Bahia De Caraques 00 36.6S 080 25.3W
29 July 2004

Chugchilan is a small village in the Ecuadorian Andes elevation 3,200m. The village square is alive at 8am. Local indigenous women in brightly coloured shawls, skirts and dark coloured bowler hats squatting in the street chatting, knitting, spinning. Small fish are being grilled outside the church. A cow has been killed and everyone will eat beef today. Already the best cuts are hanging outside a house. An older Indian woman in one corner of the square is working hard cleaning the entrails of the cow. Washing out the tubes and carefully cutting the skin round the enormous double stomach stretched tight on the ground still full of cud. The dogs collect hopefully round the plastic sheet where this is happening. A small boy runs back and forth with water. No flies, it is a cool, sunny morning. We are surrounded in steep mountain sides falling away into steep canyons far below us. Farmers fields cling high to the mountain sides looking like an impossible angle to work in. Not much space is left unused. The only roads into these valleys are rough, bumpy, dusty tracks used by the daily bus and a few trucks. Weekly markets are held in the larger villages with produce carried in by the haughty looking llamas. Few people live in this area and yet we have found a cheese factory that exports Emmental cheese to Italy; and a co-operative that makes beautiful wooden furniture providing training for young local people. A large black llama wanders into the spotless showroom as we are shown the woodwork display. Its 8 day old baby waits patiently outside.

This is the last day of our inland trip. 17 days ago we left Harmonica at anchor in Bahia de Caraquez watched over by other cruisers. An 8 hour bus trip, that should have been 4 hours if there had not been an anti government demonstration against the poor state of roads that resulted in a long detour, took us to Guayaquil the largest city in Ecuador. One night spent in a small hotel run by a Canadian/Ecuadorian couple. Caged parrots and monkeys peered at us round the thick garden greenery, pool and hammocks. One large blue parrot was free to roam and joined the few people at their breakfast tables wanting to be fed. Next morning we were on the bus again on our way to Cuenca over high passes sometimes above the clouds. Steep drop off on one side, too far down to see the bottom. Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador at 2,530m. An attractive university town with narrow, cobbled streets, whitewashed red-tiled buildings and green squares. Many domed churches and museums to visit. Our small hotel looks down at the river below where women wash clothes and string the brightly coloured garments out to dry.

Time to leave our travel companions, fellow cruisers Patty, Nate and Paul their 17mth blond, blue eyed baby. The baby is called Pablo by the Spanish speaking people who are fascinated by this fair child. We part ways to head away from the cities up higher into smaller villages. Gualaceo, Chordeleg and Sigsig, three small villages known for their weekly markets. Whole pigs are roasted slowly over hot coals. The heads seem to leer at us as we pass. Guinea pigs are roasted on sticks, a local delicacy we decide not to try. Women, often knitting or spinning to pass the time, squat beside neat piles of fruit and vegetables under bright umbrellas. Very young children are happily wedged into slings behind their mothers looking happy and content. Life is simple, people work hard. One night in a small noisy hotel (Friday night before market day) and we decide to move on higher yet to Ingapirca 3,230m. Here we find Ecuador's best Inca ruins. The archaeological site is surrounded in lush farming country. Many large North American houses dot the landscape. They appear to be empty. We later learn many young Ecuadorians have gone (many illegally) to work in the United States. US$ are sent back to families who build these large houses. How many will return to live in these large homes?

We move further North along the spine of the Andes where the land becomes drier and people poorer. We pass high snow capped volcanoes 5,000 to 6,000m high rarely visible through the cloud hanging around the summits. We drop down to 1,800m to the small town of Banos, popular with gringos and Ecuadorian tourists, where we spend the next 6 days. The mountains come down steeply close to the town. An active volcano 5,016m nearby still burps ash and steam sometimes glowing at night. A major eruption in 1999 caused the town to be evacuated. Dave, having never climbed close to 20,000ft, decided to test his altitude ceiling on the 6,310m peak of Chimbaraso: An outfitter equipped him with excellent equipment - axe, crampons, harness, clothing, sleeping bag... plus guide, but the effort was not worthwhile since at 1.00am at the foot of the glacier, Dave had to turn back with all the symptoms of altitude sickness (more acclimatization next time!).

There is a large choice of hot pools in Banos, we head for the set just out of town known to be quieter. There is a choice of pools of varying temperatures. The hottest are a muddy colour with rubble on the bottom of the pool. Dave rents a bike to cycle the 60km down to Puyo , a small town at the edge of the Amazon jungle. Janet chooses to bus. It is a rainy day and parts of the unpaved road are muddy. At 20km we meet up to see the impressive waterfall El Pailon del Diablo tumbling down to join the main river. The road drops spectacularly and views of the upper Amazon basin can be seen. Two of the long road tunnels are being repaired. Traffic is diverted to small roads hanging onto the mountain side. These roads are being worn away by rain and heavy traffic. Large buses and trucks go dangerously close to the crumbling sides. Janet wishes she had opted for the bike. We meet in the dusty town of Puyo from where we both return by bus, Dave agreeing....much safer on the bike. Our small hotel is a charming old house set in a large garden where brightly coloured birds wake is in the morning. It is hard to leave.

Our next bus trip takes us to Latacunga a small town destroyed three times by volcanic eruptions from a nearby volcano. Rebuilt tastefully in 1877. >From here we join a young German couple and a guide for a day trip to the volcano, Cotopaxi. The day starts with thick cloud hanging round the lower part of the volcano. We drive through this cloud to a wonderful sight of the ice covered volcano top high above us at 5,897m. We climb from the parking lot to a refuge at 4,800m where we have lunch and admire the view through the now clearing cloud. We are just below the ice pack. Next day we leave Latacunga to drive with our German friends and a guide to Quilotoa. Transportation is infrequent to the remote villages in this area. Here we find ourselves beside a large volcanic-crater lake which is a near perfect circle with a lake 500 metres below the rim. The green coloured lake, 250m deep, has no inflow or outlet. We hike down to the lakeshore and refuse the offered mule ride back up. At the top a welcome bowl of hot soup awaits us before our 3 hour hike to the village of Chugchilan. Tomorrow we leave on the 6am bus to return sea level and Harmonica.

In 2 days we shall leave Harmonica here on a mooring, and return to UK and Canada.

Dave, Jan, & Harmonica