m - back in Quito

After a night of wet soggy rain and thunder rumbling in the distance all
night long, along with lightening flicking across the sky, making those
incredibly tall trees into silloetes against the sky, I woke up fairly
early wanting to leave and avoid hours of waiting to say goodbye, but
the taxi to Misawhalli had been called for midday. Urgh. After saying
goodbye to the kids all dolled up in their uniforms, walking around and
re-taking photos just in case the light was different, wishing I would
have done more around the Center, I finally asked them to call the taxi
earlier. It was time to go and waiting around made no sense at all.
The smaller kid was crying - she did not want to sleep - not even in a
little sheet hammock hung on the railings.

Oh - I wanted to say something about the food we ate here - it was
definitely different from that at Yachana Lodge. Here we ate primarily
what they ate - food from the jungle. Yucca plant, heart of
.....something or other (without the grubs!), coffee and cocoa picked
from the jungle, fish from the fish ponds and a multitude of things that
I dont remember what they were and I will probably only ever eat again
when I go back there. Oh, we did have scrambled banana with lots of
stuff in it the last morning - and every day we had a different, fresh
fruit juice - they were always delicious!

More goodbyes, more tears and finally the trip home started. Strange how
I saw it that way - the start of the end of my journey - this time.
With a total of just under 10 hours of travel through Primary Forest -
this is literally ancient trees, growth of many many years of everything
and compost incredibly rich that everything grows in it, I knew it was
going to be a very long day. Heck everything grows on anything and
everything here in the jungle. The fence posts, some wood and some
concrete, all had plants growing out of them, the fruit trees were laden
with fruit and dotted everywhere that there was not forest, dotting the
landscape with bright yellows and orange........well dots.

We drove up really high mountains, the windows all fogged up and we all
happily closed them, the mist swirled between the taller trees giving
everything a ghostly look. There are small towns all along the way and
sales people jump on the bus at every stop and try to sell their
stuff..... I was not buying. This time I was good, having my bad
clutched firmly on my lap all the way.

About halfway through the bus ride, I wished that the scenery would
become boring so that I could go to sleep for a bit. I was very very
tired by now. I challenged myself by putting my camera away, but I
think I am a photo addict. Gypsy did not sleep long before I yanked her
out of the bag and set her to work again.

They put on a movie - some awful horror movie about dogs ripping people
apart and set the sound on the as-high-as-it-can-go setting. It was
translated into Spanish, and even though I don't like horror movies at
all, I found myself watching, trying to figure out what was being
said. My stomach also started churning and hurting, but I knew that we
were still at least three hours away from any chance of a bathroom, so
spoke to it, severely warning it to behave. Very quiet, slow "release
of the pressure" seemed to go thankfully unnoticed and no emergency stop
was called. :) All the good scenery had fallen away about 3 hours into
the bus ride - 5 hours into travel time. Another insane movie was
loaded and by now I was meeting my "I am done" point, but with no
options. It started getting dark as we drove into the main Quito area -
still two hours from the bus terminal. But coming over those mountains
into Quito was absolutely beautiful - the lights glistening way down
below reminded me of De Waal Drive at night (Cape Town). Being a Friday
night and all the traffic, it took longer than normal to finally get
through Quito - but at last it was over, just a 45 minute taxi drive
would find me a hot shower and internet! Much needed and appreciated.

Today, Saturday, I was up early again, ready to go to Cotopaxi and the
Otavalo market, amongst other places. A little way into the trip, I
started recognizing places and things along the road from last time I
was here - it felt good! We stopped at a small place where they make
marzipan figures - quite interesting, but nothing marzipan is coming
home with me, then off to the Panama Hat place, where most of the 12
others on the bus bought themselves hats - I still have mine from last
time :) Panama hats are not, and have never been made in Panama - they
are made right here in Ecuador. Right next door to the hat shop, was a
little restaurant where we all tried out some traditional food - just a
snack thing...... It was like a rusk - or baked hard bread, with caramel
and then some cheese ...... well, it was different and a rather welcome
snack as I had not had breakfast. Out the back of this shop were a
couple of kids with Llamas - one could take photos for a small fee. I
stood to one side of here looking at the incredible view of towering
mountains when I heard music from one of the many churches dotting the
hillside. I was rather surprised that no one else had noticed - it
sounded beautiful, gently bouncing off the hills - a lovely, almost
isolate moment.

When we were leaving the hat and llama place I saw a group of women in
traditional clothing outside and the tour guide said that this was our
surprise. Well, I knew exactly what was going to happen! These ladies
were going to get on the bus with us and sing as we drove to the market
and sell some of their items to us while we were all on that bus! How
did I know? Because this is what happened last time I was here and I
recognized Christine from 3 years ago! It was good to see her again -
one of my favorite photos is of her - she is a very beautiful young lady
with a lovely voice. Well, when we were about to leave, she pulled out
a piece of paper and we exchanged email addresses! I will send her the
photos from last time and today.

Then off to the market we went. It's a huge place and the hour and a
half we had there was not nearly enough to look at everything. I kept
getting drawn back to the fruit and veggie section of it, it was way
less 'touristy'. There were chickens, all plucked naked, hanging upside
down ready to be bought, whole pigs cooked with bright red apples in
their mouths, sacks of incredibly good smelling spices and fruits of all
sorts. The vegetables are interesting, to say the least as there are so
many I did not recognize nor know their names. I walked around alone,
not with the group and found a few goodies, but not much. And then I
lost my way - I had no idea which direction to go to find the bus. The
guide in Yachana had said the one day there, that I was like a 'turned
around frog" when it came to finding my way around - and I felt exactly
like this now - off balance, but just for a little bit. Ok - the turned
around frog story is this : we were looking at a poison dart frog and
when he was going to put it back on the leaf, he first turned it around
and around so that it got dizzy. That gave me enough time to take a few
photos of it in its natural environment before it could hop again. Poor
little bugger seemed quite confused for a minute. And that was me today
in that market. The colors are beautiful and bright, there is so much
to see and yet it all sort of looks the same. But finally I found the
bus again and off we went to a simply delicious lunch of way too much
food. I got a beer and a traditional Ecuadorian lunch - lovely!

At the next stop, most of the stores were all about leather - I found a
good few things that will come home with me. One was a metal crafted
picture of a couple hugging- its just so incredibly beautiful - modern
style, but it really sang to my soul, I also found a dried seahorse.
Strange thing to find here, but its new home will be in Tennessee soon.

It was a long three hour ride home, but I wangled my way into the very
front seat next to the driver and had the best view in the bus. We got
home after dark again which just gave another opportunity to see those
flickering night lights of the city. I decided to test out the spa bath
here in my room, and opened a small bottle of shampoo to make a bubble
bath. And there I lay, all relaxed, eyes closed with bubbles all around
me and whirlpool jets blasting the tiredness out of my feet....... for
all of one minute! I felt something tickling my ear and quickly flicked
at it, only to find that while my eyes had been closed, the bubbles had
piled up a good 6 inches above the side of the bath! Thank goodness I
had the shower doors closed. But at the same time, the most insane
itching started in all my mosquito bites - and I literally have them all
over my arms, stomach, back and legs. There was no way I could not
scratch - it was awful! I hopped out, quickly applied the next to last
benedryl cream to as many now bright red spots everywhere.

I was all ready to settle in for the night - had some food ordered and
all, when I looked outside and saw people walking everywhere - colored
fountains and other things that looked interesting. So I dressed again,
put the food on hold and went for a walk. It was just lovely mixing
with the crowds in a barely cool evening. There was a tent on the
sidewalk - one without the sides, where short movies were playing and
seats to sit and enjoy, big frogs and statues and climbing things for
kids and adults alike to pose next to or clamber on. The huge dragon
was really beautiful - it looked like glass and stood about 20 foot
high....... and then I noticed that it was made from plastic bottles!
Quite beautiful - it looked almost like an ice creation. I walked
around for about an hour, just enjoying the general company.

Its been another lovely day here in Ecuador, and I can feel myself
getting ready to be home again. I have packed and repacked my bags a
good few times - There are many things to bring home with me - very few
are clothes! I reprinted my air tickets in the business center
downstairs and checked that they had not been changed - that was one of
the things stolen on the bus on the way to Tena.

Tomorrow I am going to meet up with a friend, an Ecuadorian Guide, Tavo,
who is going to take me around old town Quito - to places not normally
for tourists, more the 'real Quito'. I am really looking forward to
that. We will probably also be talking about a different sort of
opportunity for me involving tours here in Ecuador.. could be
interesting :)

Till then
from one very tired, very happy me
Annie

--
www.amazontravels.blogspot.com