Classes in the high schools ended in the middle of June and thus did a lot of my work with the jovenes—that does not mean, however, that I have had nothing to do.
At the end of June, Alausí celebrated the “Fiestas de San Pedro.” San Pedro is the patron saint of Alausí, and the end of June is when you celebrate him. Though the festivities go on for about 2 weeks, the big weekend of celebrating was the very first weekend of July. People from all over Ecuador came to Alausí to celebrate—including my extended host family. During the day, they have what they call “Torros de Pueblo”. On the big dirt lot where they usually have the Sunday market, they construct a giant stadium. Using wooden beams, they construct boxes to fit about 10 people each stacked 4 high and about 20 long on each side of the stadium. We rented one of these boxes for the weekend (and our box was on the 4th level). My host family and I climbed in and watched as the Beauty Queen pranced around center stage to start the event. Then the men who are going to torrear (bull fight) enter the ring with their capes. These men are not professionals, but rather just the men of the town. Some of the bull fighters where just crazy drunks who had no idea what they were doing, but some where actually pretty good at handling the bull with their capes. In these bull fights, they do not kill the bull. The men just tease and play with them until they are sufficiently angry, then they change bulls. In the 3 days of bull fights only 4 men were seriously injured. I went to 2 days of bull fighting (Saturday and Sunday, by Monday I had to head back to work). My host family and I just spent the day cheering on the fighters and eating delicious food (like empanadas and Ecuadorian candy). Every evening of San Pedro there was a concert. The main event was Saturday night. Me and my whole host family (not to mention the entire town of Alausí) had a blast dancing in the main plaza until 4 o’clock in the morning. The next day (Sunday) was the big parade through town. Considering that COCACH is an Alausian institution, they had prepared a comparsa (a group of dancers) and all the authorities and the technical team (myself included) were invited participate in the parade. So at 9 am (after having danced until 4am) I was lining up with some of the kids from the communities and the other authorities to parade through the streets of Alausí. It was a lot of fun and since the whole town came to watch, I got to say hi to a bunch of people that I had wanted to see during the fiestas but hadn’t had the opportunity to. That night there was also a dance. We went for a little while, but were still exhausted from the night before, plus I had to work the next day. Overall, I had such a great time dancing through the streets, parading and celebrating with all the people I’ve come to know and love here in Ecuador.
In the middle of the bull fighting ring--don't worry, I didn't fight any bulls
Not too long after the fiestas in Alausi, my friend Kellie and I tried to summit Cotopaxi, a volcano measuring 19,344 ft. Because the sun is so strong here, you actually have to do most of the climb at night. We set off around 1 am with our wonderful guide Diego (a friend of a friend) and his brother hoping to arrive at the summit around 7 am to watch the sun rise and be off the snow by 8 am (the sun melts the snow and makes it very dangerous to climb down). Sadly, however, the weather wasn’t on our side. By 6 am we were at about 18,000 ft and in total whiteout conditions. We could barely see 10 feet in front of us and it was difficult to stay standing in the blowing ice and snow. We decided it wasn’t safe to continue and headed back down the mountain. It was disappointing not to be able to reach the summit, but before my time here in Ecuador is up, I am determined to make it to the top, perhaps in December when the weather is a little better.
Cotopaxi from afar
Kellie and I getting ready to climb
Frozen at 18,000 ft
The following week, my friend from college, Emily, came to visit me. We spent a day in Quito seeing the sites there then headed to the Galapagos. We arrived to the Island of Baltra, but there is literally nothing there except the airport so we immediately were ferried to the main island of Santa Cruz. We spent the night on this island for the first 3 days, doing tours to other islands during the day. Food was very expensive on the islands, but loding wasn’t that bad (about $15 a night, which by Ecuadorian standards is more expensive than the mainland, but cheap by American tourist standards).
After finding a place to stay and organizing our trips to the other islands, we went the Charles Darwin Research Station. This is the home to several different species of Galapagos tortoises (each island has its own species) including Lonesome George, the only remaining member of his species. The areas where they keep the tortoises are open and you can walk right up next to them, but not touch them—they bite. We walked back to town along the board walk. We came upon a sea lion lying in the middle of the walkway. The animals have become so used to humans that they just chill out anywhere they want without paying any attention to who is around or where they are. This particular sea lion decided that the middle of the boardwalk would be were he took his afternoon nap and wasn’t going to let anyone disturb him.
At the research center with a giant tortoise
The next day went to the island of Isabela. It is the largest island and is known for its wildlife and volcanos. Sadly, we couldn’t go to the volcanos because it’s cloudy this time of year. Not a problem on the coast, but as soon as you go up in elevation all you see are clouds and fog. So we stayed on the coast. We went to the turtle breeding ground where they are trying to rehabilitate the native population of turtles to the island. We also saw some Galapagos flamingos. Then we went to this gorgeous white sand beach for lunch. There were iguanas all over the place just sitting on a rock sun bathing. After lunch we went on a boat tour to see blue footed boobies and Galapagos penguins. We could also see sharks swimming in the waters nearby. We also went snorkeling (where there weren’t any sharks—I like to think I’m an adventurous person, but I draw the line at swimming with sharks). We saw all sorts of cool creatures floating around like sea cucumbers, all sorts of fish, and rays. The water was really clear too so we could see everything. That night we returned to Santa Cruz.
The next day we went to the island of Floreana, a much smaller island and the first island with human inhabitants (a German dentist and his wife). We hiked up to where they lived and saw some of the remains of forts that pirates had built on the way. After that, we went snorkeling, swimming with sea lions and sea turtles. We also saw some more penguins and some really cool rock formations. We got back to Santa Cruz around 4 pm and decided to go to the highlands of Santa Cruz. We saw to volcano craters, some more tortoises and walked through a lava tube.
Riding on the bow after a great day of snorkeling
More turtles
More sea lions
Cool rocks
The next morning we walked to Tortuga Bay—one of the most beautiful places on earth. There are two beaches: a white sand beach with crystal clear blue waters and rough waves (too rough for swimming) and a calm cove that is completely protected from the rough waves of the ocean. It was gorgeous. Emily and I went with a German tourist we met the day before. The three of us girls spent the morning napping on the beach and wading in the water. It was heaven.
Even tortoises are bigger than me--I can fit very comfortably in their shell
That afternoon we took a ferry to the island of San Cristobal, passing by the island of Santa Fe on the way. We got to the island around 4, found a hostal and then went exploring. The sea lions were everywhere on this island—on the beaches, on the park benches, on the docks, on the boats…EVERYWHERE! The next day we rented bikes and rode over the highlands (hoping to see a lake but sadly it was very cloudy so all we saw was fog) and ending up at a little secluded beach called Puerto Chino. It was absolutely gorgeous. We stayed there until about midday when we decided to head to the other side of the island. There we could see one of the most famous Galapagos rock formations in Spanish Leon Dormido and in English “Kicker Rock” (I don´t know where that translation came from because leon dormido means sleeping lion). You can take snorkeling tours there, but the main site to see is sharks, and I have already expressed my feelings on swimming with sharks.
Puerto Chino
View from the highlands
The next day we sadly had to leave the Galapagos. The experience was great and it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I really hope that someday I can make it back to see the volcanoes and to visit other islands.
Instead of flying back to Quito, we flew to Guayaquil (the largest city in Eucador which is on the coast). From there we went to the beach. Unfortunately, it was raining, foggy and cold the whole time so we really didn’t get to see much or play in the water. Oh well, better luck next time.
After that, Emily had to head back to the states and I had to head back to Alausí and back to work. But it was great to get a vacation and get to know more of the beautiful country that is Ecuador.
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