Flying to Quito, and on to Otavalo

Cascade shuttle picked us up at 3:15 am (!) on Wednesday to catch our early flights.  Medford-Denver, Denver-Houston and then Houston-Quito.  

Leaving the gate in Houston

We arrived around midnight; the hotel had a driver meet us for the short ride to the San Jose de Puembo Hotel.  Caught some sleep and then up for breakfast.

Very lovely grounds, with great plantings, large trees, and an innovative mowing system.

Around noon we were picked up for a ride to Otavalo, north of Quito.  We'd reserved a room at the Dona Esther.  Unpretentious but comfortable, built around a small courtyard.

Otavalo is a quiet small city but with a well-known and very popular market on Saturday.  We spent part of the afternoon walking around and exploring the town.

Fun fact: the garbage trucks here play a song like an ice cream truck in the neighborhood.  People hear them coming and bring out their bags of trash.

Friday we resumed exploring Otavalo.  Outside of town there's a condor park with a number of birds on display.  It's only about 5 km, so we started out walking there.  But the roads were very steep (above 20%) and rough; this was aggravating Ellen's ankle, so after a bit we retreated to a major street and hailed a cab.  The park functions as a rehabilitation facility for birds (primarily raptors) and there are quite a few in separate aviaries.

They put on a show with several hawks and eagles which flew around and then returned to the trainer's gloved hand.

Condors, which are impressively large and graceful in flight, are kind of ugly close up.  They're carrion eaters, so their heads are like a vulture's.

In the afternoon we continued exploring town on foot.  Architecture runs quite a gamut, and there are murals all over.

Not accustomed to seeing stores that sell home appliances, TVs, and motorcycles.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the big market here in Otavalo.  After exploring that, we will head to Quito.