Ecuadorian Andes

We stay busy sprucing up the boat in Bahia Caraquez through March.  Things like renewing the wind-vane steering re-mounting the solar panels, changing fuel filters for the diesel engine, polishing the stainless steel stanchions, hauling water to top off the tanks and varnishing the hatch frames are now checked off the 'to-do' list.  When we learn our Visas for French Polynesia are waiting for us in Quito we drop the screwdriver and paint brush and hop the next bus.  We combine a couple days of "business" with several days of seeing the sights before returning home to Kalliope.

Dawn raises her rosy fingers* and finds us in the town of Otavalo, a three hour bus ride north of Quito in a hotel much nicer than the hostels we usually camp in when we are on the road.  We heard Otavalo has a great market and it is very popular with Americans.  After spending Saturday, the BIG market day here, we believe both claims are true.  One group of students is speaking American English when Deb strikes up a conversation on the street corner.  She is so outgoing she does this regularly.

Hotel lobby/restaurant area.

Otavalo hotel garden

So, picture a town, small but probably tens of thousands of people nestled in an Andean valley with temps from 60° at night to 75° in the afternoons.  There is a low cost of living, a university, a trout stream, a lake, a waterfall, an outdoor market, a vibrant Native American culture, clean air, abundant water, good restaurants, Internet and CNN News in English at the click of a button.  I know Otavalo is a good place to visit and probably a good place to live.  No, we are not shopping for real estate.  The common thread between Otavalo and the Quito notes below is that they were both part of the same trip.

Archetecture

Deb takes a few photos from the vantage of Mt. 

Pichincha a few miles from downtown Quito.

                        Doors as art.

Since we are in Quito for Holy Week, we stake out a spot along the route of the Good Friday procession through the Historic District.  Thousands of marchers show up, more thousands of

watchers and at least hundreds of vendors selling everything from mango slices to umbrellas for

protection from sun and heat.

First come hundreds

of 'Penitents' in purple robes.

Some penitents perform self flagellation.  Others

tie crosses of cactus to bare backs or wrap their 

torso in barbed wire. **

Some Penitents carry heavy crosses.

Near the back of the procession 

come the 'Veronicas'

A few altars at the end of the procession merit

heavy police protection.

*  Wish I wrote the rosy fingers line, but credit goes to Homer.  If any copyright was infringed, I                            apologize.

**  Some penitents were harmed making this procession.