Yesterday I managed to get everything onto my blog at the same time, the 6 emails written so far on our travels combined into 3 parts of our travel adventure. From now on each part will be shorter as it will just be what I have time to write in any internet opportunity session.
When I wrote yesterday I was in an internet cafe with piles of packages and trying to get everything onto my blog and get back to Casa Mojanda in daylight. I had long since lost Rosalind and Layla in the market but knew they were getting back much earlier than I would as they had massages booked with a shamen. I warned them at breakfast that I hoped to get back before dark, certainly no sooner than 5.
I enjoyed myself so much in the market, spent far more than I meant to but had allowed for it knowing I would be tempted by all the artesania on offer. I forgot to mention that the among other things I found 15 CDs of andean music as well by local Otavalo groups as well as groups from villages nearby, Peguche and further afield, music I would never find from England. Details of these will be posted later for those of my andean music collection friends who will find them of interest.
After a perfect perfect day in Otavalo´s famous market, the evening was even better, far beyond my hopes and expectations. After that substantial breakfast that morning I wasnt tempted to eat anything all day, even though I went through the fantastic food market. What I loved yesterday as well as the shopping was the friendliness and helpfulness of the people in the market. I so much enjoyed chatting with some of them and they were really interested and asked me loads of questions about England too, and this interaction with such lovely people added to the magic of the day.
Back at Casa Mojanda later I just had time to get ready before the guests there began to gather for dinner in the dining room. I wore a very flared skirt ready for dancing later, along with one of the typical Otavalo blouses and an andean belt bought in the market, plus a gorgeous knitted cardigan and pretty bag. Layla and I were so looking forward to the evening ahead. All the guests are seated at one long table, family style, and our hosts dine with us and the whole ambience is wonderful´, a fire going and candles on the table, it feels quite mediaeval - later the tables will be pushed back to make room for dancing.
Dinner was yet another delicious meal, usually five different dishes on one plate all of them intricately prepared. The soup beforehand was cream of carrot and believe it or not I enjoyed that too and made a huge glass of red wine last all evening. Finally around 9 pm the band arrived, Ali Huayra, which Layla and I had been so looking forward to all day long. The next hour and a half was such magic that words cannot describe it. All the other guests enthusiastically enjoyed their performance and right from the first song Layla and I were up dancing which prompted many of the others to get up and dance too. They played songs on request and we danced to every one of them and by the time the concert ended we were on such highs that I cannot imagine any drug in the world making us feel happier and so euphorically joy filled as we were that night. Afterwards we were able to chat to the group members for a while and I asked if any of them had an email address and one called Rafa immediately gave me his. I said I would write when I got back to England in Septemnber and he made me promise I would - 1987 features in his email address which is probably the year he was born! I think he was just as interested in having a contact in Europe as I was to have my first contact in Otavalo. Layla too will be keeping in touch with him and through him we can find out so much more information for our next visit. We both love Otavalo so much and want to spend at least a week here, maybe two, in order to be here a weekend either side. Layla is really regretting not going out friday night now, as unfortunately live folkloric bands in the penas only happens on Fridays and Saturdays. She found a restaurant yesterday and was able to catch the tail end of an andean performance. We found that same restaurant by accident today and went in to see if anything is on tonight and unfortunately there isn´t.
All three of us hired a taxi today for 3 hours and went to visit the Condor Park. The driver took a shortcut and the road was horrendous and you could hear the sump being hit as we went over tremendously large rocky potholes. We were all extremely worried - eventually we came to a farm and the road had huge trench holes dug in it with piles of rocks and the only space to get through was blocked by a parked car. We couldn´t possibly imagine the taxi could negotiate it as it meant one side of the car driving up onto a pile of rocks in order for the other 2 wheels not to go in the trench holes the other side. We all got out and said we would wait the other side for him! While all this was going on we were surrounded by lovely children interested in us, had a chat with a friendly farm worker and just enjoyed the whole ambience of being on that mountain farm. The taxi got through and 2 kilometers later we arrived at the condor park. This is a refuge for birds that have been found injured or rescued from illegal animal and bird traffickers and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit there. The following is a list of the birds we saw there:
Barred hawk, Black hawk eagle, Black chested buzzard eagle, king vulture, harpy eagle, american kestrel, Harris´s hawk, Pacific pygmy owls, 2 of them, European eagle owl, snowy owl, spectacled owl, barn owl, burrowing owl, stygian owl, mottled owl and finally a pair of andean condors.
We took photos of all of them except the burrowing owl which must have been in its burrow! I loved the stygian owl and the harpy owl the most out of all of them as well as the majestic condors of course. After we had seen all these, there were some tethered on posts like we see in England at fairs and fetes, and finally at 11.30 am a bird of prey display which was brilliant. Some birds did acrobats in the air to catch food thrown - the black chested buzzard eagle was allowed to fly deep into the valley and soar far overhead and was a joy to watch. A friendly ex tour guide in front of us translated the bits I couldn´t understand as one of the people explaining gabbled so fast. We were the only tourists as all the other people watching, loads of families, were all local people. After this our driver, Christian, took us back via the mountain lake called San Pablo, and dropped Layla and I off in the centre of Otavalo 3 hours exactly after we´d set out, Ros retaining the taxi as she was hoping to join some of the other guests on a horse riding session sometime after 1 o clock. Another guest was contemplating a 4 hour hike 4000 feet higher than Casa Mojanda which would take 4 hours there and back, something I definitely said I wouldn´t be interested in. Can you imagine hiking 4000 feet up at an already high altitude and being able to achieve it and get back in 4 hours, it would probably take me more than 4 days! As Ros had another massage booked with the shamen at 5 pm, it was touch and go whether she could do both, but as it happened it was recommended not to do it that day because the weather forecast wasn´t too brilliant. It has been quite a dull day, no sunshine today, but we were just grateful it wasn´t raining. Temperature no more than 20 centigrade.
Time now is 5.30 so we will be heading back to Casa Mojanda shortly. Layla is in the coffee shop next door while I write this. Also today we befriended a lovely Otavalo family. We were following them to try and get a photo of the baby being carried on its mothers back and they realised and stopped to pose for us. We promised to send the photos to them and they gave us their postal address, so bingo, we now have another contact here. The people here are really nice and the more we interact with them the more we are falling in love with Otavalo. Rosalind has fallen in love with it here too and was happy to discard going to Banos and stay on an extra night in Casa Mojanda instead. The Otavalo couple with the baby recommended a good hotel for us on a future visit and as it was nearby we popped in to ask for a brochure. The owner kindly offered to show us his double rooms and we were so impressed I am even keeping a note of the room number to ask for the one he showed us - number 104 - which has two double beds, is very spacious with tv and private bathroom and is only 35 dollars a night for both of us, that is around 8.50 a night each in pounds, and is right by the centre of Otavalo,with the restaurant 2 doors away, where the group that Layla saw yesterday plays every friday and saturday night. He also showed us a triple room which was just as lovely and only 40 dollars a night for the room, ten quid each! This is an incredible price compared to the 180 dollars a night plus 22% in taxes that we are paying at Casa Mojanda. That is 60 dollars each person per night, 74 dollars with taxes, but it does include breakfast and an evening meal. The name of the hotel is easy to remember too - Hotel Indio.
Although no andean band at Casa Mojanda tonight, what I love is the fact they play andean music in the background at every meal. I might even ask if I can put on one of my new CDs tonight, and they probably won´t mind. Tomorrow or Tuesday Layla and I are off to Ibarra for the day - this is a town that Layla particularly wants to visit. Ros prefers spending more time actually at Casa Mojanda and will no doubt be hiking or maybe even doing some painting as the mountain vistas are so stupendous. She loved seeing the birds at the condor park today though. It is great that we will have Tuesday here too, and we hope to visit Peguche then as well as spend more time here in Otavalo. The big market is on Wednesdays as well, so in the morning we can spend a few hours there before heading back to Quito by bus sometime in the afternoon.
Also today Layla and I went into one of the local restaurants for a snack lunch. We had a fried fish called Tilapia which was delicious. It was fried right in front of us so we could see the conditions were hygienic enough and even with a bottle of lemonade each the total bill was only 4.5 dollars for the two of us! Later we went into an upstairs restaurant bar to ask about live music and ended up staying there briefly for a drink. We ordered our favourite, blackberry juice, plus a glass of rum each and halfway through the juice drink chucked the rum in it and it was absolutely delicious.
Well dusk is descending and I must head back - will write again at first opportunity.
