Ecuador Day 11: Breaking Up The Family

Rain, it is as part of the life here in the tropics as beach is to Californians. 

The rain kept up hard again last night and in the morning all the dust, dirt, and grime between the aggregate stones forming the street washed away and left behind a brand new city for a brand new day. Its difficult to judge sometimes just when the rain will come. Even Google cant pin down the weather here, all its predictions indicate intimidating thunderstorms and heavy rain, although that is never really the whole case. We are getting more sun than anything else during the day.

New people to meet, a new culture to marvel, sights, food, and animals are all among the list next to the new flora for what is so amazing about visiting new places. I really love the bright colors that radiate from these flowers, contrasted against the wet greens and soggy browns of the forest, there is just no other place like it.  

Sure that mom can recognize some of these, she would really enjoy all the nature here.

Right, ok, not the healthiest breakfast with cheese and bread and pork fried steak, not to mention that I'm really not burning the calories that I used to since I no longer am cycling to work for a few hours a day...oh well, its not like breakfast will be this same every day, right?...

Strawberries might just be my favorite berries of all time. With the seeds on the outside, they are just peculiar enough to enjoy, and they go with everything. Back on the island of Shikoku Japan, a handful of strawberries (no more than ten) sell for 5 dollars. Five!! So, I'm super excited to go back to work and show my students pictures like the one above: maybe about $300 worth of berries to the Japanese market, just laying in the street, never getting a second glance from the walking traffic. 

More market time! Just rows and rows of veggies, fruits, and meat of all kinds...

...even fish! Not sure what kind of fish exactly, I didn't want to interrupt the man with the knife. He looked like a machine, knowing just where to cut, and in the precise order of butchery. Fast and in trance that seemed wholly automatic, I dare not interrupt his rhythm.

I have thought a lot about how I would cycle Ecuador, and I don't think it would be a comfortable ride on my current road bike. The roads, as you can see, would make for a bumpy ride on the thin tires my bike uses, and I have absolutely no suspension. Just looking at this downhill and imagining what the ride would be, and my elbow and knee joints are already disapproving. 



We took the afternoon bus after another round at the textile market to pick up some last minute gifts. Today would be the last day in Otavalo and the plan was to sleep in our own beds tonight. But, since we were here, there was was one last thing we had to go see. We saw one on the way here from El Quinche and now we were a little closer to a big one. That is, a large and loud waterfall.

Thar she blows! You can see the old bridge up ahead, the one with slippery green moss layered over damp stale wood with no hand rails, nothing to hold on to if you happen to loose your balance and take the short trip down the long river. Lucky for us there is a small trail along the side for the kids to traverse and climb right underneath the waterfall. They came back soaked. 

The flow of the water down the fall is boisterous. You can hardly hear what the person next to you is shouting in your ear. That many tons of gallons of water crashing down every second and I am not surprised. Just down the way however, and we find a calm stream of water carrying  down the side of the path. 

Us five siblings looked down at the ground along the way, looking for something. Not too big or small, no incongruous shapes, and for sure nothing heavy. Something too big would not be fast enough, something too small and it would surely sink. If it was not straight, it would delve off course and never win. And something too heavy and it would sink before it was all over. What we were all looking for was the perfect leaf, the perfect leaf to set in the cold water for a river side leaf race. 

Down the way, there was not exactly a spot to stop and play, but that's what us and the kids did anyway. Shoes and pants off without first warning and they were playing in the water by count three.  

It is the dark foreground leading into the light background that helps make this my favorite shot of the day. The trees and shrubs look so well placed to me that they almost appear staged. What else is the barely seen native woman collecting wood in the center. It was unclear as we watched whether she was collecting wood for the evening fire or laying out pieces of wood to dry.

On the bus ride back to Otavalo, big sister and I decided that we were going to keep the trip going, and explore a city that neither of us had visited. A city well off the beaten track of most backpackers. A city closer to the boarder into Columbia than to the Quito. We were going to take a solo trip into Ibarra, a town said to be painted all in white.

Breaking apart from the rest of the family was not something we really wanted to do. I think I can say that Gabi and I really love the kids and love traveling with them. But Ibarra was moving in the opposite direction from home, and not knowing what to expect, Gabi and I announced that we would continue on as the remaining family came home. Tony was asleep when he left, Zoila was sad to see us go and was overly dramatic about our departure as was expected, and Emilie sort of shut down, She'a obviously disappointed about being left behind and not joining her older siblings out on a new adventure. That's understandable. All the same, Gabi and I said our sleepy, overacted, and passive goodbyes, hugged the adults and walked to the bus station to set out a new course.

It was just like one year ago exactly, when sis and I teamed up to explore the Japanese highlands.

We arrived well after dark to a foreign bus terminal and no contact. We weren't quite sure what to see first or where to start, but we knew we had to settle in for a hotel. First thing is first.  

The great mountain that Ibarra rests up against. 

It took us a while to find. We had to stumble around and reason over whether or not we ought to trust a cab to take us to find a worthwhile hotel. Eventually after about thirty minutes of walking around the lit street in and out of the bus terminal. we invited ourselves into a book stand where we made friends with the owner right away. Perfect. He told us that there were indeed many hotels near by that we could stay in cheaply. Now pointed in the right direction, we strapped on our bags and carried on into the night with nothing more than good direction and unsure hopes. 

Really at this point. I was not being too selective. I wanted a place with a lock on the door, and bed. Gabi didn't sound too far off from my mark too. And we did find a place, a great spot. Short walk away, wifi, two beds and cable TV. No time for any of that now, we put our bags down and opted to walk around this mystery city. There was no time to waste.

On edge at first, its always a little uneasy to walk down a strange street in a strange town late at night. Over some blocks of walking, Gabi and I exchanged how and why we felt that this was a safe town and why the initial tense feeling was fading, My explanation was simple: there were cute girls out. To me, seeing a good deal of cute girls walking out late meant that there was a low chance that drunks or pushy guys would be around. The local cute girls would surely not be out if that were the case. But, here they were. It was at least, safe enough for them, and that was good enough for me. 

We walked until we got hungry again, so not very long. And we stumbled into what would be our return food shop for the next two days. Here we ate tortillas de verde, one filled with cheese and the other filled with chorrizo. We ate good that night, and regretted not taking a few of these treats back with us to the hotel to eat in the night/morning. 


And so that was that. We arrived in Ibarra and after a walk and some food returned to our hotel were the TV was turned on as eye lids were closed.

-A