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Goshen College

Cotopaxi, Baños and a quick visit to Otavalo for a Shakespeare Play!

June 14, 2024

 

For our last week of traveling as a group, we took the road to Cotopaxi National Park, a natural reserve on the foothills of Cotopaxi, a volcano that erupted 87 times, produced hills and valleys, and offers and impressive hike.

Los paramos, or moist prairies contain a rich and diverse environment that sustains llamas, fish, grasses and many other living plants and animals that are important for Ecuador.

 

Before we left for Cotopaxi, a hummingbird visited Casa Goshen. Can you see it?
Group photos are always fun.
The observer is being observed…
¡Hola, chicos!
Rodrigo, our guide, shared his knowledge about the history of Cotopaxi with us.
It was super interesting.
How was this photo taken?
Now you know!
Deer are not native to these lands, but they found a home here.
Sometimes, you have to stop and smell …the plants?
Better when you do it with a friend.
Nature is beautiful in Cotopaxi.

The gateway to the Amazon, Baños de Agua Santa, is also know for the faith of local people in the miraculous powers of the waters that emerge from springs and run through rivers. But the most faithful attribute miracles to Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Agua Santa, who is believed to have saved believers from drowning and other perils. The town is charming and welcoming, like many other places in Ecuador.

View from our hotel in Baños de Agua Santa.

Besides the waterfalls and other sites of interest, there is a zoo that shelters rescued animals in Baños, so we went to see them.

An Ent tried to eat one of our students, luckily, it was a concrete figure, not a live being.
Waterfalls are depicted in local art.
And in reality.
We visited El Pailón del diablo or the Devils Caldron, a pool that forms at the bottom of a waterfall.
Baños is surrounded by mountains and waterfalls.
Look at the birds!
We found this little fellow by the trail.
The zoo also offers great views.
It was a swinging place!
Monkey business?
The largest rodent live in Ecuador, the capybara.
A two can… ahem, toucan.
The majestic condor: Ecuador’s national symbol.
They were whispering in Spanish.
Weeeee!
Babies are cute!
No real tapirs were hurt in the production of this image.

During our first visit to Otavalo, we met a communications specialist who moonlights as a theater performer. She invited us to see Sueño de una noche de solsticio, an Ecuadorian adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, that included Kichua characters and plot lines. I was really fun!

Dinner before the show.
Otavaleños inserted their own flavor into a Shakespeare comedy.