¿Puedo ir a Baños? - Day 2

Because this entry is way behind schedule, I'm going to try to make it brief. Our second day in Baños, we rented bicycles and basically coasted down the valley in the direction of Puyo. Along the way, we rode in a red metal basket across the ravine over a fantastic waterfall, hiked down to stand directly behind the most powerful waterfall I've ever seen, had incredibly fresh delicious trout, then finally hiked down to one more water fall where we were able to swim in it. The amount of elevation that we lost during the ride was substantial, so I must admit that I was not ar all disappointed when we were driven back to Baños in a bus. Pictures ensue.

The red basket that took us across the ravine.

Standing behind the waterfall.

The same waterfall from the front.

The best trout I've ever had.

We went to a lower portion of this waterfall to take a dip.

Our third day involved rappelling down waterfalls. I will have to post this one out of order when I get access to the pictures from that day.

¿Puedo ir a Baños? - Day 1

Friday, 12 August 2011

Last weekend, we spent the three days and two nights in Baños. Many of you who remember anything from high school Spanish class might recall that el baño is the bathroom. Remember that the word is derived from the act of bathing, not some of the other unmentionable actions that take place in that room, and, in the case of Baños, Ecuador, is in reference to the hot springs found there. Baños is a small town situated between a volcano and a river. It is surrounded by many waterfalls within a close distance and is at a lower elevation than Quito, somewhere between the highest parts of the Andes and the Amazon jungle. Upon arrival, we met Juan, our guide for the weekend, who was very dedicated and made sure that we all had a great time.

The first thing we did was go in search of lunch. Juan asked us what we were interested in, and we told him we wanted something authentically local. Juan said there was nothing more local than cuy. If you read my last post on Otavalo, you will remember that cuy is the local word for Guinea Pig and is a popular delicacy in Ecuador. We found a local spot right in front the the central market that specialized in cuy. In fact, I'm pretty sure cuy was the only thing on their menu. The cuy was cooked whole then chopped up into smaller portions for individual plates served with potatoes and rice. I believe I was served the right half of the little guy's chest. It was actually very good; it tasted like the dark meat of a chicken. The only drawback was that there was very little meat for a lot of effort.

Several cuy being cooked on the grill.

Marvelous presentation.

After the meal, we walked through the city and visited their main cathedral. One very interesting fact about it is that many of the stones that make up the cathedral are poreus volcanic rock. The cathedral was built in its particular location because of a vision of Mary seen during a volcanic eruption. Inside the church, there was a painting depicting this event.

After the church, we headed away from the volcano toward the other side of town, where we found a tall ravine carved out by the river which flowed down below. From a bridge connecting the center of Baños to the other side of the river, we could look back at the city whose northern most neighborhoods are sitting atop a cliff, which made for a fairly stunning view. From the bridge looking down, we saw this . . .

As you can see, there is a quaint old Indiana Jones style bridge spanning the ravine. I really wanted to get down to it and stand on it, but I just couldn't see any way. It was simply too far down. Then I was informed that there was one way that I could get down there. The stated cost was $20, but I only had $19. Fortunately, I was able to talk the nice man into accepting that amount. When it was explained to me exactly how they planned to get me down there, it seemed a bit extreme, but one only gets to stand on bridges like that so often . . .

This is the part where I nearly lost my cuy.

Almost there . . .

We have touchdown!

So I finally got to stand on the bridge. We had to dodge gaping holes and avoid the planks that seemed to bend and creek too much, but it was worth it. Later I discovered that there was a path down into the canyon. This got me pretty upset when I realized that instead of paying those guys $19, I could have walked down for FREE! Oh well, live and learn I guess. If I ever come back to Baños I'll just take the free way down.

After the bridge, we hiked up to a ridge on the eastern end of Baños. From there, we could just barley make out the summit of the volcano between the clouds. A view of this summit from Baños is masked by the foot hills because the volcano is so close to the city. Also, we got to look out west over the small town of Baños. It was easy to make out the river to the north and the base of volcano on the south end of the town.

With a little zoom action, one can see the San Francisco bridge off of which I jumped.

We spent a good bit of time exploring the top then returned back to our hostel. For the evening, we rode in a Chivas, which was a stadium seating style bus open on both sides complete with blaring music and flashing lights. We took the Chivas up to the same lookout spot and tried to listen to a young man explaining geography to us while a group of young people talked over him. The we drank watered down, non-alcoholic canelazo, a drink which is normally very tasty and very popular here in Ecuador. Then, after watching some campfire comedy that none of us understood, we jumped back in the Chivas and rode ears-plugged, eyes-closed back to our hostel to end the evening. It was an anti-climactic ending to a fantastic day.

Otavalo

Again, I must acknowledge that too much time has passed since my last entry. We just returned from Baños, which just might have been the most exhilarating weekend of my life. But first, I need to add an entry about last weekend's Saturday excursion to Otavalo.

Saturday, 6 August 2011

Otavalo is most famous for its open air markets. These markets are regularly open on Saturdays, and the locals wear traditional clothes while selling a variety of interesting products. The first of the two markets we saw was the animal market. This was a pretty fascinating experience. It was not a meat market; it was a live animal market, full of interesting sights, sounds, and smells. Probably, the most dominant sound was that of squealing pigs. It seemed that the pigs, unlike the other animals at the market, had not accepted their fate of being bought, sold and eaten by superior beings. There were a few pigs that were too rambunctious for the children responsible for them, running around and giving their owners copious amounts of trouble. The most notable pig sold at this market was the guinea pig. The guinea pig, known here as cuy, has been eaten for centuries by the peoples of the Andes mountains. At the market in Otavalo, we saw many people, a good percentage of which were small children, carrying mesh sacks filled with live cuyes. When the time came, a cuy would be brought out of the sack, haggled over, and passed on to its new owner. Apart from being the most adorable food you'll ever eat, cuy is also high in protein and low in fat and cholesterol. It is also very popular among locals for the fact that it is easy to raise in an urban or rural environment. Because none of us particularly wanted to bring home a live animal as a souvenir, we moved on to spend most of our time at the clothes, crafts, art, fruit, and pretty much everything else market. There, I bought a cheap Quena, which I will explain greater detail in a another entry.

After our time at the markets, we hiked up to the Peguche Waterfall. There were a couple bridges where one could get really close and feel the spray, but the real treat came when we hiked up to the top of the waterfall. The waterfall flows out of a small cave where the water isn't too dangerous. To get back into the cave, we crawled on our hands trough a small tunnel that led to a ledge where we could remove our shoes and prepare to enter the water. Once in the water, we walked back no more that forty feet to another waterfall pouring into the cave. At the time, this was the most intimate I had been with a waterfall. For more Alex-waterfall bonding moments, wait for the entry on Baños.

Finally, still wet from the waterfall, we continued on to a El Parque Condor to view rare birds of prey. We arrived just in time for a presentation in an auditorium designed like a Greek theater. The whole park was on top of a hill overlooking an expansive valley, which was the backdrop for the the presentation. The presenter, whom I believe preferred to be called Lord of the Wings, could release the birds to fly out over the valley and return back to his mighty hand. One of the two eagles we saw definitely stayed out long enough that many of us though he wasn't coming back. Eventually he did, and we were all able to breathe easy. The finale involved allowing members of the audience to hold some of the smaller falcons, which Steve made sure to participate in. After that, we packed up the van and returned back to Quito just in time for dinner.

This is pretty much the largest pig I have ever seen.

This sacks are not filled with potatoes. Those are cuyes!

The Peguche Waterfall

You can see me in the grey shirt heading back into the cave. I am about where the small tunnel lets out.

Lord of the Wings releasing one of the eagles.

El TelefériQo

Wednesday, 3 August 2011

Quito is situated in the Andes Mountains in a valley that stretches north to south. This valley is home to the Guayllambamba River and is surrounded by volcanoes on many sides. The valley floor is approximately 9,200 feet above sea level. This makes Quito the worlds second highest national capital after La Paz, Bolivia. (When I first heard this fact, my instinct was to ask, "What about Kathmandu, Nepal?" It turns out that Kathmandu is not even half as high as Quito, weighing in at only 4,200 ft in elevation - yes Elisa, in Salt Lake City, you are currently situated at a higher elevation than Kathmandu.) The Vida Verde School where we are taking classes and the homes of our host families are all on the eastern edge of the valley. Through our classroom window, we can look west across the valley and see Pichincha, the closest of the volcanoes to the city of Quito.

Wednesday, in the morning before our clases started at one in the afternoon, Emily, fellow member of the ChACE program, and Stephane, our new friend from Germany who is also learning Spanish at Vida Verde, set out to experience the city's famous TelefériQo. We took a taxi, who by all accounts most certainly overcharged us gringos, to the lower station of the TelefériQo at the base of the Pichincha volcano. The TelefériQo took us to a ridge known as Cruz Loma in a cápsula. In the capsule, we were joined by a man carrying garbage bags to collect the garbage from above and bring it back down. I feel sorry for anyone who had to ride down with the garbage itself!

Once we arrived at Cruz Loma we were able to see magnificent views of the city and the surrounding geography. We were not far from the summit of Rucu Pichincha. (Unfortunately, we did not have time to summit before class. That will have to be another days adventure.) Rucu Pichincha is one of pair of twin peaks that make up the Pichincha Volcano. Rucu Pichincha is dormant while Guagua Pichincha is active. Guagua Pichincha is 283 feet higher than Rucu Pichincha but is separated from the city by Rucu Pichincha. Guagua Pichincha has erupted as recently as 2006, but all lava was directed away from the city because of the presence of Rucu Pichincha. Quito did experience enough ash to close down the airpot for the day. Across the valley to the southeast sits Cotopaxi. While many here claim that Cotopaxi, with an elevation of 19,347 feet, is the tallest active volcano in the world, a little bit of internet research reveals that this title belongs to Ojos del Salado in Chile, the summit of which has henceforth been added to my personal bucket list. Also on the bucket list is a burro ride that is offered from Cruz Loma to Rucu Pichincha. For this adventure, which can be either half an hour or an hour long depending on your appetite, you are outfitted with a traditional poncho and sombrero. When this happens, I guarantee there will be pictures. Overall, this was a great way to get a layout of the valley. Bellow are some photos from the day.

Our initial landing at Cruz Loma, about 13,500 ft.

From the backside of Cruz Loma, we see the peak of Rucu Pichincha, 15,413 ft.

Cotopaxi, taken from the TelefériQo while looking southeast across the valley.

It is the glory of Quito the discovery of the Amazon River.

First, I must apologize for the glaring gap in time between my last post and now. To make a short story short, I finished my time at Notre Dame, turned in all of my work, witnessed the marriage of my good friends Andy and Quinn, spent some time in Chicago, and caught a flight to South America. When we arrived in Quito, one of our group was help back at security in the Quito airport because of a small tear in his passport and is now back in Chicago waiting on the creation of a new one with which he should be able to enter the country and reunite with our group. Ciaran, we miss you and we all wish you could be here with us. It's notthe same without you.

Today we visited the old colonial center. There we found the the cathedral of Quito. With our entrance fee of $1.50 (yes, the currency of Ecuador is the United States Dollar) we received a guided tour which we elected to hear in Spanish. David managed to translate for Emily, who is still in the beginning stages of learning Spanish. Only slightly more advanced is where I found myself. I had to focus really hard to understand. There were definitely parts that I missed, but overall, it was worth it to give myself the challenge, even if I don't know everything about the cathedral of Quito. I did learn that there was once a bishop in Quito that discovered that the Eucharistic wine had been poisoned. It had already been consecrated when he discovered this, and because it would be wrong to disrespect the blood of Jesus, he drank it anyway and died on the altar. That is certainly the toughest priest I've ever heard of.

After the tour, we went for lunch. I had a dish called "salchipapas." This dish is comprised of a sausage "salchicha" resting atop a pile of french fries "papas fritas" accompanied by a small salad. In class, we have been learning about all of the unique fruits here. Bananas are an especially big business. The richest man in Ecuador is a Banana Baron. I believe this title comes complete with a cape and a monkey side-kick. Guanábana is another popular fruit. It is like a large cousin of the guava (guayaba en español) that is used in juices, deserts, and ice-creams. Speaking of juices, compared to the apple juice I drank this morning for breakfast, the juices in the U.S. would be better titled "sugar water with essence of apple" because juice here puts everything else I've had to shame. Apple juice is thick like a smoothy, as is the mango juice. Ecuadorians do their juice right.

One last thing. I bought a bottle of water today for 15 cents. Chew on that for a while.