Walking back to Otavalo after the Raptor show.

January 8, 2009

This lovely child shyly greeted us at the entrance to the Condor Park, 5 km outside Otavalo on top of an isolated hill.  As there were no other vehicles in sight we asked the taxi driver that brought us there to come back in 2 hours to pick us up, but he never returned. I guess the $3 fare wasn't enough to entice him back. Turned out to be the best thing for us as the walk back  down to Otavalo was incredibly beautiful.

The arena for the raptor show overlooking everything.

This is a rehab center for injured birds, 90 percent of the birds that come here are released back to the wild.

Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle

American Kestrel in foreground and Aplomado Falcon in the background.

Aplomado Falcon

Janet and Ian were huddled in this Adobe courtyard trying to stay out of the wind.  Janet took this photo of me returning from a fruitless expedition to find some hot tea.

Making the best of a windy waiting-for-the taxi-that-never-came.

Note handmade mud walls.

Condor in captivity.

We start walking down the hill. The taxi in the distance is someone else's and the last car we saw until we were back in Otavalo.

Farming barefoot.

 Volcan Imbabura. 

An older woman bringing a very large bunch of sticks up the hill, very hardy! No rest home for her.

Stunning views of Lago San Pablo. It's impossible to capture how grand everything looked in a small photo.

Some kind of three sisters growing system, the vine wrapped it's way around the corn and another plant was just starting. Don't know what the purple flowers vine plant is called...

Lago San Pablo.

A determined shepherdess coming for us, asking for money because we took a photo of her pigs. Even after we gave her some money she would not allow photos of her. I shot this from my hip before the conversation started. In Spanish.

Same woman from previous photo walking up the hill with her flock of pigs and sheep.

Tree tomato tree.

The actual tree tomato fruit, makes a great juice, but Ian didn't like it at all.

Our destination after a lovely 2 hour walk: Otavalo.

A modern home, maybe condos?

Close up of a more traditional home in Otavalo.

Driving North to Otavalo

Giant Hummingbird, photo by Ian. Note the size of this largest of all hummingbirds compared to the barbed wire.

About this Post:

Tuesday, January 6th, 2008 Janet, Ian and I drove with Fausto to Otavalo on the Panamerican Highway. We stopped at many places on the way, a lovely drive through the Avenue of the Volcanoes.

 Today, January 18th:

Arriving home last Thursday night to Boston after an easy day of travel, we found snow on the ground and a taxi with a partition between us and the driver. $45 for a 15 minute drive, OMG culture shock! In Ecuador it would have cost $5, and we would have talked with the driver...

Joe came home on Friday for a week as there are no hotel rooms in DC due to the festivities of the Inauguration, great timing for us. Luke, Ian's friend from Maine arrived on Friday for a few days of birding with Ian, and they were so lucky to find the rare Ivory Gull at Cape Ann, specifically Eastern Point in Gloucester.

 Ian's Ivory Gull images: http://picasaweb.google.com/goshawk227/IvoryGull#

I'm happy to be home and be with Joe again, looking forward to seeing friends this week. A great quote from my friend Susan  "I love the experience of returning home from far away places:  the familiar is brand new for a few bright moments."

Ian and I did indeed have a most excellent Ecuadorian adventure, it was fantastic and I hope to go back again many times!

I'll post the rest of our trip in the next 2 weeks, Ecuador has so many fascinating images to offer, I just need to edit the 8000 or so pictures into manageable groupings.

Janet and Fausto at the place we found the Giant Hummingbird, just outside of Quito.

The runway location of the new Quito airport, 45 minutes north of the old one, on the Panamerican Highway. Due to open in 2010.

Janet happily birding.

Landscape just before the crater.

Puluahua Crater, an very old volcano that is now a lovely pastoral home to a small village.

Locals enjoying the view from above the crater.

Close-up inside the crater.

A restaurant overlooking the crater, for special occasions.

The donkey turned his back on us at the last minute. The donkeys can be hired to take you down to the bottom of the crater. Photo by Janet. Ian, me and Fausto.

Street vendor, in the highway, selling Guabas.

We bought all this for a dollar!

Inside the Guaba, you eat the white fuzzy stuff, kinda sweet, and spit out the black seed.

More yummy fruit, sucking mangos. Para chupar. 

Delicious!

Chirimoya also sold on the way to Otavalo, a great drive sampling all kinds of food.

A different Equator stop than Ian and I did a month ago, much less touristy, nice views and we were the only ones there.

Janet, Ian, and Fausto checking the GPS to find the exact Equator.

This area is known for it's flower growing, exported all over the world.

Cayambe is known for it's Bizcochos, melt in your mouth little morsels of dough resembling pie crust. A big hit with all of us, too.

Ian checking out the Bizcochos.

Scenery as we approached Otavalo.