Ecuadorian highlands highlights

After 30 hours of bus travel from Lima, Peru, we were very happy to arrive in Otavalo, a small town in the Ecuadorian Andes, famous for its handicraft market, the largest of which is held every Saturday (fortunately for us, the day we arrived). We roamed through the market, admiring the alpaca sweaters and ponchos, handwoven fabrics and embroidery, panama hats and whole roasted pigs. Whole roasted pigs? True, along with chicken feet soup, and pototoes cooked with blood. Hmmm, we'll pass on the food section of the market. Mostly, we admired the Otavalian vendors, dressed in their beautiful traditional wear, the women in embroidered white blouses, long navy blue skirts, gold beads at their necks, and bright colored scarfs wrapped around their chests. The men wore white pants, navy blue ponchos, and bowler hats from which hang their long thick plaits.

After two nights, we made our way to Quito, with a stop at Mitad del Mundo (the Middle of the World, aka the Equator line). We took our obligatory photos at the obelisk, which ¨officially¨marks 0 degrees of latitude, but then took in a very interesting presentation which taught us that the French team who claimed to have correctly measured the equator in 1736 was actually out by about 240m. The Ecuadorian government doesn't really want to acknowledge that their obelisk is in the wrong spot, so development continues at the Mitad del Mundo site. But, the best part is that the indigenous Ecuadorians had mapped the line correctly over 1000 years ago. While the French were looking down and mapping the earth using triangulation techniques, the Indians had been looking up, worshipping the sun, tracking equinoxes and solstaces for centuries, and building temples to the sun on the accurate line of the equator.

We spent one night in bustling Quito, and made our way further south to Riobamba, and El Nariz del Diablo (the Devil´s Nose). The train ride, famous for its spectacular scenery, begins in Riobamba, passes by Chimborazo, (the highest point in the Ecuadorian Andes and 17th highest in the world at 6267m), and winds its way through beautiful farmland, small villages, and then through alpine tundra, barren but for a few pine trees. We rode on top of the train, and along with about 200 other foreigners, were jostled about, occasionally daring to look over the side at the rickety tracks and sheer pitches below. We started the morning with toques (Canadian for wooly hat), fleeces and extra tops on, and ended in the blazing sun, coated in dust. When we reached the actual El Nariz del Diablo, at the end of the 7 hour ride, the train switchbacked down El Nariz, descending almost 300m in less than 12kms. As the train could not turn around at the bottom, the engineers (?) disconnected the engine and rear cars, switched them around, using a second set of rails, and up the mountain we began again. Until... BAM... we were off the track! Fortunately, they stopped the train almost immediately and then they very slowly pulled the train back onto the track, and we continued our way up to Alausi, our final destination.

Straight after arriving in town we took the bus to Cuenca, a beautiful old colonial city, where we spent the night, and the next morning admiring wonderful old churches, ornate buildings, flower markets, and a lovely central park where, when we weren't being touted by shoe-shine boys, we could watch the local people in their traditional costumes walk with their families, crossing themselves and saying a quick prayer as they passed in front of the Cathedral.

And now, we have just arrived in Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands. We are so excited to be here, as it is one of the places we have dreamed about since planning this trip. Tomorrow we leave on an 8 day cruise, so iguanas, boobies, pelicans, sea lions, and sharks, watch out, here we come!

Location: Puerto Ayora, Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos

Brand new beginnings

When last we heard from the intrepid travelling duo, they were heading home for a fleeting visit. We now join the pair back on South American soil, a little weary, a bit shaken, but still intact...

Cathy and I had psyched ourselves up to be be ready for the grilling from Canadian Immigration and Citizenship (CIC) regarding my application for Canadian residency, a process that has taken over two years of planning, applying and waiting. Leaving Canada while the application was pending was not the problem, as someone from Immigration Canada said, "We are not a prison." Being allowed back in was the issue. US proved more difficult to transit through than my re-entry into Canada. In the States I was photographed and fingerprinted. At Vancouver International Airport I was welcomed back to Canada. Phew! In!

Waiting for the CIC office in Nanaimo to open after lunch, we ran through the tough questions that they might throw at us: Where do you live? What do you do? Um... Even though I want permission to live in Canada I would have to say that we are homeless and jobless. Can you let us in, please? There were some questions to answer, but fortunately my answer made me look really good. "Have you been arrested since applying for residency?" "No, I haven't." A little verification of details, few stamps and some signatures and it was "You are now a Resident of Canada. Congratulations." Fifteen minutes of paperwork after a bit of flying and that was it!

Cathy and her brand new resident then travelled north up Vancouver Island to Parksville to meet Emily, a week-old citizen of Canada and a recent arrival to Earth. Born on the last day of August, 2006 to proud parents Christine and Colin Dunn (wedding picture), Emily is an astoundingly beautiful baby. It was a moment of magic to see her for the first time. Over the next few days we got to see her grow a teeny bit and watched Christine and Colin develop into being her mum and dad.

It was a brief visit back to Vancouver, but in those few days we packed in quality time with visits with cousin Robert (Hotel chez Robert is always a treat), Aunt Thelma, dad and Marielle, and a small party with Christa and Grant, Kevin and Lewisa and little Jasper (who's getting bigger each time we see him).

Back on American Airlines for a few flights across the States (with an extra one thrown in thanks to weather diverting us to refuel in Oklahoma) and a little bit of running to make the connections. We made it back to Lima, Peru as expected, but our luggage wasn't as swift. Two extra days in Lima were called for, but it was something like bonus time (unless you smelled us without a change of clothes for a bit over 48 hours). If there's some sort of devine balance with our luck with flying then the positive aspect was seeing the Dalai Lama at Vancouver Airport.

Not changing travel clothes is something of a theme. We have just completed an 18 hour bus journey from Lima to Tunbes, a small border town on the edge of Peru/Ecuador. The bus we could handle, but the small taxi ride to the frontier was something else!

Getting in a shared taxi with an Ecuadorian father and daughter, we were driven to the dusty, bustling Peru/Ecuador border. There was a little bit of confusion and after a bit of arguing and some assurances from the driver and his assistant we were driven along some back streets. We had been warned by the taxi driver that it was a dangerous area and to exercise vigilance. It turned out that the driver was delivering us into something less than safekeeping. Delivery was to an obviously armed Peruvian policeman standing at a barrier who told the Ecuadorian father up front to pay him US$20 to pass beyond and for 'our security'. The driver and policeman were double-talking their own swindles: safety and security were not delivered by either. It was a brief but tense moment and it just reinforced both our instincts to not trust border areas and doubly for taxi drivers at frontier towns.

Ecuador! Otavalo Market, The Equator, Devils Nose, Galapagos Islands and other marvels are ahead.

Location: Miraflores, Lima, Peru

High in the Peruvian Andes, hablamos Español

A week ago, we arrived in Huancayo, a lovely Andean city, after a long and winding bus journey that took us from sea level in Lima through a 4850m pass (gasp ) in the Andes, and to our current altitude of 3240m. We were happy to be greeted at the bus terminal by Rosario, a representative of Incas del Peru, the agency we had contacted regarding a week of Spanish lessons. For the past week, we have stayed at La Casa de la Abuela (Grandma´s House), sharing meals with the family, including Grandmother, the 2 women who take care of the Casa, their two children, a parrot who knows only one word ¨hola¨, a crazy kitten, and the family dog. It has really felt like we´ve been part of a family here, with Mel and Jay (Australia) who were doing some volunteer work, Jenny and Steven (New Zealand) who were also studying Spanish, and Raquel (UK) who was learning to make jewelry in the local style. Each afternoon, for 3 hours, Edwin and I each had private Spanish lessons, which were very good and should help us tremendously as we continue the next three months in South America.

While here, we were fortunate to take in a festival honoring Santa Rosa, the patron saint of the police force. For several hours in the morning, the locals created large works of art on the streets around the main plaza, all made of very fine colored sawdust. Amid firecrackers, kids blowing bubbles, and backed by a marching brass band, a large statue of Santa Rosa was carried in a procession with priests, nurses, and incense carriers. They walked through the beautiful ¨rugs¨on the street, destroying the art, but making an incredible spectacle!

We also enjoyed wandering through El Parque de la Identidad, which was built in the 1990s, after many of the region´s monuments and artworks were destroyed by The Shining Path which was very active in this region. The park was built to commemerate the different styles of art and culture from the valley. We also climbed to Torre Torre, a site of sandstone towers (also known as hoodoos).

The high altitude and cold nights have meant our boots, fleeces, socks and long underwear had to be dug from the depths of our backpacks. Especially the first couple of days, we were panting every time we climbed the stairs to our bedroom, and were shivering after almost a month of days averaging 30 degrees with 80% humidity. Here the average daytime temperature was approximately 16 degrees, with 30 - 40% humidity.

Also while in Huancayo, we received two wonderful pieces of news! The first is that Chris and Colin had their baby on August 31st, a little girl, named Emily. The second piece of news is that Edwin´s Permanent Residency is now in the very final stage, and Immigration would like to see both of us for a final interview. So, after only one month of travel, we will be returning to Vancouver tomorrow for one week . We are both so excited though, and the timing couldn´t be better, as we will have the opportunity to meet our little niece!

Location: Huancayo, Peru