Hola desde Ecuador!

For this week’s excursion our group headed to a local city of Otavalo.  On Wednesday we took the public bus into the city and walked to our hostel. It was so beautiful, with a rustic feel and trees residing in the large garden that became our common. We then headed to the Plaza de Ponchos where the huge market was set up. We practiced our spanish through bartering and discussing different items with the vendors. For lunch we went to a Mexican restaurant and then went to a condor rehabilitation center. This place had many birds (even a bald eagle)! We watched a bird and learned about many species. The birds were completely free and would fly and jump around the open area and then come back. 50% of the birds that come to this place are rehabilitated and go back to wild. After our visit, we went back to the hostel and had a couple hours to relax. Some of the group went to buy organic Ecuadorian chocolate and some went to a coffee shop to indulge in delicious ice coffee and WiFi. We had a delicious dinner and slept soundly in our beds. The next day we had more time to finish shopping. Everyone is preparing for Cotopaxi so most of us bought ponchos or ruanas made from alpacas to keep us warm. Around 10 am the group got together to start the first ever Amazing Race Otavalo! The group divided in groups of 5 or 6 and had some tasks to accomplish and some questions to answer. It was an amazing way to get to know Otavalo and its historical value. Some of the tasks included buying something for everyone in the group for 2 dollars, finding the 2 main churches, learning how to say certain phrases in Quichua and practicing Spanish with the locals. The winning group who arrived back at the meeting point first, and had completed the whole race:

Axel, Lucy M., Neil and Caroline

They they got a delicious prize of Nutella and Doritos, a definite favorite in our group.

It was a great excursion and the group really enjoyed the shopping time, the restaurants, warm showers and their beds!

-Juliana & Lawrence