Six of us from escuela espanol Vida Verde met around 7:30 AM Saturday morning for a weekend trek to Otavalo and Cotacachi.
We took a taxi to the north station in Quito ($5) and then caught the bus to Otavalo ($2 for a two hour ride). The bus ride north of Quito was quite bonita. The mountainsides are green with fields of corn and other crops occasionally planted along the way. I suspect they can plant year round here. Its a mas bonita ride than the one from Manta to Puerto Lopez.
Once in Otavalo we checked into the hostal. I got a private room and had to use the common bathroom. The place smelled like camp with that sort of musty mildewy kind of smell.
We headed toward the market. The local indigenous people make goods in this area from alpaca and leather. There are hats, sweaters, jewelry, belts, scarves, blankets, and even an animal market. They sell these items everyday with sabado being the busiest day. Even so, it was manageable. I bought a couple of scarves (2 for $5) and a pair of double knit mittens ($4) that would have cost about $25 in the US.
After lunch we hiked to Peguchi Falls, a 45 minute walk. It was nice to be out of the city and in the smaller town of Otavalo and then hike in the countryside. The falls are pretty and there are three bridges over the stream that allows a great view. On our hike back, there were three separate instances we came across cattle five or so in a bunch. Twice they were with the rancher, being moved from one place to another. The third time they were on (very long) leashes in an open field on the outskirts of town. I took a pic of one with a very modern looking building behind it. The juxtaposition is just exactly what this country seems to be all about.
Three hours later, we arrived back at the hostal. There are a couple of hammocks in the courtyard and we rested there until it got cool. There were also flowers in the courtyard that were attractive to the hummingbirds. They were fun to see come and go. Im looking forward to more bird watching in Mindo.
Trout is on the menu at nearly every restaurant in this area so thats what I had for dinner. The head was taken off but the tail was still there. Included in dinner was an appetizer of sorts. A small plate of toasted maiz. Apparently there are many (six or eight) kinds of corn grown here. It tasted a little like soybeans only better.