Otavalo is famous around the world for its artisan market that sprawls across the Plaza de los Ponchos and many surrounding streets. It’s most auspicious day a Saturday when farm animals are added to the colourful array of vendors.
For this reason, I was not backwards in coming forwards that I was keen to attend the Otavalo market on a Saturday and it did not disappoint.

Almost by fate, the night before the market we were walking home from dinner and bumped into Lisa and Augustino again! And to make the situation even more spooky, they happened to be staying in the same hotel as us, on the same floor, just two doors across the corridor! Our stars had aligned again!

So, at 7am the following morning, the four of us set off together, to gawk and awe over the farm animals that had been carted to the market to fetch a good price. It was a definite step up from the Queen Vic Market in the entertainment stakes. There was no shortage of animals; pigs, piglets, cows, horses, sheep, goats, puppies, kittens, ducks, chickens, quail, turkeys, rabbits and guinea pigs. We watched on as trucks backed in and delivered bulls, horses and sheep into a display paddock, where the animals were led around on leads by tiny Ecuadorian ladies, dressed in their traditional ornate skirts. One poor woman was practically dragged around the area as her prize bull had his eye set on a new arrival and charged across the paddock to introduce himself (wink wink). We passed one lady who was holding a large, firm plastic bag which was resting on the ground. We took a second glance when the bag started moving. We asked in terrible Spanish, is that a chicken in your bag. Her response, “no, oink, oink’. I could have sat and watched for hours. There were pigs digging in the mud, baby goats being forced to feed from any available goat with teets, puppies being left with a huge bowl of food that they decided to bathe in rather than eat! It was a total feast for the senses and I loved every minute.

After the animals we walked back into town and joined the flurry of the market place. There were stalls as far as the eye could see. Some selling fruit and veg, others selling traditional soups and stews, and then the standard Llama products, panama hats and tourist paraphilia. It would easily have taken hours to visit each stall.

It all got a bit much after a few hours and Adam headed home for a nap. I took myself off to a local café ‘La Cosecha’ and was a bit beside myself to finally have a decent coffee… even if it was the size of soup bowl! I loved this place so much for its coffee and walnut bagels that I made sure we visited every day afterwards!

Aside from our market venture, a day trip out to the crater lake at Laguna Cuicocha at Volcan Cotacachi made for a picturesque day out. We were lucky enough to meet some fellow tourists on the bus who were as equally clueless as we were, so the lovely bus attendant set us up and even called a taxi ahead of time to collect us at the bus stop. The taxi driver dropped us off at the national park entrance and the four of us headed off for the day together… lucky we liked them! The hike was difficult in parts, but the varying landscapes made it all worth it. Aside from the obvious gorgeous crater lake before us, there were paddocks of Llamas, mountain range in the distance and green farmland. We took a picnic lunch and enjoyed the lovely surrounds.

Aside from the market and crater lake our only other adventure was a walk out of town to a waterfall. Otherwise we laid low in Otavalo… giving Adam some time to recover from his second bout of food poisoning!! We enjoyed eating at the local Chinese restaurant for our vegetable fix and even managed to get into the Christmas spirit with the purchase of a traditionally woven, and most importantly portable, Christmas tree!