Ecuador: Searching for the essence of the Andean
By Ginette González Martínez
May 15, 2002
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Ecuador, May 15, 2002.- We arrive in Quito from Colombia with our bags filled with emotions, but with space enough for new discoveries. We carry with us from our brief passage through that Andean city the vision of a metropolis that meanders through conquered spaces.
We leave Quito by the Pan American Highway, surprised by the mixture of blue and green of its mountains that greets us. A visit to Lake San Pablo gives us some idea of what life must have been like during the colonial period. Women from the nearby town flock to its cold waters to wash their bodies, their utensils and their clothing.
This naturalness is common to the inhabitants of Ecuador’s highlands, who take us by the hand to acquaint us with some of their culture. Half an hour later we reach Otavalo, the native community that is a living example of a culture that refuses to disappear. There we find the handicraft market. Beyond just buying their products, travelers can establish a rapport with the natives who, after a timid initial exchange, get involved in a pleasant conversation.
We leave Otavalo for San Antonio de Ibarra, whose inhabitants are proud of their wood carvings. Artist Luis Potosí’s sculpture, with its classic and abstract figures, evokes fertility, the family, and the love between couples.
Up to that point, we were feeling that our trip had been worthwhile, but the climax of our story awaited us in Cotacachi, where we shed our city dwelling customs to enter into direct contact with the communities living in the area.
The Cotacachi highlands are the site of a kind of community tourism that integrates visitors with the natural and social environment of the region. According to Rodrigo Flores, native leader, Tourism has reinforced his people’s identity by motivating them to safeguard their traditions, while at the same time it generates needed funds.
The communities that received us in Cotacachi welcomed us with honor: songs, dances and rituals carried us to an ideal world where differences of race do not exist and where we are all united by the same feelings. That night, we celebrated the virtues of the Earth Mother (Pacha Mama) and –why not admit it-- were reconciled with our own essential being. That, at least, was what the faces of friends and strangers alike reflected.
The dance left us exhausted and after the cultural shows, we shared a typical meal, where we tasted the rich meat of the cuy, a little animal from the zone that is commonly known as a “guinea pig.”
Some of the guests found the taste exotic, but pleasant. The darkness of the night, together with the icy climate and the promise of an early start the next day led us to leave the party and return to our lodgings in community homes.
The following day we retraced our route on the Pan American Highway to Quito and left from there for Guayaquil, a city on the coast, which is Ecuador’s largest. The contrast was enormous. Only forty-five minutes by air, and we were now in a tropical land filled with history and legend.
Guayaquil’s Historical Park and the Museum, from which a group of subversive elements recently stole the City’s Declaration of Independence, are worth visiting by people who want to learn more about the city and its inhabitants.
Walking along the Simón Bolívar Malecón, or riverfront boulevard bordering the Guayas River is a pleasant experience that mirrors Guayaquil’s dreams of modernness in the new millennium. Two hours from this city of beautiful sunsets, we reach the town of Salinas, where the Pacific Ocean greets visitors with open arms.
Between July and September, whales approach the coast of Ecuador and can be seen coupling 15 kilometers offshore.
That is what it is like in Ecuador, a beautiful land of noble people who make the tourist feel at home.
Source: Cmt, Television Channel 51, Venezuela
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