are happy and blessed to be able to travel and make memories while exploring more of our beautiful planet and meeting such wonderful people. We are grateful that damage during the earthquakes was minimal, please keep the country in your thoughts/prayers as they are still recovering from the 7.8 quake from last month which killed over 650 and destroyed thousands of structures.

Arrival in Quito & First Day

We are in Quito! We arrived at the airport at 10:15 CST. The timezone is the same! We thought it would be EST, but it's not. We got through customs and immigration quickly and it took about 25 minutes to get to our lodging. We are staying at the Tumbaco B&B. It is an excellent secluded lodge in the outskirts of Quito. We slept until 8 this morning and had a great breakfast of eggs, fruit, juice, bread and jams. Then Kieran and I played a bit on the grounds and on the playset and in a tree house. Our host's name is Gerrit and he coordinated a taxi to take us to the top of a Quito trail and pick us up at the bottom. The trail is a former train path that once went from Quito to Ibarra in the north. Now it is used for biking and hiking and offered some excellent views of the valley. Good thing it was downhill, Kieran didn't walk much of it. He said that he doesn't like to walk, but he really likes to climb rocks, so we had a good time climbing in several "caves" and up rocks. We then went to the Cumbaya plaza and had pizza which Kieran ate well. We had a nice nap and tonight we will go back to Cumbaya for dinner and then come back for the rest of the evening.

Don't Feed the Sheep!

Throughout our trip we've seen lots of farm animals - in the countryside, in small towns, on the sides of roads, etc. Yesterday we had the opportunity to make friends with a couple of sheep (ovejas). While hiking at Tipon (an archaeological site/ruins) we came across two sheep. Aren't they cute?

I immediately wanted a picture with them and began looking for a way to get up to the next terrace. I was pleased with myself when I reached the next terrace and went to greet the sheep. They were a little skittish. Being the resourceful travelers we are, we decide to entice them with some snacks in order to get a great picture. Here we are in the shameful act... we fed them peanuts and crackers. 

Turns out they loved them! So much so that they wanted more. We figured we should probably chill out and not give them more food than necessary, besides we had already gotten our pictures. So we tossed them a couple of crackers and climbed to the next terrace to sit down and have a snack ourselves. We used some Purell and began to munch on our snacks. 

Less than five minutes had gone by and something caught our attention to our right - the sheep. At the end of one of the terraces, the same one we were sitting and dining on, there stood the two sheep. They looked at us for a minute, heads cocked to one side and let out a long "BAAAHHH" and began charging toward us. We're laughing and shocked and wondering how these dang sheep found us. They reached us and started begging for more. This time we put away the snacks and decided that we would have to get farther away from these sheep. We climb two terraces this time. The steps we used each time were widely spaced rocks - not true steps, so we knew that the sheep could not climb them. We also step back farther away from the edge so the sheep cannot see us. As we are ascending, I'm looking down and the sheep are already looking for a way to get to us, bleating the whole time, as if to say, "Come back with our peanuts" or "We know how to find you!" 

We pause for a few seconds, waiting, trying to figure out where we should head next to loose these clever little creatures. Eric suggests we head to the right and we take a few steps only to run into these two sheep - AGAIN! They say, "BAAAHHH, BAAAHHH" and charge at us again. This time we have to break the bad news. We really can't keep feeding them. We put the snacks away two terraces ago and we weren't about to bring them back out. They sniff us and follow us and beg for more snacks. We really feel like jerks by this point. We can't really get them to stop following us, but we decide not to run anymore - they truly thought it was a game! 

They dejectedly follow us around begging here and there, but clearly see the end of this relationship approaching. Their pace slows and they show less and less interest in us. 

"Thanks for nothing!" 

"We're through!"

So we learned a valuable lesson in why you shouldn't feed wild animals yesterday. We've repented and vow not to let it happen again. Sorry for the messy break-up little guys.... and then another family walks by and in the distance we hear, "BAAAAHHH!" 

Unique Cultural Traits

During our time in Peru, we've been able to learn about a couple of different "cultural quirks". I wanted to share them here with you.

There have been times when we were riding in our taxi (in Cusco and the Sacred Valley) and we noticed these long poles (almost like bamboo) with a plastic red bag or flag on the end. I first noticed this in Ollantaytambo, but we saw it over and over again one day on one of our taxi rides through the countryside. Eric asked our taxi driver and he explained that it is a sign that "Chicha" is available or for sale. Chicha is a fermented drink typically made of corn or grain that is most commonly alcoholic. There is a variety called chicha morada made from purple corn that is non-alcoholic. Now that we know what the signal is, it seems that there are houses and shops all over the place offering the drink. Sometimes there is hardly a house or shop standing, but there is still a red bag on the end of a pole.

The other interesting thing I noticed in Ollanta was what I initially thought were cows (vacas) on the roof of many of the houses. Then I noticed that some of them had other items along with the cows. So I asked Winn, the hostess of our B & B what they meant. It turns out that they are torros (bulls) and sometimes there are other items accompanying them - crosses and ladders most commonly. Winn explained that when they first opened their B & B they had a ceremony when they put the torros on the roof. In one they put Pisco and in the other cerveza (beer). This sort of "house blessing" ceremony is said to make the household strong, whether that means financial gain or fertility, or is simply a good luck charm. It is said that it is a blending of spiritual beliefs - both native and Catholic/Christian. After speaking to Winn about it I did some research online and found that the ladder is to ensure that the inhabitants can make their way to heaven after death. There is a great deal of information online about what each of these items can/do symbolize. It was a neat thing to learn about. Just one of the fun things about travel - learning about other cultural traditions! 

Pisac

Yesterday was great, we slept in a bit and headed to the Pisac Sunday market for the better part of the day. The Sunday market at Pisac is supposedly one of the great highlights of the Sacred Valley as it draws hundreds of vendors from all over the Cuzco area to sell to locals and tourists alike. 

We were able to snag a taxi for 35 soles (roughly $12) to take us to the city, which is about 45 minutes one way. I'll try to take some pictures of Taxis tomorrow, this one was probably the most rickety we've had so far. Nearly all of the cars here are from Japan. I don't think that I've seen one US-made vehicle. Nearly all of the Taxis are either Toyota Corollas or little Daewoo go-karts basically. Yesterday, we were in a go-kart that had tape holding parts of the door together. It was great fun. 

Anyway, we arrived at the market without problems. The market was HUGE, it must have taken up a 4 x 4 city-block space, with a few buildings in between. Honestly, it was overwhelming. We walked around for about 45 minutes, constantly getting asked if we wanted to buy something. It's weird, they ALWAYS ask Amy if she wants something, not me. It took a while, but I finally managed to get my feet wet with bartering. I wanted to get Amy some gourds that were painted like owls... the lady asked for 80 soles (about $28) for 3 gourds and I was able to get her down to 50 ($18), but I still don't think I got that great of a deal. We bought a few other odds and ends, but nothing terribly exciting until the end. 

We had lunch at a little cafe behind the market, Amy ordered the chicken plate, I ordered the steak plate. Mine looked/tasted like salisbury steak and came with fresh potato fries, veggies, and rice. Amy's came with the same. It was quite good. During our meal we had decided that we weren't any good at bartering and we were going to head back to the hotel. 

On our way out, Amy saw some really cool masks at a brick and mortar shop where we bought three very cool masks to take home, no bartering necessary (they were cheaper than at the market.)

Pisac

Pisac Ruins - shaped like a Condor

Pisac

Beautiful garden courtyard in Pisac

Beautiful garden courtyard in Pisac

Beautiful garden courtyard in Pisac

Pisac Markets

Pisac Markets

Pisac Markets

Pisac Markets