Landed and Staying in Otavalo
Trip Start
Jan 03, 2007
1
18
Trip End
Jan 21, 2007
Otavalo,
Ecuador
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Unfortunately, due to MULTIPLE delays on every leg of our flights from Ottawa to Atlanta to Quito... We got to the hostel around 12:00 and the Internet was down there. We all slept pretty well, minus some mild stinging in my limbs: likely due to the incredibly high altitude (Quito is the city closest to the Sun after all!). All of the locals (indigenous, mixed or spaniard) are very friendly and we feel quite safe everywhere we have been thus far. Our guide Henri Leduc (see Aero Pasion - http://www.aeropasion.net ) waited patiently at the airport as expected and the only glitch was one missing paraglider backpack out of five... We are working on retrieving it as I type. So far, we have visited the Old Quito: a very nice colonial Spanish town quite reminiscent of Old Quebec or Old Montreal complete with tiny streets, large open squares and colorful spanish styled buildings from the 1500s and newer... We visited the oldest church in the city..
Independance Memorial
. It took 163 years to complete the woodwork and gold leaf... VERY impressive... We walked around a bit and then jumped on our private mini-bus and drove through numerous valleys and plateaus to a small mountain town called Otavalo. This place is quite different from Quito since it is primarily indigenous and it is recognized as the richest indigenous population in all of Ecuador. Indeed, the people look wealthy (in their own colorful style) and happy and... of course... RELAXED! Like Quito, it seems like no one works in this country! Everyone is lounging and chatting in the central squares. We sampled some local cuisine on the way. I chose a fritada: fried pork chunks, a white boiled corn, some potatoes with cheese, fresh avocado and a sweet banana on the side... Complete with "the people's beer". That is all for now, we are staying in an ex colonial mansion and are grouped by 2 in immense bedrooms with no less than 6 beds each, a view of the local active volcano and private washroom! Crazy... Thats all for now, we are relaxing tonight and then we will experience our very first Andean flight tomorrow morning... It should be interesting since we must get used to the thinner air and relearn how to pilot our wings under such conditions (reaction times will be different, faster). Buenas dias! 
