Flight and drive to: Octavalo market, Peghehe waterfall, indigenous textiles, and Cotacachi Cayapas

PHOTO ALBUM —>> https://photos.app.goo.gl/h3JpZWhPeRLVJpGr9

Maria picked us up bright and early in the morning at the crazy hour of 5:30am. She and her friend drove us to the airport in Cuenca. There we boarded a flight to Quito. The flight was at 6:50am and an easy half hour later we were landing. Milton, who had driven back to Quito met us at the airport.

We drove with Milton towards our next destination:

Otavalo

Driving along the Pan American highway, Milton kept to his informative dialogue telling us all about the surrounding countryside. He 1st stopped at:

Mirador El Pisque

El Mirador is a scenic viewpoint and the peak of the inactive Sincholagua volcano can be seen.

The view is wonderful, you feel as if you are on top of the world. Milton pointed out that this is a dry region, (rain shadow), thus all the cacti.

A bit further along we stopped for breakfast at a roadside cafe. The choices of buns and rolls were all Ecuadorian, some with cheeses, some sweet, some savory. Once again all was delicious served with hot cocoa, teas and coffee.

Back on the road we saw more green houses for the flower exports and of course beautiful bunches of flowers for sale.

And then we arrived in Octavalo and our very nice hotel Hostel Dona Esther.

Milton left us there after recommending we get out and see what was happening.

So, out we went and we walked to the town square where there were festivities happening. A band was playing music and there was a procession taking place.

We were not sure what the occasion was, but guessing it was a wedding or engagement of type, as in the center was a young woman with cash pinned to her clothing.

We had a very nice lunch and then walked around the town square enjoying the architecture and seeing the indigenous in their differing clothing, style of dress. Milton had told us each town group wears different colour hats and blankets.

Otavalo market

The main attraction of Octavalo is the market, this was our next stop. Otavalo is known around the world as the home of the largest market in South America. The people in this region have been weavers and artisans since before Incan times.

The artisanal products are handmade by talented local artisans and master craftsmen. You can find everything from intricate ceramics to musical instruments made with wood from the nearby cloud forest and various textiles and clothing items.

I loved the differing jewelry stalls with earrings made with silver and butterfly wings, beaded armbands and earrings made from minuscule beads woven into intricate designs. The textiles ranged from hand woven materials to alpaca and lama wool scarfs all immaculately made.

It was really a sensory over load wandering the market stalls, so much so we had to take a break, go for a hot cocoa and then go back. Many of the artisans wanted to talk about their various crafts and artwork so we spent several hours in this market, even so we never got to see it all.

We again strolled around the town enjoying the atmosphere, the sights, the architecture, and so much more!

The next day our driver was Jose, we hadn’t seen him for a week and it was good to catch up with him. He first took us to:

The Peguche Waterfall

We walked from the carpark along a wonderfully, lush, green pathway. Everywhere was green and shaded by tall, tall trees while winding alongside a river. After a while we could see the waterfall in the distance.

The Peguche Waterfall is 18 meters, (55ft), high and surrounded by lush green vegetation, which creates a very photogenic spot. We spent a while just wandering around the bottom of the waterfall. Jose told us that the river pools are used for purification rituals during religious festivals.

We could see petals from roses by the side of the river, he said that they were probably from a wedding. Also, the indigenous locals follow the sun calendar and believe taking cleansing baths here a few days before the Inti Raymi ceremony, will give them strength and chase away evil spirits.

We next took a pathway up to a platform further up the waterfall. Again the view was beautiful, so green and lush. Apparently the river that feeds the waterfall rises on the slopes of the Imbabura volcano at an elevation of 8,760 feet.

On our way back down we passed a sun calendar that the locals have that tells them the time of season. There are 28 days in their months.

Our next stop was at a textile weaver’s shop and “factory”

We were shown two different methods of weaving that the local indigenous use to make the amazing textiles. The first one was for one of the wall hangings or cloths.

The lady doing the weaving was so quick I could not get a photo as it was just a blur of movement.

She also showed us how the alpaca or lama fur comes in just a heap, so 1st it is brushed. They use a brush that is made from the teasel plant seed pods.

Next we were shown how the fur is spun into woolen strands. Ladies can be seen walking around doing this as it becomes second nature to them as they are taught from young girls.

The dying is the next stage, she showed us all the seeds, plant leaves etc that they use to make the various dyes. One red seed she squirted lime on and the dye was instantly in her hand. All of this was fascinating!

She then moved to a larger loom and again demonstrated the weaving. Again her hands moved like lightening back and forth.

Plus the differing levels of the loom changing to form the pattern or picture she was creating. It was quite unbelievable.

We walked around the studio and shop, the textiles were amazing. We did buy a few items, but I could have easily bought just so many.

It was lunch time and Jose suggested a very nice restaurant. The decor was very colourful and our food excellent. Again John and I tried a different fruit juice, I believe it was from the soursap fruit which was delicious.

Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve and the Cuicocha Lagoon

Next on our day’s agenda was a visit to the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve and the Cuicocha Lagoon. The lagoon is a volcanic crater with brilliantly, colorful, turquoise, water.

It sits at the foot of Cotacachi Volcano in the Cordillera Occidental of the Ecuadorian Andes, near the Colombian border. In its center, it has volcanic domes that peak above the surface of the lake. The word ‘cuicocha’ means in the indigenous Kichwa language lake of guinea pigs, because of the shape of these islands.

There are hot mineral springs that feed into the lake thus the colour. Unfortunately it wasn’t such a sunny day so the lake was a bit dull, but the scenery was lovely.

We had a very nice walk along a portion of the rim and enjoyed looking down on the lake. I was again very interested in the flowers I saw, having never seen any like them before.