Friday the thirteenth was unlucky for only two in our group. Brittany was a little under the weather during the night so she and Debby thought it wise to stay at the hotel today, and thus they missed the activities of the day. Thankfully they are doing well now, and are ready to participate in our trip to Machala tomorrow.
For the rest of us we had “blue skies…and sunbeams from Heaven” for our Friday the thirteenth. Today we drove north toward the town of Otavalo. On the way we had excellent views of the
magnificent Cotopaxi in the distance.
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We also had a wonderful view of Cayambe, another snow-capped volcano in the area.
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We drove over curvy roads around the mountains and passed areas of rich farmland, dry, arid areas, and back into another area of rich farmland. Diane again reminded us how blessed we are to be able to see so many of the volcanoes in plain sight, not obscured by cloud cover or haze. She also reminded us that with all of the differences in the climate and landscape throughout the country we must remember that Ecuador is about the size of our state of Colorado.
Looking up at a high mountain peak just outside the bus, Lucy commented, “ Maybe, but if you flattened out all of these mountains it would be much bigger than Colorado.” Good thought.
We stopped at a business located beside the highway where we met a little boy named Pedro and his llama named Juanita. We had met Juanita on a previous trip, but Pedro was a new acquaintance.
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A young (18-year-old) Quechua girl boarded our bus when we left the area and rode to Otavalo with us. On the way she described the traditional Quechua dress she was wearing and explained the symbolism in the garments. She also sang several songs in the Quechua language, but she spoke in Spanish, so Gary and Vicki translated her information to the rest of us.
Otavalo is famous for outdoor craft markets where locals bring their handmade articles to sell to customers who flock to the area.
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While Olen and I were wandering around, we ran into two little girls at the market. We assume they were sisters, and the older one (seven years old?) was carrying the baby on her back and entertaining her while her mother worked or shopped. They were adorable.
![]()
We had an hour and a half to shop, and the girls in our group made the most of their time. Taylor came on the bus with her “loot”, and the other girls had made many purchases also. We had to take some bus-time for show-and-tell. Lovely items had been bought by members of our group, and the girls had fun selecting items for Debby and Brittany. It is always fun to spend someone else’s money!
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We went to Cotacachi where we had lunch and were entertained by three musicians while we ate. We enjoyed their music, but we all agreed that they were not nearly as talented as the group Diane arranged to play for us earlier in the week. We spent a little time shopping in Cotacachi, which is famous for leather goods.
From there we went to the Cuicocha Lagoon, a lake in the middle of a volcano crater. The crater lake is
656 feet deep and very alkaline. It has a deep blue color and is beautiful surrounded by the mountains that make up the rim of the volcano. We took a boat ride on the boat shown in the photo.
![]()
We all donned life vests and enjoyed the ride.
![]()
The man driving the boat took us to a spot where he stopped so we could see the “bubbles” coming up to the surface. He told us that they were gas bubbles from the volcano itself, still rumbling slightly far below the surface of the lake.
After the boat ride on the crater lake we all enjoyed a cup of cinnamon tea before we boarded the bus and headed back to Quito. On the ride back we made plans for our visit with the brethren in Machala, discussed lesson plans and sermon outlines. Olen gave a brief devotional on how important it is to “visit” the brethren. Paul and Barnabus planned their second journey because Paul wanted to “visit” the Christians. We sang “Anywhere with Jesus” and several other songs before we settled down to enjoy watching the glow of the sunset on the snow covered volcanoes in the area.
We are back in Quito, but have a very short night. The hotel has agreed to provide us with breakfast at 5:00, and Mauricio will be at the hotel to pick us up to take us to the airport at 6:00 in the morning. That schedule doesn’t allow much time for sleeping, so I had better sign off.
We pray that your day was safe, enjoyable, and as full of memory-makers as ours was. This is a wonderful world we live in.
For the rest of us we had “blue skies…and sunbeams from Heaven” for our Friday the thirteenth. Today we drove north toward the town of Otavalo. On the way we had excellent views of the
magnificent Cotopaxi in the distance.
We also had a wonderful view of Cayambe, another snow-capped volcano in the area.
We drove over curvy roads around the mountains and passed areas of rich farmland, dry, arid areas, and back into another area of rich farmland. Diane again reminded us how blessed we are to be able to see so many of the volcanoes in plain sight, not obscured by cloud cover or haze. She also reminded us that with all of the differences in the climate and landscape throughout the country we must remember that Ecuador is about the size of our state of Colorado.
Looking up at a high mountain peak just outside the bus, Lucy commented, “ Maybe, but if you flattened out all of these mountains it would be much bigger than Colorado.” Good thought.
We stopped at a business located beside the highway where we met a little boy named Pedro and his llama named Juanita. We had met Juanita on a previous trip, but Pedro was a new acquaintance.
A young (18-year-old) Quechua girl boarded our bus when we left the area and rode to Otavalo with us. On the way she described the traditional Quechua dress she was wearing and explained the symbolism in the garments. She also sang several songs in the Quechua language, but she spoke in Spanish, so Gary and Vicki translated her information to the rest of us.
Otavalo is famous for outdoor craft markets where locals bring their handmade articles to sell to customers who flock to the area.
While Olen and I were wandering around, we ran into two little girls at the market. We assume they were sisters, and the older one (seven years old?) was carrying the baby on her back and entertaining her while her mother worked or shopped. They were adorable.
We had an hour and a half to shop, and the girls in our group made the most of their time. Taylor came on the bus with her “loot”, and the other girls had made many purchases also. We had to take some bus-time for show-and-tell. Lovely items had been bought by members of our group, and the girls had fun selecting items for Debby and Brittany. It is always fun to spend someone else’s money!
We went to Cotacachi where we had lunch and were entertained by three musicians while we ate. We enjoyed their music, but we all agreed that they were not nearly as talented as the group Diane arranged to play for us earlier in the week. We spent a little time shopping in Cotacachi, which is famous for leather goods.
From there we went to the Cuicocha Lagoon, a lake in the middle of a volcano crater. The crater lake is
656 feet deep and very alkaline. It has a deep blue color and is beautiful surrounded by the mountains that make up the rim of the volcano. We took a boat ride on the boat shown in the photo.
We all donned life vests and enjoyed the ride.
The man driving the boat took us to a spot where he stopped so we could see the “bubbles” coming up to the surface. He told us that they were gas bubbles from the volcano itself, still rumbling slightly far below the surface of the lake.
After the boat ride on the crater lake we all enjoyed a cup of cinnamon tea before we boarded the bus and headed back to Quito. On the ride back we made plans for our visit with the brethren in Machala, discussed lesson plans and sermon outlines. Olen gave a brief devotional on how important it is to “visit” the brethren. Paul and Barnabus planned their second journey because Paul wanted to “visit” the Christians. We sang “Anywhere with Jesus” and several other songs before we settled down to enjoy watching the glow of the sunset on the snow covered volcanoes in the area.
We are back in Quito, but have a very short night. The hotel has agreed to provide us with breakfast at 5:00, and Mauricio will be at the hotel to pick us up to take us to the airport at 6:00 in the morning. That schedule doesn’t allow much time for sleeping, so I had better sign off.
We pray that your day was safe, enjoyable, and as full of memory-makers as ours was. This is a wonderful world we live in.
Thanks so much for blogging. Fascinating trip. I know tomorrow will be memorable as well. Safe travels!
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