Back to Ecuador 2018

My casita in the back yard of the Vinueza/Quilumbaqui family.

I missed Ecuador last year because I was doing a series of long walks in Europe (click here and scroll back to June, July and August 2017).  Now I'm happy to be back at the casita in Cotacachi for this summer.

Morning view of 16,000-foot Mount Cotacachi from my front yard

View of 15,000-foot Mount Imbabura from my back window

On a really clear day I can see 19,000-foot glacier-capped Mount Cayambe from my back window

I arrived on June 3rd and started settling in.  One of the first tasks was to stock the pantry and refrigerator. As I went from store to market in the center of town, a Paseo de Chagras (Cowboy Parade) was taking place.

The kids on stick horses had great fun leading the parade.

I had lots to do, so I didn't stick around for long, but I enjoyed seeing the horses prancing up the road.  They would later do their fancier strutting at their destination in the nearby town of Quiroga.

Elegant horse and rider

Walking back home from "downtown",  this is the view down the lane I live at the end of:

The street where I live

The next day I took one of my favorite hikes - about 8.5 miles around the Cuicocha crater lake. Since this was only my second day living at 8,000 feet and the hike ranged from 9,100 to 10.350 feet, with lots of ups and downs, I took it easy and did the circuit in about 4 hours. Then after a restaurant lunch shared with a woman from Ecuador and her boyfriend from Russia, I walked about 6 miles back to Cotacachi.

Lake Cuicocha

Flower along the trail

Peninsula in the lake

Subtropical Lady butterfly along the trail

Rufous Bumblebee along the trail

View of Mount Imbabura as I walked down to Cotacachi

On the morning of Day 3 I met up with my friend Clare and we went for a short but lovely hike on the outskirts of town.  We walked past this building that I've seen and photographed many times.  I was intrigued by it's connection to an aqueduct, and had never been able to find out what it was used for.  But when a I posted this pic of Facebook, I finally found out.  A friend pointed out that t's located in the village of El Batáa - whose name means "the fulling mill"; it was a mill for processing and cleaning wool by means of water-powered hammers.

El Batán - the fulling mill.

Shortly after I got home from some more shopping, I saw an announcement on FB that there was a concert in the town museum, so I headed back out for a lovely concert for flutes and piano by musicians from the U.S.A., Belgium, Brazil, Norway and Japan. What an unexpected treat!

On the 6th I took a nice loop walk up a newly paved road and a scenic cobblestone road, looping back down on a dirt road.

Sheep with a view of Imbabura, which I climbed 2 years ago.

Behind the burro, on the right, is Mount Fuya Fuya, which I've also climbed.

Up a cobbled road toward Mount Cotacachi, whose peak is hidden in the clouds

Two very different generations walking up the road.

There's a canyon on the edge of town that I like to explore, known as the Quebrada Piava.  It's a good area for spotting birds, butterflies, bromeliads and wildflowers.

The canyon, with Imbabura above.

The Rio Ambi flows through it.

Sparkling Violetear Hummingbird

Pale Yellow butterfly

Cup and Saucer flower (Cobaea scandens)

 Here's a sampling of the many bromeliads in the canyon:

The Quebrada Piava extends far to the north, and in a side canyon below the village of Piava Chupa is a lovely waterfall.  I hiked there on June 11th.

As I hiked there, the summit of Cotacachi was visible amid the clouds.

Along the road I walked between two canyons were lots of these Lion's Mane flowers

Climbing down into the Piava canyon, I spotted three different varieties of bromeliad all in a row.

And there were orchids.....

...as well as a space alien descending from the sky  (OK - it was a spider on its invisible web).

I ate my lunch at the base of the Sisa Faksha waterfall

And of course it was nice to spot a tropical buckeye butterfly.

 On the 12th, my friend Clare was going to the bank in Otavalo, so I went with her.  We had lunch and coffee, then headed up into the hills above town, ending up at the Peguche waterfall after descending a steep and rutted mountain bike trail.

Walking toward Imbabura

 

Shepherdess with sheep and dogs

Cotacachi rising above a field

Rolling Hills

Streak-throated bush tyrant in the woods

Clare in front of the Peguche waterfall.

When I first came to Cotacachi 3 years ago, I started a hiking group., Cotacachi Hikers.  Unfortunately, almost no hikes happen when I'm away - so it was time to reactivate the group..  I led the first hike on  June  15th.  There were only 3 of us, but we enjoyed a nice hike down to the Rio Ambi in the Quebrada Piava then looped around back to Parque San Francisco, enjoying great views and pleasant company.

Happy Hikers:  Burton, Steve and me

There's a big wasp I often see on my walks here.  Tarantula hawk wasps are relatively docile and rarely sting without provocation - but n terms of scale, it's sting is rated near the top of the Schmidt sting pain index, second only to that of the bullet ant.  It's described by Schmidt as "blinding, fierce[, and] shockingly electric".   I'm careful not to provoke them!!!

Tarantula Hawk wasp

On the outskirts of Cotacachi is a wonderful children's home, with a lovely little theater.  Steve Donoso organizes a weekly showing of fascinating movies there as a fundraiser for the home. Today's feature was "Thousand Pieces of Gold".  And of course I walked there, taking the back lanes.

View from a lane to the church on the main square

Brugmansia blossom along the road

As I walked home, the light was golden on a little walled estate that I passed:

On June 17th I took a walk part-way up the old Cuicocha road, then looped back on a parallel road.  I was checking the route for a future  Cotacachi Hikers event.  Along the way there were lots of flowers:

Wasp on yellow flowers

Field of purple wild radish flowers - with a young bull.

Yellow flowers with Mount Imbabura

And here's the group of Cotacachi Hikers who did this hike on June 20th:

Chuck, Susan, Catherine, Malkum, Sue and Burton

On the 18th Clare and I walked up through a eucalyptus forest on the slopes of Mount Cotacachi, then looped back down on country lanes - and stopped for ice cream at the Cuckoo's Nest.

We came upon a row of beehives - and bushwhacked a bit to avoid walking right in front of them:

We also saw non-stinging insects - like this butterfly:

Of course I had to go for a hike on the Summer Solstice - so I took a walk on a loop I'd done before, but this time I was evaluating it as a route for Cotacachi Hikers.

Dahlias long the road

Looking back down the road toward Imbabura.

Male western emerald hummingbird

"Inca Earring" flowers.

On the 22nd  I spent some time wandering around down in the Quebrada Piava. I went in a different direction, crossed the Rio Ambi on a make-shift foot bridge, and did a loop out to the highway and back.

The trail I took was at times quite overgrown - i had to duck through tunnels of foliage

Tip of a giant scouring rush.

Seed Pod

Dragonfly

That evening there was lovely alpenglow on Mount Cayambe's glaciers:

Cayambe from my back window (with zoom)

In the morning, fields near my casita were being plowed - and lots of cattle egrets were there to snatch up whatever grubs were turned up.

The local cattle egrets, normally pure white, are now in their breeding plumage.

On the 24th, Clare and I hired a truck to take us way up above the village of El Topo, then hiked on a trail that followed a water supply line over toward Lake Cuicocha. We descended on a trail that took us through a family plot with bee hives - and the owners gave us a ride down to Quiroga, just a short bus ride from Cotachi.

As I left the house in the morning, I was greeted by "Mr. Ed".

Clare as we started walking

Parasitic plant, with gorgeous blossoms, growing on a shrub - possibly a type of mistletoe?

Field of ripening graim, with Mount Imbabura

A nightshade family member, I believe

On the trail

Tiny jewel-like flowers

 The church on the main square of Cotacachi.  It's normally pretty quiet here.

But the local indigenous communities here - decendants of the Incas - are in the midst of celebrating the Festival of the Sun. During the celebration of Inti Raymi, they dance around the four corners of the main park in Cotacachi. This is known as the taking of the square (toma de la plaza). It’s a symbolic taking back of the land that was once theirs.  On various days, children, women and men (sometimes the groups are mixed) take turns dancing around the plaza.  On the 25th, it was the men's turn:

Men of a nearby barrio making their way to the main square.

Dancers in the square

Dancing in a huge circle at a corner of the square

Musicians (the one in the colorful hat is a member of my landlords' extended family).

My friend and landlord, Alfredo, obviously having a blast

 And with the celebration of Inti Raymi, I'll end this post.