South America Sojurn

• Tropmem's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Cotacachi Imbabura

Trip Start Unknown Trip End Ongoing

  Cotacachi Imbabura, Ecuador
Tuesday, September 1, 2009

It's been a little over a week since we left beautiful Sarasota, FL., and returned to bonita Ecuador.  We flew into Quito and spent 3 days there, doing some shopping for the store and catching up with friends.  Our regular little hotel, Los Alpes, welcomed us warmly as usual - staying with them is like visiting favorite relatives - you feel at home, but no one bothers you.

On Monday, August 3, we organized a taxi to Cotacachi, since we had one extra large suitcase.  Not surprisingly, the one taxi turned into two.....the first driver took us almost to Calderon and turned us over to another taxi (at least we think he was a taxi....as with so many other things in South America, we just weren't sure!).  Anyway, he had a small van with plenty of room for us and our luggage.  We were loaded up, with many admonitions from both drivers to stand back and let them do the work, thank you!, and started our northerly trek

San Miguel

.  Leaving Quito we began to ascend, then descend, then ascend again, descend.....you get the picture.  Big, big mountains.  While Cotacachi is actually at a slightly lower altitude than Quito, it's necessary to travel over several mountain peaks to get here, and what peaks they are!  Where the Panamericano has been cut through the mountains it's easy to see thousand of years of strata exposed.  I wish I was a better geologist and could identify all the layers, but the easy ones to see were the volcanic lava ones.  The mountains are steep and rocky, while the valleys are green and fertile.  This is a major rose-growing region here, and the valleys and hillsides are dotted with white plastic covered greenhouses containing millions of roses which will be shipped all over the world.  Land not given over to rose growing is dedicated to frutas y legumbres - fruits and vegetables of every sort imaginable, and then some.  Mother Nature has imbued this entire part of Ecuador with extraordinarily fertile soil which, seemingly, will grow anything.  Driving through this area you find your head on a swivel, not knowing which way to look and afraid you'll miss something.

The drive was long but fairly uneventful, if you discount the fact that we went downhill at the speed of light and uphill at  the speed of an arthritic tortoise.  Our little van coasted downward with merry abandon, but clucked its disapproval on every uphill stretch, of whilch there were many, even going so far as to backfire loudly early on

Back Path

.  This brought looks of concern to all three faces in the van, but our driver finally just shrugged and said "no problema".  Fortunately for us, he was right.

Al long last we passed through Otavalo, made the turn off the Panamericano, and came into Cotacachi after one final protest from the van.  Since this is a small town (village? pueblo?) I hadn't bothered to get directions to our hostal, and, sure enough, the first person we asked for directions sent us right to our destination.  We pulled up in front, unloaded our bags, paid the driver and prepared to wish him "bueno viaje" when we discoverd the door to the hostal was locked and no amount of knocking, pounding, cursing, etc., brought forth a response.  Fortunately, the lovely restaurant next door was open and serving lunch, so when I went in and asked the nice lady if she knew where everyone was she immediately called Jaime, the owner, to come let us in.  We were the only reservation for that day, and he apparently didn't expect us so soon, so went across the square for lunch.  Jaime, who speaks not one single word of English, was, as are so many Ecuadoreans, charming, and immediately invited me upstairs (no raised eyebrows, please!) to choose the room I wanted.  Of course, we had to go up three flights of stairs before I was allowed to start the choosing process, so, thinking of our excess baggage, I chose the first room at the top of the stairs

Local Perros

.  Back downstairs to give Bud the good news about the three flights, get the key, and let the two macho men carry the bags up.  El Arbolito is a brand-new hostal, slightly above spartan, spotlessly clean with locally made wooden furnishings, and inexpensive.  If one wants to read after dark one needs one's book light, and if one wishes to watch TV one needs to bring one's Spanish.  Since we were equipped with both, we made out quite well, although evenings after dinner were mostly spent watching DVDs on the computer.

Now, Cotacachi.........what an absolutely lovely, charming small town.  The main part of town is about 10 blocks square, more or less, with two plazas, one large and one small.  El Arbolito was located on the small plaza where the Otavalenos set up their tents daily to sell crafts to the tourists.  There's a small Catholic church there, as well as assorted statues, an almuerzo restaurant, the credit union and Banco Pichincha (which ensures lots of traffic in the plaza), plus several small tiendas selling water, soda, snacks, jewelry, brooms, etc..  The benches are shaded by lots of trees (hence the name El Arbolito!), and the scene is ever-changing, with older gentlemen catching up with one another's news, teenagers in love holding hands, toddlers chasing birds while their mothers gossip with one another, and cars driving slowly past on their way to who knows where

Bus Terminal

.  Peaceful, serene, and ever so pleasant.  One of the Plaza streets is Calle Artepiel, otherwise known as Leather Street.  This is the main street in town where the vast majority of leather shops are located.  Cotacachi is known far and wide as the leather town, and with good reason.  If it can be made of leather, you'll find it here, and all at wonderful prices.  Shop after shop displays purses, luggage of all shapes and sizes, jackets, belts, saddles and saddlebags, shoes, boots, fringed shawls and I'm sure more that we haven't yet discovered.  As wth most of South America, the clerks are extremely pleasant and anxious to help, whatever your request.  There are a number of restaurants on Leather St., as well as our local Super Mercado, a small grocery stuffed with the basic necessities and owned by lovely locals.

Branching off in either direction you'll find restaurants, shops of every variety, offices for abogados, engineers, real estate, makers of musical instruments and furniture, feed and seed stores where you can buy enough seed corn to plant the entire world, small produce sellers, cabinas for making telephone calls, internet shops,  and did I mention restaurants?  The other side of town brings you to the larger Plaza fronting the Cathedral, which is another peaceful place to rest and plan the next adventure.  We've found that if you sit there long enough you'll see almost everyone you know in the town pass through

Cotacachi

.

The weather here is wonderful - warm days and chilly nights.  This is the dry season so we don't get much rain.  Since we're surrounded by mountains there are always clouds around, and our two volcanoes, Imbabura and Cotacachi, play hide and seek all day, showing themselves briefly before retreating behind the clouds.  It's also field-burning time, so smoke drifting through the valley is a common sight.  Sugar cane is a common crop here, as well as every manner of vegetable.  It's amazing to see the fields laid out on the mountains, usually at a 45 degree angle. Of course farming here is done the old-fashioned way - by hand and foot - without benefit of the farm machinery we're accustomed to seeing in the States.  It's also organic farming - no one uses chemicals to control weeds or pests.  As a result, we get organic fruits and vegetables at an amazingly cheap price.

Speaking of fruits and vegetables, let me tell you about the bus terminal here in town.  It's at the northeastern edge of town, only a couple of years old.  The busses run all day to nearby towns - Otavalo and Ibarra being the two largest - and it's amazingly organized for Ecuador!  There are overhead signs showing the destination of the bus parked there and the conductor is standing by the bus shouting out the destination name

The Big Park

.  At any given time there will be 20 to 30 busses coming and going, operated by 4 or 5 regional bus companies.  There are two large, connected concrete buildings there which house, on the outside but under cover, 10 or so almuerzo restaurants with outdoor tables, and artesania vendors.  But the real treasures are to be found inside the buildings.  One building is filled with stalls selling all the produce and fruits you could want, attended by local ladies, and occasionally gents, just waiting to make the best deal possible.  The problem here is not finding what you want, but getting out without stuff you can't identify and didn't want in the first place!  It's all so gorgeous you want to take it all with you!  The second building houses small shop spaces which are filled to the brim with common local grocery items - grains of all kinds, flour, sugar, toilet paper and paper towels, seasonings, wooden matches - you get the picture.  Here is where you also find the butchers and fishmongers - beef, pork, poultry, fish and shellfish - and it's sitting there in the open for you to choose, without benefit of styrofoam trays or plastic wrap.  We've shopped with the produce ladies and the grocery people, but I'm not yet brave enough to buy the meat!  This has to be one of the most interesting bus terminals in the world!

We've found a lovely house to rent while we're here, in the San Miguel neighborhood

Noontime downtown

.  This is a fairly small, gated development - there are only about 25 or so homes here so far, although more are in the process of being built.  They are, for the most part, owned by ex-pats from the US and Europe, so it's a community of English-speakers, most of whom are at least trying to learn Spanish.  The homes are beautiful, built of adobe brick and concrete, and quite expensive for this area.  Our house is a 3-bedroom, 3 bath, with a very nice great-room/kitchen combination.  The kitchen here was designed by people who have never cooked, although it's gorgeous to look at.  There's a fireplace in the great room and another in the master bedroom (which we're taking full advantage of!), a huge master bath with huge shower, and terrific water pressure and hot water - a cause for great celebration!  We've settled in quite nicely, spending our at-home days on the back terrace which faces Imbabura, and our evenings in front of various fireplaces, reading, watching TV, playing games.  We have a back path which takes us to town in about 5 minutes, assuming we don't stop to visit with the cows, sheep, chickens and dogs who are all glad to see someone passing through their territory.  Everyone's friendly here, even the livestock!  We have weekly maid service, gardeners, wireless internet, Direct TV, a hammock chair on the back terrace (where there's another fireplace!), and unbelievable views in all directions.  We're loving retirement!

Okay, so we thought retirement involved sleeping late, kicking back and not doing much

The Little Park

.  If that's the case, we're doing it all wrong.  We're usually up at the crack of dawn, watching the sun rise over Imbabura as we drink our morning coffee, then hit the shower, pull on our jeans, and head out to meet someone, look at something, or buy something.  Shopping in Cotacachi is an interesting experience - you can find most of what you want here, but none of it's in the same place.  We've discovered our two favorite panaderias (out of about 50) where we buy our freshly-baked bread and dulces (sweets).  A couple of days ago I bought two wonderful breads shaped like croissants but baked with cheese, and paid .12 each for them.  Cream horns filled with lemon curd and topped with chocolate are a bit more expensive - .25 each.  There's every kind of bread imaginable just waiting to be taken home, and it's all amazingly inexpensive.  We buy produce at the bus terminal, of course, but there are a bunch of tiny "holes-in-the-wall" filled to the brim with fresh produce as well.  Most of these places are no more than 5 feet deep, if that, so you mostly stand on the sidewalk while making your purchases and handing over your .25  or .50 cents.  If there are more than a couple of customers, then passers-by have to take to the street to pass - not a problem, as most of the streets are one-way and traffic is pretty light and mostly courteous.  The indigenous ladies who rule these tiny kingdoms are cute as buttons - many of them in their 70s of better, and most of them dressed in their tribal attire.  As you pass by, even if you aren't buying, they always have a pleasant "buenas dias" or "buenas tardes", and as they begin to recognize you that's followed with "como esta usted?".  Striking up a conversation with them is never a chore.  We also have the Super Mercado on  Leather Street - they carry canned goods, pasta, paper and cleaning goods, a few toiletries, and pet food.  Don't try to shop between one and three pm, because they're closed for lunch, as are a number of the businesses in town.  The main checker and bagger (there's only one cash register, because there are only about 3 aisles) is a young lady named Marie Elena, who likes to practice her English on us ex-pats.  She speaks English, I speak Spanish, and we both learn a little something.  She always has a smile ready for everyone, including the street dogs who sometimes follow me in the store.  Bud generally hangs out on the sidewalk while I'm in the Super Mercado, smoking his pipe and waving to new acquaintances, of which we have a bunch!  There are also a number of small hardware stores, so one of them is bound to have what you need.  I bought a new pair of jeans the other day from a tiny store on a side street - beautifully made, fit like a dream (the proprietor took one look at me and immediately pulled out the correct size from her stock in the back), for which I paid $25.00 - and they included a belt.

However, even with all these stores, there are some things you just have to go to Ibarra to find.  Ibarra is the capital of Imbabura province, a 40 minute bus ride away (fare - .45 ea), and the proud home of a Super Maxi, the American-style supermarket.  They have a much greater selection of canned and packaged goods, a wonderful meat and seafood department, a delicatessen, a bakery, a liquor store and a big produce department.  When you want Prego or Ragu spaghetti sauce, you go to Super Maxi.  The bus from Cotacachi stops in front of La Plaza, where Super Maxi is located, and you can catch the return bus right across the street.  La Plaza, a small shopping center, includes a Fybeca drug store, where we buy all our toiletries, a Kentucky Fried Chicken, a bunch of clothing stores, Kywi, the local version of Home Depot, and a great little coffee shop where we stop and drink mochachinos.  There's a food court upstairs where you can get everything from chuletas with rice and beans to a full parrillada (grilled meats).  For those patrons who drive their cars to La Plaza, there are two gentlemen in the parkig lot with portable car washes - they'll wash and polish your car while you shop.  Not having a car, we don't know what they charge, but I'd be surprised if it was more than a dollar.  And you may be sure they do an excellent job - no smeared windshields for these guys!

So, anyway, last week Bud and I went to Ibarra for the second time, to pick up his new eyeglasses and do a little shopping at Super Maxi.  We went to the bus station here in town, hopped on the bus parked there marked "Ibarra", and were delighted to see we were the first on the bus and so had our choice of seats.  Naturally, not wanting to miss anything of the passing scenery, we plopped in the front seats.  A couple of other people got on the bus and we were underway.  As we started through town, the bus took a different route than the one we were on before, but no big deal - there are frequently different routes to the same destination, and that just means new territory we haven't yet seen.  As we left town, we noticed we weren't picking up any passengers, but didn't think too much about it.  Once we left the immediate environs of Cotacachi, we found ourselves on a cobblestone road - not unusual in town, but a little unusual for a bus.  However, I commented to Bud what a lovely area it was - pastoral, green fields all around, and a small river running alongside.  We still haven't picked up anyone else.  The road began to climb (the roads here always begin to climb), the green fields turned to brush and rock, the river got a little further below us, and it's still awfully pretty.  The road continued to climb at a much steepr pitch, the bush and rock turned into cliffs, and the road turned into dirt at the same time it narrowed.  We still haven't picked up anyone else, and while the area may still be pretty it's so far below the road we can't see it anymore.  The panic didn't set in until we realized the curving, climbing, pitching dirt road we were on was only about 1-1/2 lanes wide, most of which was taken up by our bus.  Did I mention this was a two-way road?  We still haven't picked up anyone else, mostly because there was no place on the side of the road for them to stand, their choices being towering cliffs on one side, which the bus narrowly missed scraping, and 500 foot drops on the other, which the bus narrowly missed plunging off of.  Bud and I looked at one another with but a single thought - "We're all going to die!!!!".  My way of dealing with the situation was to bury my head on Bud's shoulder, mainly so I couldn't see Death approaching.  Bud, being Mr. Macho, kept saying "Oh, it's so pretty, you should see this".  Of course, I know full well he had his eyes squeezed tightly shut since he knew I wouldn't actually see him lying! 

We started down the mountain, so after a bit I bravely looked up and out to see if we had a chance of living through this, when what should appear directly below and in front of us but a 90 degree right turn onto a toy bridge that was partially washed out.  Do you remember that we're sitting on the very front seats of the bus?  Swear to God, the bus hung over the bridge on both sides as we crossed it.  Back up the mountain, around more curves and suddenly on the side of the road is a HUGE shrine to someone - fear tends to freeze your ability to recognize saints and such.  We strongly suspect it was a memorial shrine to all those who've died on this road.  Since we were both about to the point of hyper-ventilating it was a not a reassuring sight, as some kind soul probably intended it to be.

Finally finally, the road leveled out and we were in a pueblo, where all sorts of people live and work in the rose industry - we were surrounded by greenhouses on both sides of the road, and it seemed most of them were going to Ibarra that day.  The road was still dirt, but now there were rocks, and trucks coming from the other direction, and a herd of cows being driven through town, threading their way through and around traffic.  We were so happy to be off the mountain we felt like jumping out and hugging the cows!

Quito hotels Slideshow Print this entry Share