ECUA ROAD TRIPS

OTAVALO

Otavalo is a small city of about 50,000 inhabitants, located about 2 hours from Quito (Capital city of Ecuador).Otavalo lies at 2,530 meters in a spring-like valley, situated between the Imbabura volcano (4,609 meters) and the Cotacachi volcano (4,939 meters).

OTAVALO MARKET: This is Ecuador's most famous "Indian Market".
The Otavalo Indian market days are mainly Saturdays, Although you can visit it any day (Wednesday is also a market day) and find an impressive variety of all kinds of Ecuadorian Indian handicrafts. In this exotic small town at dawn you may see Otavalo people arriving to the market place from many mountain trails surrounding the city. They come from nearby villages and towns such as Peguche, Agato and Iluman, to sell their products. Otavalo people have become the most prosperous indigenous in Latin America.

Plaza de los Ponchos

Otavalo

Animal market

Shaman visit

Nanda Manachi house

Peguche waterfall

COTACACHI (leather market)

A charming little village which can be reached 30 minutes from Otavalo. Unlike Otavalo, which is a highly busy and indigenous market, Cotacachi is less crowded on the weekends. The village provides a number of local handicraft products sold in numerous stalls set up in the village plaza. These include a variety of colourful textiles and leather products. Cotacachi’s narrow streets are filled with shops that offer all kinds of leather goods at a surprising bargain. Here you can find the latest fashion styles in leather boots, bags and jackets. Despite its low prices, the quality is not sacrificed. Any type of leather good, name it. They have it all here in Cotacachi.

CUICOCHA (Lagoon of the gods)

In the Andes of Ecuador there is a beautiful province called Imbabura. The mysterious Cuicocha lagoon, known also as the lagoon of the gods or Tsui-Cocha, at an altitude of 3.068 feet above sea level, is 120 Km north of the City of Quito. Cuicocha developed in an old crater of the Cotacachi vocano. It has a diameter of 3 km and a depth of 180m. In the center of the crater lake it is possible to see volcanic emissions.