Cotacachi Leather Markets.....

On the road north to the town of Cotacachi.................. and leather.

Finally food. A cafe known to our driver, Coco.

Coco and Nancy had fish. I had a modest

portion of beef. One can see from the pic, it was clearly under 5lbs.

Block after block of find leather stores. Jackets, skirts, boots, briefcases, bags, riding equipment, and wallets were on display everywhere. Catacachi is home of the onlly high school in Ecuador that teaches leather work. The students learn to make all leather products, however specialize in shoes.

We walked around the town for a few hours- A

clean, colorful place with happy kids.

We left Cotacachi driving north and west to Culcocha crater lake.

Inside the crater.......

People making and selling useful wares even in a crater. Where have I seen this done

before?

When we left Culcocha Lake it was late. We returned to Quito with warm feeling about the people and their interesting day to day commercia life. All in all, a good trip.

Happy B'Day Jim L!

I just saw our pic on B/R's blog... wow, when was that taken? Bob must have a collection of old pics that goes back years...

But, you're looking great, Jim, not a day over 39... and we'll be celebrating our b'days when we return.

I was just looking through the pics here to see if I had at least a pic of wild horses or something for you, but I'll have to keep looking...

Love, N (and R)

correction to Bob/Rox's blog link

We kept forgetting to correct the link typo, thanks for the reminder, Bob.

Here's the correct link: http://bobnrox.squarespace.com/journal

For those who don't know/remember.... Bob and Roxanne are Rich's bro and wife... the main reason for our trip to Ecuador! See their blog for more pics and stories of our visit with them, and more.


--N

Continuing the Vist to the Otavalo Area...

Everyone works. Its a family affair.

This must be how heaven is for every Irishman. There must have been two dozen types of potatos displayed.

Grains.

Meats of all kinds were offered.

Down the center of the building, was counter type eating rof prepared

food.

Back to the park and the car to continued north on the PanAmerican Hwy to town of

Cotacachi and its leather markets.......

Off To The Markets in Otavalo........

As Nancy and I were having coffee while waiting for our driver, I took this pic from our hotel window. Lots of construction of the high-rise type. The house across the street seems to be a lonely hold-out. Its a rainy day for our trip, but our spirits are high. After about an hour on the PanAmericanHwy north of Quito, you start seeing better land for growing crops. It was interesting how every path of ground-along the road side, between buildings, etc, was in use to grow corn or some other staple.

As we came closer to Otavalo, the population mix changed to its more indigenous members.
At a rest area, I came out of the store and couldn't find Nancy. Finally, out behind one of the buildings, there was Nancy talking to a mother and child in front of an indigenous person's hut. The alpacas were eating corn husks.



We dropped down into the valley basin in which Otavalo is located near a large lake. The town is overlooked by an extinct volcano.
The outskirts of Otavalo seemed poorer than downtown, yet certain areas were interesting and colorful.
As we approached the center of Otavalo, the streets and buildings seemed to be kept in good condition with great pride.



The center of Otavalo has the traditional city plan of a center park, with a church on one side, a government building on one, and commercial representatives on the others. The center of most parks have statues of local heros.

It was about noon when we left our guide at the square and set out to have a look at the market. Lots of folks were presenting food on the street. Some looked good to me. But of course, my brain is in my stomach at that time of day.
Cooler heads prevailed regarding street food and we continued to take in the rich and colorful offerings of the stall keepers.




Nancy and I made some purchases from these vendors and their friend took a shopper's portrait.
It started to rain. We were a few blocks of the main square and ducked into a large building for cover. We discovered it was an entrance to one of the largest and most diverse open food markets we have ever seen. The offerings of vegetables, legumes, meat, grains, breads and flowers were incredible.
More pics of this market later. We are going to post now as computer says no more pics on this one.

Rich.

About the tropics, general stuff

Some of you have asked about the bugs, the humidity, the 'reality' of our trip... so, thought I'd put a few things down. You never know when some of you will decide to make the trek to visit B and R...it's a hard journey, but well worth it.

First, the bugs. Yep, there are some! But, I'd say no more than we see at home at some times of the year. We learned quickly that one needs to close the doors at night if you have lights on... The mosquito netting around the bed helps, too. And, DEET. Wish we'd gotten a pic of a huge butterfly/moth-type flying bug... It had to be about 8 inches across, with intricate markings on the wings. A dark brown, blending in with the floors, with white markings...Much bigger than the bats we see at home. We helped it out of the room quickly. No bugs at the higher altitudes, at least we haven't seen any here in Quito.

The chickens and birds keep the bug population down.



And, then there the internal buggies... bottled water works, Pepto-Bismol adult chewables or caplets work, too. And, we learned the local farmacia is your friend. Be sure to get your shots (through public health's traveling nurses) and see your personal doc for any other tips/meds.
I think by the time you get all the shots, you can travel most anywhere in the world. And, you'll need a passport........

The humidity isn't bad. In fact, we only felt slightly sticky a time or 2, when the rain was heavy one of the days. The stickiness could well have been DEET/sunscreen related...

Yep, there is mud when it rains. We still can't figure out how the locals stay so clean! We'd see little kids playing in bright, white clothes, and not a speck of dirt or mud... Speaking of the children... all we had the opportunity to enjoy were happy, and obviously well cared for... so nice to see kids being kids. Families maybe poor, but the family unit is strong here and love abounds.

I got a question off-blog wondering about what we were reading... I started/finished 'world without end' by Follet, a great read set in 1300's... wool and dye merchants and healers included, along with the usual intrigue. Rich just finished the prequel, Pillers of the Earth... my next book. Yeah, that's a hardback I'm reading in one of the pics, all 1000+ pages, and yes, I left it for B/R's new bookcase. No need to carry that back home!

Off to the market now, more later.

Love, N