Ecuador

The adventure began in Quito where I was greeted with huge hugs from my friends, Jorge and Angel. It was a reunion we had been looking forward to for several years. I still can’t believe they drove down from Otavalo (in the Andes) to pick me up (2 hours each way!) They manage a lovely place called Hacienda Loma Tika. Lucky me, they opened their home to me. They live in a casita next to what I’d call the hotel portion of the property. It has several lovely rooms, a very large common area, a restaurant, and a bar. They mostly host travel groups like yoga retreats there. There are also smaller stand-alone casitas. Some are for guests and some are rented by various ex-pats (USA, Israel, Canada etc) who live on the property. If you find yourself considering a visit to Otavalo, you definitely want to check this place out.

Once they got me settled in (and I met their 4 dogs and 3 cats), they took me for fritada at a roadside place. Fried chunks of pork, fava beans, fried ripen plantains, potatoes, corn, tostado (roasted corn) and cheese. And a warm coke. It was brilliant but as I soon learned, typically way too much food for me.

Almost immediately, I experienced the first challenge in Ecuador right now. Hydropower accounts for 70% of the country’s energy and they have been in a drought since September. The hydropower plant is at risk of collapsing which has led to daily power cuts. At first, it was 10am-1pm and 8pm-midnight. By the time I left it was 6am-noon, 6pm-midnight. Which means refrigerators are going offline for hours and hours each day. More on that in a bit. As I noted in my short post, my solar lantern and solar charger both came in handy through the 5 days I was there.

Day two we went to Cascada de Peguche (Peguche Falls). We had a lovely hike to the falls which starts over a very well-maintained stone path. You can head straight to falls or take one of the side paths to a small pool. We weren't prepared to get wet this time so we didn't go into the falls or the pool. The last time I was there, it was the day before Inti Raymi, which is the Inca Festival of the Sun which honors the Inca sun god, Inti, so people were preparing for the ceremonies, including coming to the falls to bathe. I met a shaman woman who did a cleansing for me (typical prep for the festival). Not quite sure it worked but there you have it. This time we wandered around and then crossed what a friend of mine’s then-3-year old would have called a precarious bridge, saw (but avoided) the fertility tree, & visited the solar calendar and sun dial which are also used during ceremonies.

There were the souvenir stands nearby but to my surprise, they were selling t-shirts that said “Brooklyn” on them, or my favorite, Bushwik (didn't get that shot).

Next we visited the Otavalo market which is filled with crafts and daily items. And we began my search for my luggage solution. Btw, I had somehow forgotten that Ecuador's currency is the US dollar.

Next day we were joined by Claudia, a retired American from South Dakota. She lives in one of those casitas. The 4 of us went to the Laguna de Cuicocha at the base of Cotacachi Volcano. It’s a collapsed volcanic crater which sits at about 10,000 ft in altitude. There are 2 mounds that were created by eruptions. We took the 45 minute boat ride around the islands and spied a small house even though the islands are uninhabited now. The guides pointed out that we could see some gas bubbles in the water because it’s still an active volcano. On our way out, we stopped at the museum at the visitors center which turned out to be a great choice. There was a lot of great information including about the legend of Mama Cotacochi and the creation of the mountains/craters.

The next day was Laguna de Yahuarcocha and the Mirador (viewpoint) above it. Yahuarcocha translates to Blood Lake and was the site of a battle and massacre in the late 15th/early 16th century as the Inca Empire was conquering the area. Thousands of men who resisted, were massacred and thus the name. Today, it's a popular place to visit with thee family and there’s even a racetrack. How times change. We stopped at a little place along the lake for lunch. Jorge had thought we would get a great view of the lake but unfortunately, there were renovations in progress. I had Churrasco, which we think, tried to kill me. That’s right, Laguna de Yahuarcocha tried to live up to its name! More on that later.

After lunch we headed up to the Mirador to get a view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. There were some good views from all the way up there. We took some pics and headed back before blackout.

Around 3 in the morning, I woke up with the shivers and shakes. I realized I had a high fever and being the ever prepared traveler, I had a thermometer to confirm it. 103 and rising. Had severe pain in my belly and it seemed to travel from the left side to the right. I was due to fly out the next evening and I was afraid it could be appendicitis…and no one wants to fly with that! I didn’t want to bother anyone so I messaged the guys in the middle of night. When they saw it, they went into action. Before I knew it, they had found me a doctor in town who spoke English which was good because my brain was too fried to attempt much Spanish. She was lovely. She deals with a lot of the ex-pats who live there. She quickly determined it wasn’t my appendix, sent me for some tests across the road. I sat and waited for the results and was instructed to return to her as soon as I had them. Less than an hour later I was back in her office. The tests confirmed severe food poisoning. Got a shot, got 4 prescriptions which I had filled at the corner. Doctor plus shot $40, tests $13.50, meds $31.

And with that, we finally found a duffle bag I could use to adjust my bags situation and off we went back to Quito. Adios Ecuador…until next time. Off to Argentina…