Celebrating Family and Carnaval, all Around Ecuador

Ever since my sister Julie visited Ecuador last summer, she's been saying she wanted to come back.  So, in February, she stole away for two weeks and this time, brought my niece Allison.  With only a little direction regarding their desire to enjoy a little culture, a little nature and a little of my family, I put together a 10-day itinerary for a fantastic "girl's trip"!  Come along for a quick photo summary of our great vacation! 

Ibarra and my Ecuadorian Family

Julie and Allison spent their first four days with my friends and family in Ibarra.  We wandered my daily paths, visited my schools, met many of my fellow teachers and Peace Corps Volunteers, and hung out with my Ecuadorian family.  They were amazed at how connected I was around town; it seemed everybody we met shouted a greeting to "Teacher Becky"!

  

Julie loved cooking and learning about plants from Margarita, while Allison (who studied marine biology) loved surprising all my cousins with underwater photos from her scuba diving adventures.  

Since Julie's last trip to Ecuador, she has been busy doing some research on behalf of
Margarita.  Julie, being an artist herself, has hatched a plan to sell some of Margarita's
beautifully created Christmas decorations in the US.  So, with Margarita's consent, Julie
packed up many of her creations to carry them back to the US and start selling them in
craft shows and on-line.  Margarita is thrilled at the idea of becoming an international artist!  

Stay-tuned for more about this future business venture!

On another day, Jose took us to a small community festival where he was being honored for electrifying their village.  When we arrived, we were whisked off to the community center where they served all of us a special lunch... including the three Gringas that arrived with the Angamarca Family!  Then, during the lunch, several community members arrived to bestow gifts on Jose and his family: two large fruit baskets and a chicken to take home!  Margarita just rolled her eyes when she saw the chicken.  I was surprised, and inquired if she had ever received a chicken before.  She turned to me and said "Becky, this happens all the time.  We just drop the chicken off at the grandparent's house before we get home.  That's why you've never seen one at the house before!"  Well, I thought it was great fun to be gifted a live chicken! 

But thanks to 4H and a childhood love of chickens, Allison was the only person
who knew how to hold a chicken and eat her platter of chicken at the same time.  

While Jose went off to give his appreciations to the community, 

us Gringas loved all the attention for the Angamarca Family!  

 We also spent a memorable day at nearby Laguna Cuicocha, 

and the Indigenous Market in Otavalo where Alli found instuments, 

jewelry, paintings, linens, t-shirts and a scarf to take home.  

She couldn't take home the special sorbet: Helado de Paila!

Then, we spent a memorable evening at a lookout over the city of Ibarra, while Allison
entertained us all with her musicality.  My Ecuadorian family and friends had no idea
what Alli was singing about, but they sure appreciated her beautiful voice!  

The Intag Valley and Mindo (more on the Intag Valley in the next post)

My favorite part of traveling with my sister and her family is that they're willing
to ride a bus for hours... it's all part of the adventure in Ecuador! 

Mindo... just the mention of the name sets all Ecuadorians and visitors into a dreamy 

sigh for this vacation paradise in the cloud forest.  Mindo is always on my touring 

circuit because the waterfalls, butterflies, adventure sports and beautiful forests offer 

a little something for everyone!  

After a great day exploring all Mindo had to offer, we opted
for an evening of Scrabble by the river.  Perfect!

Cuenca
After Mindo, we flew to the central-southern part of Ecuador to visit the colonial city of Cuenca.

On our first morning there, we took a walking tour of the historic city center and met a tinsmith... just like Julie.  She had a great time learning a few techniques from him and shopping his treasures.

We also went to the famous hat museum in Cuenca and learned all about 

the history of the Panama Hat... which has always been made in Ecuador! 

Afterwards, we spent a lot of time enjoying the many churches 

and the Colonial architecture of the city. 

By this time, it was Thursday night of Carnaval weekend, and we headed out to see 

how the people of Cuenca celebrated... with espuma!  Espuma comes in a can and it 

smells and  feels like shaving cream.  Carnaval revelers can get really aggressive, 

spraying it in your face or in your ears.  Allison loved the party-in-the-streets and all the fun!

The next day, was our designated "nature day" and we spent it hiking in the beautiful Cajas National Park.  Because this park is situated at over 11,000 feet, we wandered slow and breathed deeply to enjoy all the area had to offer.  On our way back to town, Julie treated us to an evening at a spa complete with mud baths, a chinese "torture" box, and drinks in the hot-tub.  No pictures of the spa, but what a great memory for us all!

Ingapirca

In the central highlands of Ecuador lies an ancient astronomical complex created by the Cañari people.  Because it was such a spectacular site, when the Incas arrived to take over the region, they decided to expand on this unique site rather than destroy it.  This is Ingapirca.  It's Ecuador's only Incan archeological site, similar to Peru's Machu Picchu with a fraction of the crowds!  Ingapirca is thought to have been an important site for rituals as well as home to the high priests of the community.  In this site, it is interesting to see the archeological remains of both the Cañari and Incan constructed temples.  Historically, the Cañari used mortar to bind rocks together, but the Incans cut the rocks to precisely fit together.  At this site, there exists a Moon and a Sun Temple used for ritual ceremonies, especially during the time of the solstices when the sunlight shines precisely through a doorway to light up the temple of the Sun.  We had a great day exploring and learning about the history and symbolism of this beautiful place. 

Celebrating Carnaval in Guaranda

In the last few days of our trip, we bussed back up the spine of Ecuador and headed out to the small city of Guaranda, a mountainous town famous for its annual celebration of Carnaval!  Ofcourse, Carnaval is celebrated for several days all over Ecuador, but if a traditional celebration is what you crave, then heading to Guaranda is just the ticket.  Despite a lot of rain and fog, we enjoyed "playing Carnaval" with all the locals.  They too, like their cans of espuma.  But even more so, the locals of Guaranda like to shower unknowing guests with direct spray from their garden hoses and buckets of water dropped from their roofs.  We learned to pile on our raincoats and laugh at all the good fun!

 The streets of Guaranda were all decked out and 

the parade was not to be missed!  

Ecuador, during Carnaval, is extra, extra colorful!

 After the parade, there was lots of music and revelry in the streets.  Allison was armed 

for the party!  She and a local kid had a great time tagging each other all evening long. 

 It really didn't matter who won!  

Great party!  Great fun!  Always great to have family in Ecuador!

Quilotoa- the Heartbeat of Ecuador

A note to my readers: 

If you've been reading or listening to any news, you might already know that all Peace Corps volunteers around the world were evacuated from their host countries this week and sent back to the United States.  I'm now in the suburbs of Chicago, trying to self-quarentine and deal with this new reality.  I'm sad and exhausted from the ordeal of being ripped from my beloved Ecuadorian home, and I'm not yet ready to talk about it.  I'm going to continue my line-up of posts for the next few weeks, and by then, I'll be able to articulate my epic journey back to the U.S.  I promise, you will read about it soon enough.  

*******

In the central highlands of Ecuador lies a mysterious blue-green lake, enshrouded in mist, pounded by the high-elevation paramo winds, and surrounded by lush patchwork fields of corn, quinoa, barley and legumes.  This is Quilotoa.  

I've written about this crater lake before in my posts as I've stood at the visitor look-out and smiled for photos with my guests.  I've traveled around the region by bus, taxi and milk-truck.  And, I've even stayed at several hostals, relishing in the swapping of stories with Quilotoa hikers.  They were "doing" Quilotoa, and I hung onto their every word.  To "do" Quilotoa, is to walk for two or three days from hostal to hostal, each day hauling yourself up into higher elevations, until finally you reach the crater rim and can peer down into the shimmering lake below.  This is an experience I have longed for during my past two years, and I finally grabbed the opportunity in February.  For this hike, I asked Laurel, a favorite always-happy Peace Corps friend, to join me and she quickly agreed!

To "do" Quilotoa, hikers start out at Sigchos for a three-day hike, or Islinivi for a two-day
hike.  We started in Islinivi.  After pampering ourselves at a lovely mountain hostal and
eating a yummy breakfast, we headed off into the steeply mountainous countryside.  We
were mostly following a paper map from the hostal, and relied on our Maps.me app as a
back-up plan.  The trail is not always clear.  Sometimes you follow a dirt road, sometimes,
a cow path.  Every once in awhile you use a human-trail which cuts across a farm field or a
log bridge to cross a stream.  There are rarely any signs.  The farmers (mostly Indigenous)
have been using these paths for centuries as they need to travel from town to town.  In the
last 15 years, a few roads have criss-crossed the region, but bus service is still sparse,
and gas and cars are not something most locals can afford.  However, the roads did bring
tourists to the lake and thanks to entries in hiking guidebooks, it has become vogue in the
last decade for backpackers to travel these ancient trails.  Invariably, some hikers get lost
in-route and the locals are patient and kind to usher you back out of their farm field and
onto the correct path.  

And so it went, early on the first day, Laurel and I got completely lost!  We missed a turnoff with a bridge across this river and we unknowingly took a trail heading in the opposite direction toward Sigchos.  While walking and re-walking this distance, trying to find a way across this river, we met so many wonderful locals: the woman high in the hills who was surprised to see hikers so far off the path, a couple who eagerly showed us their new hostal and gardens (in the middle of nowhere) hoping we would recommend it to our friends, and the old man walking down the road with a lolly- pop in his mouth.  He was so happy to talk to us and help us on our way.  

Everyone was friendly, and it was so beautiful.  We had a delightful day laughing at all of our errors.

By the time we reached our next destination, Chugchilan, the fog and rain had crept in
and we were looking forward to a hot shower and a glass of wine by the wood stove.
Our evening did not disappoint.  When you travel by hostal, you can meet the most
interesting people from interesting places who have lived, worked, and traveled all over
the world.  Anything I have experienced in my life is a drop in the bucket compared
to the experiences of their lives.  I really do revel in these conversations. 

The next morning, refreshed and ready, Laurel and I headed out with our 

hostal-mates, Peter from Poland, as well as Leni and Lukas from the Czech Republic. 

It was a wonderfully crisp morning filled with potential for a good adventure!

Just down the road, we met up with several other hikers, some of whom we had befriended 

at our first hostal.  They were hitching a ride up a short section of road in a dump truck.  

Everyone thought that was great fun!

We continued to hike together in a group (less chance of getting lost!) and sweated 

through the steep ascents of the region while savoring the views. 

We met lots of farmers and furry friends along the way.  I even found some local kids to dance with.  They thought I was crazy!

We stopped at a "cafe" to have some mint tea with the owner.
Here I am with my my new friends Julia, Kara and Maurice. 

Up, up, up until we finally reached the rim of the lake immersed in swirling fog. 

It was great fun to experience this day with hikers from around the world.  Together we
represented Sweden, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Australia, Canada and the US.
Some are here in Ecuador working, volunteering or just traveling.  Others are passing through
as they are living, working or touring in all of South America.  English and laughter
was the common language for us all. 

It felt like a good accomplishment to reach the rim, but in reality we still had more than three kilometers to hike around the rim of the lake to get to our final destination.  It was magical.

With some Googling, I learned that this volcano only collapsed about 600 years ago after 

a massive earthquake.  Since then, it has filled with water and the blue-green color comes 

from dissolved minerals in the rock.  

I love this series of photos.  I think it sums up Ecuador as it comes-of-age on the
tourist stage: modern backpackers and traditional travelers sharing the path together.
For me, the region of Quilotoa is the best example of this, and the heartbeat of it all. 

Thanks Laurel, for sharing such a great trip with me!  As you are heading back to the States
and onto other adventures, I hope we can meet up again someday!