Ecuador Volcanoes Expedition Dispatch

November 4, 2012 – The Culturally Enticing Otavalo Market

Today we are going to the Imbabura Province where we will spend our next 3 nights. The altitude here is 2400 metres, 400 metres lower than Quito. I have no doubt that we are all going to sleep well at this lower elevation.

Chris already mentioned that she noticed the difference; Ljerka and Jeremy are doing great, hard to believe how much they have done in the past 24 hours. They were doing extremely great the entire day, very awake and although they complained a little bit, the signs of jet lag were really minor. It did come in waves but they didn’t let that stop them. They followed our itinerary today and really enjoyed the Otavalo market, where we spent a couple of hours before lunch.

The Otavalo market is the largest indigenous market in South America. Otavalo was made up of farming communities due to the volcanic soil which brings beautifully unique flowers in the region, but with the growth in tourism, the town has changed its focus to handcrafts, raising this market’s popularity in Ecuador and around the world. We always have fun here and of course it was the perfect time to do some Christmas shopping.

Jeremy insisted that they really didn’t need anything and had no plans on buying but ended up purchasing quite a few gifts. The same was with Chris.

We had a great lunch after visiting the market and settled nicely in our hotel---home base for the next 3 nights. Hacienda Cusin is always a big hit with Berg Adventures; we all love it here and are treated like family. We met for dinner at 8pm (it was great!) and after dinner, we all sat by the fire place to talk and relax. We admired the hacienda’s interior design and shared how much we are all looking forward to start hiking and climbing tomorrow. We talked about our gear and what to wear tomorrow. The weather has been quite unpredictable; at the market was quite hot but later in the afternoon after sunset, it definitely got a bit chilly. Everyone is sleeping with the warm, cozy, wood burning fireplace in our rooms lit up tonight.