Otovalo and Ibarra

Hello Readers!!

We´ve had very little internet access in our last few towns and very little time so we will update the blog separately but we might overlap a bit. Additional pictures will have to come later because I don´t have them with me. This is lunch at the hotel in Otavalo courtesy of one of our Ibarra Rotarian hosts.

Following Quito we were driven by Captain Carlos to Otavalo where we were hosted in the most wonderful hostel. Our rooms were on the top floor and looked out over a courtyard. It was an oasis in the middle of the city called Hostal Geradio. After dropping off our bags and having lunch we were accompanied by Carlos and Pablo to an active volcano, Cotacachi. There is a lake in a crater and we took a boat ride around it. We saw bubbles rising in the lake and the boat driver said it indicates that the volcano is still active. This is a picture of Bev on the lake and another of me with the volcano in the background.

The best part of the boat ride was the ¨special¨volcano juice they serve you after. This is one time where it´s OK that we don´t understand all of the language. I think it was moonshine mixed with chardonnay and sugar. Tasted a little like paint thinner but it sure cleared the sinuses. Ben was a trooper and helped us finish. We moved on to a small town that specializes in leather products for some shopping. Back to the hotel where we had dinner and found out that the owner´s son Danny will be going on a GSE exchange to Austria towards the end of the month. We were invited to join Pablo and Danny at a local bar to listen to some traditional Andean music. The music was wonderful and the video likely doesn´t do it justice.

The next day we were able to meet the owner of the hotel we had lunch at yesterday. He is a Rotarian from Ibarra and we visited over breakfast. Afterwards, we were turned loose in the famous Otavalo Indian market. Trades and crafts from all over the country are brought into town for the market every Saturday. We haggled for some good deals and tried out some musical instruments. This is a must see if you´re ever near Otavalo.

We moved on to Ibarra after the market to meet with the Rotarians at their beautiful character building. They also have a prosthetics lab on the premesis where they have all the tools to build, fit and assist patients with new arms and legs. What a fantastic project!! The club took us out for some fantastic ice cream and then we were off to be tourists again.

This time Danny´s dad was our own personal tour guide and we headed off to the Milk Tree and Condor park. My camera ate all my photos but I´m hoping Janene and Ben can edit some in later. Condor park had a bird show and Ben and Janene both held a hawk.



Afterwards we went to the waterfall. This was a hike through the woods to an amazing waterfall. Then a hike up the stairs to the top of the waterfall, then a crawl through a dark tunnel to the river on the top of the waterfall.

That night we headed out for Pizza and who should be playing at our local pizza joint but the same band from last night! Otavallo was a great place and we had a wonderful time there. We´ll keep updating as we are able but for now, I´m off to bed.