Back in Mexico 2018

Plaza Grande in Patzcuaro

I arrived back in Patzcuaro on December 2nd and got settled into the nice little casita I'm renting behind the Galeria del Arcangel, in the same neighborhood near the basilica where I was last winter.

The living room, with a fireplace on the right, a wall of glass looking into the courtyard on the left and the stairway up to the sun room and bedrooms against the back wall

The cozy sun room, which warms up nicely after the cold nights.

My bedroom, with its own bathroom and a view out the window over the rooftops of Patzcuaro and also down into the neighbor's courtyard garden.

The guest bedroom has a double bed, its own bathroom and these views out the window:

The neighbor's garden

View over the rooftops to the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Guadalupe

I enter my little house through the gallery, which is separated from my place by a little courtyard:

Gallery to the left, my place on the right.

As many of you already know, Patzcuaro is a lovely little city, with a well-preserved colonial center.  Here are a couple of scenes in this Pueblo Magico (Magic Town, an official designation):

The 16th-century El Sagrario church

Calle Ahumada, which leads to the Plaza Grande, decorated with piñatas for the holidays

The Plaza Grande is now festively decorated for the holidays, with an enormous nativity scene and other splashes of color:

At night, a smaller tree of lighted woven globes - with the big tree under golden lights

In the fountain at the feet  of Bishop Quiroga float canoes filled with poinsettias.

Scatted around the plaza are the giant figures of the nativity scene, some traditional, others adding local flavor:

Figures with masks and headdresses

Wise man with camel

Wise man with elephant

Of course, soon after I arrived I had to get out hiking!  The first full day was spent settling in and stocking the pantry and fridge, but the next day I was climbing El Estribo, the small volcano on the edge of town:

View down to the island of Janitzio in Lake Patzcuaro

Having just arrived at this higher elevation - Patzcuaro is at about 7,000 feet above sea level - I didn't take the 417 steps up to the rim of the crater, but instead I followed the dirt road around the upper reaches of the volcano:

A view from the road.

The next day it was wonderful to meet up with my friends  Henriette and  Basil and go for a loop hike through Mal Pais, the forest that was covered in lava from erupting twin volcanoes over 400 years ago. I like to go soon after I arrive to catch the blooming of the last of the orchids.

I did get to see several clumps of blooming orchids, which seemed to be of 2 different species:

On Thursday the 6th I took a bus to the state capital, Morelia, and spent the night at the home of my friends Pat and Kim.  In the evening we went to a pop-up cantina, enjoying drinks and eating delicious little snacks prepared by Fermin, a chef and fellow hiker and the owner of Tata Mezcaleria, Trip Advisor’s #2-rated restaurant in Morelia. And I ate my first roasted crickets!

Selfie by Fermin, with me, Dolf, Pat and Kim.

The next day I joined Pat, Dolf, Maria and Fermin for a lovely hike in the mountains above Morelia. The group has changed since last winter, with some very nice younger people joining - but the pace of the hiking has picked up. I'm fine with longer and more challenging hikes, but I like to be able to take my time and stop to enjoy the views, examine interesting things I spot along the way, and of course take photos. So I'll have to see how hiking with this group works out for me this year.

Pat, Fermin, Maria and Dolf in the heights

Mistletoe flowers. They're usually gone by by the time I arrive, but the rains have continued longer than usual this year and have kept things greener and more colorful

Hiking through a field of little red flowers.

On Sunday the 9th I took a combi out to Arócutin and had a nice visit with my friend Francis and her husband Rodolfo. Plans were made for hikes! Then I walked over to the wetlands on the road out to Jaracuaro for some bird-watching, but not many were around; I'll need to go back another time earlier in the day.

My favorite view by the bridge to Jaracuaro - a canal with dramatic mountains in the background

Tree dahlias, so-called because they grow on a tall shrub, but they're not true dahlias.

While recently looking up El Estribo (the volcano I frequently climb) on Google Maps, I saw a reference to El Estribo Chico. located on the lower slopes of Cerro Blanco - so I had to go investigate.  A short walk up a cobbled road leads to a beautiful look-out with a pavilion:

View between the pillars of the pavilion to the island of Janitzio.

Mexican silverspot butterfly along the road.

On Sunday the 11th, after a nice hike, Basil, Henriette and I

ate at El Marino, a new seafood restaurant, where the food was delicious and reasonably priced. And then the friendly Mexican family at the next table had the waiter bring us a huge pan of food and 6 beers! We thanked them profusely and each drank a beer and ate what we could - but we felt bad that we were so full we couldn't possible finish it all!

Basil and I with the beers and food (Photo by Henriette)

On the 18th,  Basil, Henriette and I took a nice 12.5-mile hike from Eronga to Zarzamora and back on dirt roads, grassy lanes and a stretch of pavement.

View up on the plateau

View from Zarzamora of Lake Patzcuaro

On the 19th I joined the exploratory hike and enjoyed the views:

Over the wall near the beginning.

Wishing Happy Holidays to one and all!

Final Weeks in Ecuador 2018

View over a field of quinoa to Mount Imbabura on a recent hike

Because of the move I hadn't been out hiking for several days. So on August 7th I took a short hike looping up to Topo Grande and back - mostly on dirt tracks, one of which was new to me.  This view from that hike gives a good idea of how icy the peak of Cotacachi has been lately:

That evening there was beautiful sunset light on Mount Imbabura:

The next day I led 4 other hardy Cotacachi Hikers up the steep trail on the hill above Otavalo to get to the Condor Park and back - about 10 miles in all

At the condor park we saw a couple of impressive Andean Condors as well as many other raptors housed in large outdoor enclosures.

Andean Condor

Condor close-up

Little owls in one of the enclosures

We also watched a demonstration in an outdoor arena, with owls, hawks and eagles.

Raptor in flight

As we walked back down to Otavalo, on the more gently sloping cobbled road, we passed women working in a field above Lake San Pablo. 

The next morning I took this selfie as I was eating breakfast out on the roof.  I posted it on Facebook, and for some reason it got more likes than any profile pic I've ever posted:

On August 11th Cotacachi celebrated Muyu Raymi - the Festival of Seeds.  I love the colorful displays of various seeds and produce laid out on the main square:

On the grill at the festival: pork chops and guinea pig (an Andean specialty I’ve eaten three times):

On August 12th five of us hired a van to take us to the town of Urcuqui and up a steep winding road as far as it could go. Then we hiked up the road to a trail that took us to a lovely little alpine lake at about 13,000 feet. After enjoying a leisurely lunch, we strolled back down to just below where the van had dropped us off and were able to call a guy to take us back down to a bus stop in his pick-up truck.

View down and across the valley to Imbabura

Hiking up into the paramo, the high grasslands

The little alpine lake, Laguna de Albugui

Patricia, Dennis, Clare and Elin enjoying lunch near the lake

Paramo and Peak

  Paramo flowers:

 And a couple views on the way back down:

On August 14th I celebrated my 70th birthday. I had a nice mellow day, enjoying a hike with my friend Clare, who then took me out for a very non-Ecuadorian lunch of falafel and hummus at El Bohemio. 

The next day I had passion fruit birthday cake at Eddie's coffee shop and enjoyed a walk through the countryside:

Pastoral Scene

My friend Marcelo had invited me to dinner for another birthday celebration that evening at his B&B.  I took a trail to get there, to avoid the dusty dirt road.

Looking back to Cotacachi from the trail

 

My friend Marceo - he cooked a delicious dinner.

Me & friend Franz - before we cut the wild blueberry birthday cheesecake.

On the 17th my friend Clare and I took a bus to the pueblo of Iluman, then a taxi to the top of the mountainside town. From there we walked over to and then up a narrow ridge above a canyon on Mount Imbabura.

Lovely pastures om Imbabura

Clare ahead of me on the trail up the ridge. When the narrow trail got to where it hugged the edge of the steep canyon wall, I had to turn around.

Clare - happy on the trail.

Neo-tropical blueberry flowers along the trail

 On the 18th I'd been inside most of the day, working on a new blog post (the one previously published), so I needed to get out for a walk. And I rewarded myself with a cone of home-made tiramisu gelato.

Probably the nicest street in Cotacachi, with a fancy hotel and the Museum of Culture on the right and the old convent on the left.

This arupo tree on the main plaza is at the height of its glory, and frames one of the oldest buildings in town.

On the 19th I led a group of 20 friendly Cotacachi Hikers down into the quebrada of the Rio Ambi . I'll be leading one more hike on Wednesday, August 29th, before I head back to Vermont. Several people have said they'd be willing to lead hikes when I'm gone, so I'm hopeful that the hikes will continue.

We set a new record, with 20 hikers!

When I got up on the morning of the 21st, the sky was clear - so I decided it was a good day for a Cuicocha hike.  I ate breakfast and hailed a taxi - and by the time I reached the trail at 7:20, the summit of Mount Cotacachi was in the clouds

The trail passed a passel of llamas:

Egrets were sunning themselves in the early morning rays:

View to distant mountains above a field of gold

Lake Cuicocha, with Mount Imbabura in the distance

 

Under a big leaf along the trail

The flower of one of those big-leafed plants

More flowers along the trail:

An especially nice example of Tristerix longebracteatus, a member of the showy mistletoe family 

I love the unusual color of this flower on a bromeliad bloom stalk.

 I saw some other nice bromeliads, too:

 I managed to photograph a couple of butterflies (they can be pretty elusive!):

Andean Blue

Chilean Arrow White

And I finally managed to get a shot  of a lizard - they've usually disappeared by the time I can point my camera:

After  the 5.5-hour circuit of the lake, with lots of ups and downs - and a break for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the lake - it was an almost 3-hour walk back to Cotacachi.  I was a bit fatigued....

Thatch-roofed shed I passed as I walked back to Cotacachi

I guess I didn't get in enough hiking on the 21st - so on the 22nd I joined my friend Clare for a jaunt up & up through the woods above Jahua Pacha to where we could get to the other side of a deep ravine and make our way back down to Cotacachi. In this photo of Imbabura the variety of lupines in the foreground produces edible beans called chochos that are very popular here:

On the 25th I couldn't decide where to go for a hike, so I walked out the door and wandered, ending high up on the lower slopes of Cotacachi in fields of quinoa.

I was walking up a dirt road with not much to see because of high banks on both sides when I turned around and saw this: the 19,000-foot glacier-covered summit of the Cayambe volcano:

And in the other direction, the icy peak of Cotacachi was peaking out over an intervening ridge:

I ended up skirting the edge of a huge field of quinoa, with seed heads in a variety of colors.

Close-up of a quinoa seed head

Looking over a field of quinoa to harvested fields of grain and corn

 The best view, however, was the one I placed at the top of this post - and I think it merits posting again:

Many walls in Cotacachi bear lovely murals.  Here are just a few examples:

On the 28th, as the sun was setting the village of Iluman was gloriously illuminated:

On the 29th I led my final Cotacachi Hikers outing, taking the group up onto the lower slopes of Mount Cotacachi.  We had done this walk before, but I had discovers some new lanes to give it a little variety.

The happy hikers

I headed back to Vermont on August 31st - after enjoying a final sunrise view from my rooftop terrace: