Day 13: July 2, 2007 Quito to Otovalo

  Quito, Ecuador
Monday, July 2, 2007

Day 13: July 2, 2007 Quito to Otovalo to Cotacachi and Back to Quito

We had an excellent breakfast in the hotel and everyone was ready when Humberto and another driver arrived at 8:30. The sky was clear and sunny as we drove north through Quito and out into the country, surrounded by volcanic features. Cotopaxi and Cayambe were losing their clouds as we proceeded.

Monument at the False Equator

JR Straddling the False Equator

Our first stop was at the Equator monument. We all had our fotos taken straddling the "Equator." Once GPS came in it was discovered that the monument is located ~600m too far south. I thought I had left my GPS at the hotel but discovered I had it with me soon after leaving the monument. A savvy local sold textiles at the monument and made a fair amount of money from our group.

Our next stop was at an overlook of Volcán Cayambe and Lago San Pedro. We picked up three young native girls and took them to Otovalo. They sang three songs for us and then sold us a bunch of nice cotton scarves. I bought 5 for $15.

Volcán Cayambe

Singing girls

Volcanic highlands

We pulled up to the big market in Otovalo. The array of bright colors was a friendly assault on our eyes. We spread out into the market, ready to spend. I bought another sweater, two bags, a serpentine mask and a serpentine bookend. I also got a wall hanging and an alpaca blanket, a belt, t-shirts. It was a lot of fun and everyone seemed to enjoy the dickering.

We left for the leather town of Cotacachi after an hour and a half in Otovalo. There are many nice leather shops but they are out of my price range. We ate at a nice restaurant where I had a filet mignon. Then we boarded the bus and headed back to Quito. We made a brief stop in Otovalo so a few people could get some last minute bargains.

Humberto had the driver stop at the actual Equator. I got out with my GPS and located it exactly in a couple of minutes. I got a picture of my GPS reading a latitude of N 0°00.0000°.

GPS on the Real Equator

Cotapaxi

The clouds had cleared completely from Cotopaxi by the time we got back to Quito. It was beautiful.

There was no word from Margarita about the night's festivities. I asked everyone to meet in the lobby at 7:00. About 6:50, I got an idea. I asked the desk for the name of nearby restaurants that had folkloric music. He said La Ronda. I asked if he would call to see if they had a reservation for 16 in my name. He did and they did.

We arrived in four cabs and were put in a dining room with bright green walls into which we barely fit. A trio of troubadours and a six-man Andean band roamed around singing and playing instrumentals. Both were good but not great. Todd and I were both disappointed that the show did not meet the quality of the shows we've taken people to in Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil.

Andean Band

Andean Band II

We returned to the hotel in one cab and a 12-passenger van. After checking our email, we went into the bar, joined by Lynne and Russ.

We went up to the room at midnight. Neither of us could stay awake to watch South Park in Spanish.