I should probably preface this by letting you know we were heading to Ecuador for my cousin’s wedding. We had a party of 13: Rachel & Marv (bride & groom), Aunt Kathy (brides mom) Uncle Briggs & Pat (father of the bride & stepmom), Pam (stepmoms sister), Nana (brides paternal grandmother), Teresa (mother of the groom), Erin (brides sister), Lindsay (brides best friend), Casey (friend of the bride), and finally, Jamie & I (brides cousin & her husband).
We left Omaha on Monday, May 29th after prolonged delays, arrived in Houston and were stranded. We missed the only flight on Continental out to Quito. So we spent our first night in Quito, Ecuador at the Wyndham in Houston, TX. The flight out the next day was completely booked so Continental booked us through Miami on American. We arrived in Quito around 9:00pm on Tuesday.
Our driver was waiting for us. We made the 90 minute drive to the Hacienda Cusin in the dark. So our first exposure to Ecuador was nothing but a few lights at night. This was a little unnerving since I’d never been in a non-English speaking place, it was dark, I was trusting a complete stranger who’s first words (other than “hello” and “my name is Angel”) were “lock the door”. I’m sure it was the longest 90 minutes of this wonderful mans life. I speak a little Spanish. By little I mean, I took a few years in high school a long time ago and had been listening to lessons while I worked out. Angel (pronounced on-hell for those of you who don’t speak Spanish) must be the most patient person on earth. I very animatedly tried to ask a million questions on the drive and he very patiently tried to answer them. There were a few miscommunications since he didn’t speak any English and my Spanish is somewhat choppy (to be generous).
When we arrived at Hacienda Cusin, our sheets were turned down, with hot water bottles, there was a fire lit in the fireplace and a snack on the dresser. We were up bright and early the next morning to check out the premises. We had a private garden cottage with amazing vegetation (the flowers and trees on all the grounds were absolutely beautiful). We found the reception desk to check in. Yes, that’s right we checked in after being there for the night. The reception workers and most of the dining staff spoke at least some English but I tortured them all by trying my best to speak their native language.
We found the rest of the party, had some breakfast and then headed out on horseback with Lindsay, Casey, Erin and our guide who did not speak English. Luckily, for him and us, both Lindsay and Casey speak very good Spanish. We rode up into the mountains along the volcano, had amazing views of San Pablo del Lago (the town and lake near the Hacienda), saw the natives working the fields, experienced the wild dogs, and asked a ton of questions. It seemed everyone in the mountains owned pigs (We ate a lot of pork while we were there).
Wednesday afternoon, the whole party went to the pyramids: Parque Arqueologico de Investigacion Cientifica Cochasqui. This was a really interesting place to see. The pyramids are not was you typically think of. They do not come to a point like those in Egypt. Instead, they come up a few tiers and then are flat across the top. There were 14 all together of various sizes and the tops were reached by long ramps like the tail of a scorpion. The layout also reflects the shape of a scorpion and all the tails point towards a scorpion constellation. There were multiple burial mounds near the south end of the “tail”. There were very few artifacts in the museum since the locals had vandalized the largest looking for things of value and then in the 1930’s and 50’s German archeologist came to excavate and illegally sent the artifacts back to Germany.
Originally, there were 572 skulls (very few skeletons) and a variety of artifacts located in the largest of the pyramids. This is the only one that they found with tunnels and chambers. They believe this pyramid was of religous importance and that the skulls were sacraficial since it was only the skulls that were found.
The number and shapes of the pyramids (reflecting the scorpion constellation) as well as clocks found in another pyramid suggest the natives used astrology. Two huge sundials (so to speak) were found in one of the upper pyramids. They are believed to be solar and lunar clocks one representing the hours in the days, they other the months in the year.
Thursday, we went horseback riding again with Casey and Teresa. This time we went through San Pablo del Lago to see some of the town and then past the fields out to the lake. They have 2 large churches, an old one that is no longer used but whose back yard is a grave yard and the new one where services are now held. This one is a nice, happy yellow. The cemetary was also interesting. The tombs were all above ground.
In the mountains, the people lived right next to the fields they worked but all the houses near the fields in the valley were empty even though they were structurally sound. Our guide explained that there is no electricity near the fields so it is easier for the people to live in town and come out to the fields to work. We passed by an old Justice Building (like a courthouse) that was near enough town that it had powerlines running overhead and like the other buildings was structurally sound. However, it was not being used. The explanation is that the natives believe the building to be haunted. They claim to hear voices there at night.
We rode down to the lakefront and saw some locals spearfishing in the creek running to the lake. Now, that takes talent! It was really interesting to actually see where most of your food was coming from. There was a lot of corn fields, some strawberry fields and a variety of tomato and fruit trees. Yes, the tomatos grew on trees. Some of the fields had obvious mounded rows. The pre-Incan people had planted corn on top of the rows and shorter plants such as strawberries or beans in the valley between the rows. Corn was a main staple, used for everything from bread, tortillas and soups to whole ears. It was much meatier than here if that makes any sense and the kernels were huge! The Hacienda owns fields where they grow their own food and grains for the animals. They had stables with horses, guinea hens and turkey. They also had a few llamas on the grounds and two dogs (vaca which means cow who was spotted like a cow and nena which is like a pet name for baby who was a yellow lab).
We asked our guide for a good place to eat that the locals like. We went to Dos Hornos (Two Ovens) for local fare and ordered some common foods. Most of the party had chicken but I ordered fish and Jamie and Casey had the guinea pig. My fish (some kind of local catch) was excellent. Jamie, Casey & I watched them prepare the guinea pig. It was very similar to plucking a chicken except they were pulling fur. For those of you who’ve never eaten the large rodent (it was about the size of a small housecat) it tastes like dark meat on a duck. It was a very fatty meat and we didn’t really know how to eat it. It was de-furred (if that’s a word) but not skinned. We later learned the locals eat the skin, too. So Jamie was trying to peel back the skin, which revealed a great deal of fat and not a lot of meat. The taste however, was not bad and whatever seasonings they used (it was the same as the chicken and fish) was really good. A few members of our group were quite grossed out when Jamie picked it up by the hind legs and broke the hips apart to get to the leg meat. Maybe, it was a bit too primal for them.
Afterwards, we went to the nearby town of Otovalo. They have an open air market in the town square. On the weekends the market extends throughout the side streets as well. We did some shopping, picked up some souvegniers for the family and a great wedding present for Rachel & Marv. There were carved gourds, some with stories, others with just pictures. We found one that had a wedding story: “la historia de matrimonia: indiginous”. We also found some great paintings that we need to get mounted.
In the evenings, we all gathered in the salon and dining room for drinks and dinner together. We all ate together each night at the Hacienda. Jamie and I ordered whatever the staff recommended each night and we always got different dishes so we could try various foods. Obviously, food was a big part of our trip. We wanted to try as many different things as we could and everything was good. Actually, we had one soup that wasn’t good. It wasn’t bad either. It was just kind of bland. Jamie doctored his up with whatever kind of spicy sauce they had on the table for all the meals. Other than that, things were pretty much amazing.
Friday, Jamie and I went to the waterfall: la Cascade de Peguche. It was beautiful and it was nice to have some quiet time alone with Jamie. There were a lot of people along the paths to the fall. It looked like field trips from the local schools. We thought they might be there for the festival but since most of the people were closer to the fall than the town, and based on the dynamics of the groups, field trip seems more likely.
There was a small village near the waterfall that you have to go through to get to the fall. The village was having a small festival: la festiva del familia. It was a celebration of the family with food and dancing. Of course, we had to try the food; it was chunked pork cooked with plantains. It was served in a small plastic bag with potatos and vegetables (tomato, onion & peppers with some sort of vinegar).
Friday afternoon was the wedding. The bride was radiant, of course, even with her hoody on over her dress. If you know Rachel, you know how extremely appropriate this is. The ceremony was perfect: short and to the point. It took place in front of this amazing 16th century tree in the garden.
Since the reception wasn’t until later in the evening a bunch of people headed to the market but Jamie and I enjoyed some quiet time and downloaded all the pictures taken so far (2000+ from everyones cameras). That evening the reception was at the monestary (now converted to a conference center and owned by the Hacienda). A local band came in to play for a while. There were drinks and an amazing dinner. Instead of traditional wedding cake, there was passion fruit pie. Quite appropriate for a wedding, I think.
About the monestary. Like the Hacienda, the grounds were beautiful. There was a very interesting mural across the one wall. It ran the whole length of the building. At the left end over the bar was hell depicted by the devil, demons, skeletons, etc. In the center was the earth with paths leading out either towards hell or to the right toward heaven. The right end obviously was heaven with angels, lots of light and happy people.
Saturday, we all went back to the market in Otovalo. I wanted to get there early enough to see the livestock sale/trade they have on Saturday mornings but with a group that big we didn’t get around early enough. We picked up a few last minute things then headed back to the Hacienda.
Jamie and I checked out and headed back to Quito around noon. We had an early Sunday morning flight. We finally were able to check out the road between San Pablo del Lago and Quito. By the way, road signs and street markers mean absolutely nothing. Despite the fact that the drivers drove extremely fast with no regard for no passing lines, we saw no accidents. The drivers were all very courteous. They would honk when they wanted to pass and the other drivers would simply move over and let them by with a wave. Imagine that in the States.
We checked into the Hilton Colon in Quito, grabbed some buffet lunch (yet again, everything was phenomenal) and then headed out to find the local book store (we’d asked the desk where it was located). We brought back some great books for the boys: a ToddWorld for each of them written in Spanish, Kael’s “Caritas” with faces showing different emotions and Guy’s “Pelos” about all different kinds of hair. We also brought back two more the whole family; one called “Ecuador” which is the story of how the gods created Ecuador and another called “Three Magical Legends from Ecuador”. The last is written in both English and Spanish and will have to wait until the boys are a bit older since two of the stories are a bit scarey.
We checked out a few local shops on the way back to the hotel and I ended up with a great necklace with a couple interchangable charms.
Dinner that night was in the hotels Portofino and again we let the chef decide what to feed us. What a great decision that was. Jamie had a filet mingon that was fantastic, even better than Nebraska beef. I had a seafood meddley; clamari, salmon, lobster and crabcake (each thing separate, not all mixed together). Of course we split both our meals so we could try everything. We splurged with delectible desserts and a great Pinot Noir.
After dinner, we turned in since we had a 6:40am flight in the morning. We got to the airport and ended up with a four hour delay (we’re not real impressed with Continental’s international flights at this point). Once we finally left, we had no problems the rest of the way. Although customs confiscated my agave bulb for my Dad (he loves his garden). I was extremely disappointed with this.
All in all, it was an amazing experience! Words can’t do the beauty justice and the people were wonderful. Everyone was very friendly, accomodating and patient. I would definitely love to go back again when the boys are a little older so they can experience it. Jamie and I have briefly talked about making another trip to see the Galapagos Islands since we didn’t have nearly enough time to see everything. Take a few minutes to check out the links and pictures. It was an incredible trip!