Voy a la Quito: Otavalo

This weekend our group went to Otavalo, a small city north of Quito. On our way we stopped at the Equator (see pictures below). Otavalo is a market town. Literally. On Saturday, most of the streets downtown are closed off and tents are set up for miles. Most of the venders are indigenous people who come into town for the weekend to sell their animals, crops, textiles or crafts. Some of the most shocking goods were the animals. You want a chicken? Which one? Oh, that one? Ok. Let me kill it for you right here real quick so you can carry it around while you shop for shoes for your kids. (See picture below of the stack of de-feathered chickens piled up for purchase… in the hot sun). The textiles and crafts were beautiful. The name of the game in Otavalo is bargaining, which, unfortunately, I’m not so great at in Spanish. Although I was proud to find out that I paid $11 for a duffle bag when another girl in my program (with better Spanish skills) paid $15 for a similar bag.

After Otavalo, we went to Cotachachi, or the leather town. The stores sold leather purses, wallets, shoes, jackets, panchos and pretty much anything else you can think of that you might need in leather. Outside of Cotachachi there is a beautiful lake that has two small islands in the middle. I took a boat ride around the lake with a couple of the other girls. Close to the islands you can see volcanic gases bubbling up in the water. It was really interesting. Our tour guide told us that no birds or fish live in that area.