Weekend In and Around Otavalo

Early Saturday morning we left Quito for the small town of Otavalo. Around 50 miles north of Quito, Otavalo is known for its Mercado Artesanal. Although it is open every day, Saturday brings out the most vendors selling a whole host of goods (jewelry, paintings, woodwork, traditional clothing, blankets, etc.). It is not easy distinguishing between the handmade crafts and massed produced crafts. And, as we are just beginning our journey we are both hesitant to add any additional weight to our backpacks. There is also an accompanying food market that has fresh vegetables, as well as vendors selling various cooked food. Also, a bit outside of town there is an animal market where people buy, trade, and sell live animals, though we did not arrive early enough to see it.

What is worth getting is a piece of pie from the Shenandoah Pie Shop, located on the western corner of Plaza de los Ponchos (the main square of Otavalo/Hub of the market).

They have numerous options, from custard (lemon meringue, chocolate, etc.) to fruit (berry, apple, pineapple, etc.). All the pies are baked in large glass pie dishes, deliciously displayed at a glass counter up front. Between that and the tables/chairs it feels like a 1950s diner. Regardless of what type of pie you get, definitely go for a la mode. We had the pineapple pie (warmed up) with vanilla ice cream! 

After perusing the market we booked it to Parque Condor for the 11:30 exhibition. The park sits up above Otavalo where they have a variety of hawks/falcons, eagles, and owls that have been rescued over the last 30 years. The birds and views from the park alone are worth the trip, but the exhibition is by far the highlight. One of the bird handlers brings out bird after bird, discussing each one in depth in Spanish (we understood bits and pieces). While explaining the handler allows the birds to fly around and walk/land in the crowd (this would definitely not fly in the States). We had a bald eagle pretty much glide past our heads! 

Couldn't get a photo when it was right next to us because I was too scared

The Andean Condor has a wingspan of over 10'

From Parque Condor we walked to the Cascada de Peguche (Peguche Waterfall). 

 Cascada de Peguche

The waterfall capped off our first day in Otavalo and served as the location for our second "Who Wore it Best" segment. The next day we headed out early to hike around the Laguna de Cuicocha, which is just outside of Otavalo. Otavalo is in the Imbabura province, which is known as the region of lakes. Cuicocha is a lake inside of a volcanic crater. The hike is a 10 mile loop around the lake with stunning views. Although the lake is only 1,500' higher than Quito, we definitely felt the altitude. 

Laguna de Cuicocho

We found a friend along the way

Cotacachi Volcano in the distance

Wildflowers in bloom along the path

And for our first trip outside of Quito I have to say we did pretty good getting around with our beginner Spanish. We felt comfortable asking for directions, what things are in certain dishes, etc.