Final Week in Ecuador - August 2016

New Snow on the Summit of Mount Cotacachi

Well, I did it again:  I never got around to posting about my final week in Ecuador back in August, so here it goes:

On the evening of August 5th I attended a wonderful 80th birthday party for Micky Enright, the founder of Ecuador Project Hope, which provides breakfast 5 days a week for very poor local elders. Michael D'Addio donated the use of his elegant home in San Miguel for the happy event, which featured Micky's family and friends, tasty food, Chilean wines and, surprisingly, a Mariachi Band! It was lots of fun with a great group of people, and Micky seemed to be having a ball in her tiara and pink-tinted hair - which she so deserved to do!
You can read about the program Micky founded - and where I volunteer - at http://ecuadorprojecthope.com/ - where you can also make a donation to this worthy cause.

On August 10th, four of us (Clare Fitzgerald, her husband Rod, Michael Bramble and I) hired my landlord Alfredo to drive us to the El Angel Reserve, north of Cotacachi and up at about 12,500 feet. We were glad to have Alfredo and his son Inti join us for the 2-kilometer loop hike to the lake. The highlight of the reserve is the plethora of frailejones, fascinating plants found only in this corner of Ecuador and in the high paramo of Colombia, where I had seen them in 2012.

Frailejones around the Lake

Close-up of Blooming Frailejon

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To the left in the pic above is a puya plant, which sends up a very tall flower stalk with thousands of flowers (all gone by when we visited). Puyas are a favorite food of the Andean Spectacled Bear - which we unfortunately didn't see.

The Lakeshore

Alfredo and Inti climbing the hill above the lake

Me by a tall frailejon. 

A ranger told us that when young, the plants grow only about 1 centimeter a year - and about 3 centimeters a year after they reach a meter in height. So this specimen is probably at least 80 years old (the plant, not me!)

Here are a few of the flowers that we saw at the reserve:

Half of the group drove the 13 kilometers back down to the town of El Angel, but Clare, Rod and I walked almost all the way back before Alfredo picked ups up a couple Ks above the town.

Clare Heading Down

Lovely curvaceous pattern of agricultural fields on the way down

That evening my friend and landlady Rosa Elena brought me a plate of beans with a bit of tasty roast guinea pig - fitting end to another lovely day in Ecuador.

The next day my friend Elin and I went up to Loma Negra and took old roads that went up alongside the hill and became a trail heading up a canyon.

Field of grain and mountains

Little house on the "prairie"

Looking up toward the heights of Mount Cotacachi

Me by a big ol' flowering plant near the stream where we ate our lunch.

This is the valley we went up, following a trail built to maintain a pipe that brings water down to villages from way up the valley

Elin in some woods the trail passed through

Lantana hedge along the trail as we walked back down to Imantag to catch a bus.

Muyu Raymi is Quichua for the Festival of Seeds, which was being celebrated in the main square on the 13th.  As I headed into town for the festival, I passed the town cemetery.

Cemetery and Mount Imbabura

 I also witnessed the "Sermon on the Mount":  the statue atop the church, with snow-capped Mama Cotacachi in the background

At the fair, an indigenous family with their seeds

Indigenous women with their seeds

Multi-colored corn

That afternoon I attended an indigenous wedding at the invitation of my landlords Rosa Elena and Alfredo, godparents of the couple's daughter and co-sponsors of the celebration.  Before the wedding, the wedding party danced around the couple (in shawls) and their daughter in front of the church. It's common for indigenous couples here to live together and have children before they get officially married by the church.

There were 10 female & 10 male attendants. Most indigenous men here wear their hair long and in a ponytail or braid - though I've seen an occasional man-bun.

Younger Attendants

After the couple exchanged vows, Rosa Elena and Alfredo placed a single shawl over the two of them, symbolizing their new official status as a married couple.

The lovely bride after the ceremony

Alfredo and Rosa Elena led the procession from the church to the couple's house for the reception

At a few intersections, the wedding party paused to dance around the couple again. The indigenous women usually wear a white blouse with colorful floral embroidery and a dark wrap-around skirt, even when just walking to town or doing chores.

Alfredo's and Rosa Elena's son Inti played the wooden flute during the march to the reception.

At the reception, the main members of the wedding party - bride, groom, padrinos (godparents) and parents, I believe - each took turns kneeling before each of the other members for a blessing (At least I think that's what was going on). The whole process of settling in, blessings, gifts, and serving food courses took a long time. The boy in front of me passed the time by attacking me with his super-robot.

We ate a hearty meal - served in a bucket-brigade process while guests sat in plastic chairs facing the wedding party. We were served soup, then roast pork with potatoes, corn and a little salad, then a thick sweet colada with bread.

At one point guests brought gifts to the bride and groom at the front of the wedding tent. Some brought wrapped presents while many others brought large trays of eggs or cases of cola (what they call all soda here) or beer, to be used for further celebrations in the morning.

The wedding cake originally had just a bride & groom on top - but that was replaced with bride, groom and daughter.

I didn't stay for the dancing; just the sound-check for the band was so loud it shook the ground. I could actually hear them quite well at my casita, half a kilometer away.

The next morning, my friend and landlady Rosa Elena  brought me a delicious omelette as a birthday breakfast treat. How sweet! I had already eaten my usual toast with peanut butter and banana, so I saved it for lunch.  Later in the morning I was  leading an easy last  hike for Cotacachi Hikers  - and then I had to get packing, as I was flying back to the States that night!  Adios, Ecuador.