Otovalo arrival

Mural on school

Hello faithful bloggers!  John and I boarded a bus to Otovalo this afternoon (I was really hoping we could get a van or car), but after a short, 2-hour ride, we were deposited in the middle of this beautiful valley in a town of about 300,000.   The air is fresh, and the altitude is high (about 11,000 feet).  Caught a cab to our lovely hotel, Posada del Quinde, which means hummingbird hotel.  There are bird baths and birding books that tempt the causal birder to spend all your time here following these creatures.  Birds in general, are very easy to hear and see up here, even if you can’t identify their names.

Posada de Quinde

We decided to walk up to the market this afternoon and find a mercado for some wine and snacks before we came back for dinner.  The Otovalenos were setting up for the big Saturday market tomorrow, which is quite the production.  I bought a cute sun hat (Dr. L will be very happy), and scoped out some merchandise I’d love to take home with us.

I do need to remind myself that this is really the first day of the trip, but I am sure we will not see a market like this in any of our other stops.  Beautiful scarves woven of alpaca, darling dolls and 95o silver jewelry you can’t find in the states.  My roller suitcase and backpack already weigh more than they should, so I have to be judicious!  I’ll update you tomorrow after the market and a visit to one of the indigenous weavers homes……

Ecuadorian rugs