This morning a group of us from school headed two hours north of Quito to a town called Otavalo. This town is famous for it's Saturday markets. One of the markets is an animal market and people come from all over the region to sell, trade and buy various animals. The other market is a "stuff" market with tons of tourist things.
The animal market was NUTS! I had an idea of what to expect and it lived up to my expectations. When we pulled up in our van here is what we saw...
People, people, people everywhere! For some reason I had a lot of confidence under my belt today and I just plunged right in. Here's some photos from the market...
Yup, in that crate are puppies and kittens all snuggled up (well I guess the ropes around thier necks encourage them to snuggle). The rooster standing to the left would not stop crowing...
Hey, you need some guinea pigs? These are a bit different than cuy, which is a type of guinea pig that people in Peru and Ecuador roast on a stick, face and all!
Oh, you need some baby ducks? How about some chickens?
Oh, you want baby ducks...
I suppose it's a good thing that I don't live here because I could have left with about 10 puppies... aww that face! Ok, it's time to go... before I take a puppy in my luggage.
On the way out this is what we see.
The blood stained fence is a nice touch. I am such a hypocrite. I shouldn't eat meat, I just don't have enough energy to change my ways, and when you travel it's kind of a eat what you can get situtaion... Yes, we did have chicken for lunch.
Next we headed to the BIG Saturday market. Boasted as one of the biggest in all of South America. Now, you remember what I said about how much I like shopping? Well try me in a market! This is the only photo I snapped...
I did end up buying a few things. A painting from an artist that was there. It's on paper. I also got some more brightly colored trinkets... two little bowels and a picture frame. The picture frame was my change. One of the most infuriating things in third world countries is the change situation. NO ONE has change, even for a $10 when you are spending $6. So the picture frame was my $4 change...
After spending two hours in the market (I could have left after an hour) we headed to a nearby waterfall.
Remember that I just went to Yellowstone with my dad last year... so I wasn't too impressed, but apparently at La Cascada de Peguche the local have sacred bathing rituals in the pools below the falls. That was not happening today...
Last on our stop... Parque Condor. A conservation center that takes in birds of prey that have been confiscated, or found injured. It is a very well done park. Clean, large enclosures, and there was a little "show" too. I snapped a few photos of the birds...
Some sort of hawk. I should have taken a photo of the name plate before I took the photo.
This HUGE male condor kept walking up to his little ledge and then gliding down. I learned that condors can live for 80 years! A very special birds to the Incans... the condor protects the upperworld.
The little show was awesome. The amplitheatre overlooked a valley and the birds were able to fly and return for some treats.
Time to head back to Quito... Here's a look at the views I had all day...
1 comment:
What a contrast - a park that rescues and rehabs birds, to a market where animals are purely a commodity. Poor little crowded animals. And yet like you said - still haven't managed to knock meat out of my diet either, so a hypocrite I be. I loved the pic of the dog deeply in la la land in front of the clothes market. Keep em coming!!
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