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| Connie, Victoria, Pepe, me & Ryan with Cotopaxi in the back |
It was with sadness and expectation for the next leg of our journey that we left the Chiriboga house and Machachi on Sunday. We had a tasty lunch with them in Latacunga and they dropped us off at the bus terminal.
We spent Wednesday through Sunday with Connie, Pepe, Victoria and Sofia, resting up from our time with the Shuar--or more accurately--reconnecting on the internet, iphones and other connective gadgets after our time with the Shuar. As always our beautiful hosts took us on a few adventures while we were with them.
We visited a beautiful
Bosque BomBoli, a cloud forest ecoreserve and natural orchid farm, run by the Chiriboga's good friends, Mariana and Oswaldo. Oswaldo took all of us on a hike up to a waterfall deep in primary cloud forest, carefully pointing out all the orchids that grew on the trees, the areas where the orchids thrived, and talking about the extreme importance of water for life. In Ecuador the people who take care of the land or live off the land do not have the leisure to debate whether or not global warming is real or not, they can see the effects on a daily basis. Changing weather patterns change the times when crops are viable, deforestation in the highlands changes the water supply down below. The waterfall was only a trickle of what once was a much more lively cascade and it was beautiful nonetheless.
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| fern |
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| orchid |
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| beautiful view from the eco reserve (this once was cloud forest too) |
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| the little river under the waterfall |
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| Primary cloud forest |
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| HUGE leaves |
Mariana and Connie both worked hard to make a delicious lunch, and after the hike we were all hungry! We feasted on Mariana's locro (Ecuadorian potato soup), Connie's porcupine meat balls (rice is cooked in them so when they're ready the rice pokes out like spines),rice, fresh salad from Connie's garden and delicious cinamon rolls Connie had made the night before. I ate until I couldn't sit anymore and had to lay down, Ryan said it was the best meal he's had in his life, and we all relaxed for a while digesting in our hosts' beautiful home overlooking the valley below.
The next day was All Souls Day, November 2nd, and Pepe's mom invited all the Chiriboga family to her house for Colada Morada. Part of the tradition on All Souls Day is to prepare a special drink made of all kinds of tasty berries and purple corn maize, and eat little breads called Guaguas (pronounced wa wa) de Pan (bread babies) that the local bakeries make in mass amounts for the day. We got to meet about 1/4 of the Chiriboga clan--a big task as there were so many--and partake in these extremely tasty traditions. We can't remember a single name of the cousins, aunts, uncles and friends that we met, but it was really fun getting to meet everyone. They are a very close, fun family!
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| Guaguas de Pan |
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| Colada Morada |
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| Pepe and Sofia on the farm at Machachi |
Now we are in Cuenca, and we are getting ready to take the bus to Peru. Cuenca is a cool colonial city with narrow streets and old buildings (at least in the historic area). We visited some Incan ruins and the Museo del Banco Central that had some interesting ethnographic and archaeological exhibits, as well as a few real shrunken heads attributed to the Shuar. We took a bus tour of the city the day before that took us around the historic district and up to a view point of the city and the surrounding mountains. It was fun and relaxing to be super-tourists for a little while!
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| La Iglesia Santo Domingo in Cuenca |
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| The domes of the Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepcion, Cuenca |
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| The old stone buildings of Cuenca |
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| View of Cuenca from Mirador Turi |
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| Anne and the view--and a nice new Panama Hat |
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| A curious baby lama at the Inca ruins Pumapungo |
We are ready for Peru. We have stayed in Ecuador much longer than we anticipated and have loved every minute of the amazing experiences we have had here, and now it is time to move on. We will be catching an overnight bus across the border which should be an adventure!
We miss everyone and send all kinds of love up to friends and family--Especially the Chiriboga's, our family away from home!
Anne & Ryan
