Amazing that there are still parts of the world where you can´t get internet. Banos was an amazing little town tucked into the Central Andes region of Ecuador.
Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty crappy for most of our two days there, so I didn´t particpate in some of the many activities you can do from Banos like white water rafting or hangliding. But, it did give me a couple of days for some much needed relaxation, and I´ve discovered that if you´re ever in Latin America and come down with a head cold, just ask for Sinutab. Banos is an odd little town — the base for a lot of adventure tourism. When you look around town, there seems to be a ton of European backpackers who came, fell in love, and never left. Lots of hippyish cafes and mountain guides. It´s at the base of Tungurahua, an active volcano. So active, in fact, that the week before we got there, it was in the oranage warning zone, and our group couldn´t have gone. Fortunately, it changed to yellow and we were able to go.
The views from all over town were amazing, mountains on every side. There is a church in town dedicated to the Virgin, and there´s a museum in the church that has dozens of the costumes used to dress the virgin and baby that are at the front of the church. The museum also has cases filled with dozen of wedding and quinciera dresses that the inhabitants have donated. Crazy pink quinciera dresses.
After a couple of days of relaxing and reading a zillion books on my kindle, I was feeling a little better for our trip to Hacienda Porvenir. An original colonial hacienda in Cotapaxi National Park, it´s incredible. Again the kind of scenery that can´t be described in words. We got there by first going to Machachi from Banos by local bus. We stopped in the Sunday market in Machachi, where all the locals from the Central Andes come to market once a week. Amazing tropical fruits, barrels of maize and rice, everything you´d expect from a third world market. From the market, we headed by van up the Avenues of the Volcanos to the Hacienda.
The place was like something out of a dream. We unload, surrounded by mountains, and are whisked into the living room by the Hacienda manager. W3´re seated in front of the of the fire because the paramo is cold, and the owners bring us hot naranjilla tea that you spike with sugar cane liquor. Amazing. I´m going to try and figure out how to make it this winter for those of you in Chicago.
After an incredible lunch in the hacienda dining room, we decide to go horseback riding. Fortunately, I get a calm little horse named Chugo.
Chugo was much more interested in munching on the grass then he was in riding. But, eventually he was able to get used to me, and we were able to keep up with the group. After about one and a half hours of hiking around, we made it to a place where we had a view of Cotapaxi, another active volcano. I forgot to mention that we had the full Andean cowboy (chagra) get up for this – ponchos, leather chaps and stirrups. This was good, as the Andean paramo is unexpectedly chilly and windy. On the way back down, I even had Chugo trotting for about 20 meters, and beat Amy and Emily back to the ranch.
Another amazing meal later, we huddled in front of the fire and talked until an early lights out. The rooms in the hacienda were like no where we´d stayed before. We were in an upstairs loft like area, with a sloping straw roof and mattresses on the floor. Neither Emily nor I could stand up in the room, but there was electricity and warm blankets.
In the morning we awoke to a full breakfast of fruit and yogurt and eggs and bacon. We then headed off for a walk to the local primary school. There are about 25 students from 4 to 12. Recently the government started subsidizing the education, so more students could go. Before, many families could not afford the 10 dollars a year fee. Very few students go on to high school. That will cost the families about 300 dollars per year.
The kids are adorable. Very shy at first, but quickly warmed up to these strange, tall, white people. They love digital cameras and seeing their pictures. We taught the 4 year olds an English lesson with flashcards and then helped the 5 year olds learn about the letter H. It was then recess time. The boys all played football with Diego and Al joining in. The girls huddled around us, and we pushed them on the swing, The teachers shared a snack of toasted corn, and we played with the four dogs.
After lunch, we got the chance to milk a cow and to watch the kitchen staff make homemad cheese. I felt quite ridiculous standing in the kitchen of the hacienda watching women do what they do everyday, but it was still interesting. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading in front of the fire, and after dinner again hung out in front of the fire, this time splitting three bottles of Chilean red wine. On Tuesday morning we headed back to Quito.
More on that later.
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