The "B" Blog (Quito, Mindo, Baños, and Riobamba)

Quito - Bullfights (WARNING - pictures and text may be gory)
After returning from the Galapagos, we stuck around in Quito for a few days enjoying the general festivities of the Feria de Quito (the city was founded on the 6th of December, and they start celebrating more than a week in advance...lots of party buses). Our main reason for staying was that we bought tickets to one of the bullfights (there were nine in total). We had never been to a bullfight before (and probably don´t need to go again...it was a tad gruesome), but we found ourselves at times getting caught up in the emotion of it all. There were three bullfighters (white, pink, and red), and each fought two bulls. There was a basic formula to the fights: bring out the bull, some quick passes, padded horses are brought out which the bull attacks while he is stabbed between the shoulders by the horseman, then some crazy guys taunt the bull so he charges them and they stab him in the back with some colorful sticks, and finally, the bullfighter himself takes the bull through some amazing passes (the crowd yells "¡Ole!" each time), and once the bull is tired, the bullfighter stabs him between the shoulders with his sword (may take multiple tries). It´s best if this kills the bull; if not, the bullfighter must use another sword to stab the bull behind his head to sever the bull´s spinal cord (this also may take multiple tries).



One bullfighter (in red, from Spain) stood out as the by far the best of the day. He was able to convey the emotion of the fight to the crowd, he did the riskiest passes (on his knees, behind the back, etc), actually kill the bull quickly when it was time, plus he also continued to fight the bull after he was knocked to the ground and attacked by it. He was awarded three bull ears (two for his first fight, one for his second), which we understand to be really good. The crowd loved him, throwing roses, their hats, wine bladders, and even shoes to him while he took his victory lap. This guy really showcased the skill of the bullfighter while making it exciting, gory as it may be (even we were cheering at times).



Mindo - Beer, Orchids, Birds, and Butterflies
We traveled to the cloud forest north of Quito, staying in a small town, Mindo. Our first stop was lunch, and we´d like to take this opportunity to highlight what has become our constant companion at mealtimes - the local pilsener (it´s safter than drinking the water!). Next, we headed to a local orchid garden - this area boasts something like 200 species of orchids. Most look nothing like the orchids we were used to: many grew from the sides of trees, some grew from the tops of broad leaves, and others were so small we needed a magnifying glass to see them.



We next learned that this area is quite a famous location for birdwatchers, as it is consistently ranked as one of the top sites in the world for bird diversity (> 450 species!), many of which seem to be hummingbirds. Our hostal owner and excellent guide took us out on a 6am birdwatching trip. It was fantastic - we saw a ridiculous number of birds. Marcelo was amazing at locating birds, and as he had a telescope, we could see each one as though it was sitting right next to us. Ben managed to snap some decent pictures with our new telephoto lens and Marcelo´s tripod. Marcelo´s favorites are the small, yet amazingly colored tanagers. Our favorites were the big birds - the humorous squirrel cuckoo (named for its color and habit of jumping from branch to branch), the colorful motmot, the golden-crested quetzal (red chest), and, of course, the toucans.



Our final day in Mindo, we visited a butterfly garden where they breed 25 out of the roughly 250 species in the area. Immediately, we were struck by the number, color, and size of the butterflies swirling around us. We were able to feed them extremely ripe banana mush by hand, and if you sat still long enough, they were happy to use you to sun themselves. As part of the breeding, they collect all the cocoons, and we were there when they started to hatch that day - an amazing sight to see as they burst out of such small, dry cocoons, and to then watch thier wings go from crumpled and wet to full size in a matter of minutes.



Baños - Bike riding, Back-of-Horse Riding, and Big Bangs
Baños (named for its hot baths) is a small town at the bottom of Tungurahua volcano (still smoking after its last eruption in 1999). We took the advice of friends Matt and Tash and spent one day bike riding down to Rio Verde to see all the beautiful waterfalls, and the next day went on a 6-hour horseback ride to check out the hills around the town. This activity combination resulted in some spectacularly sore bums. Fortunately, the week-long celebration of the town´s anniversary had just begun, so we distracted ourselves from the pain by watching some fun fireworks (part of the entertainment was dodging the sparks - safety standards are a little different here) and local dancing.





RioBamba
This town is situated next to the impressive Chimborazo volcano (the tallest in Ecuador). The main reason this town is on the gringo trail is that you can travel one of the few remaining sections of the spectacular Ecuadorian railway, opened in 1908, that used to run from the coast to the Andes. This section is one of the most technically impressive as it traverses El Nariz del Diablo (the Devil´s Nose), however, it is completely a tourist attraction - there are three freight carriages where tourists sit on top, and one passenger carriage (in case you want to sit inside). You rent cushions to sit on as the roof is mostly corregated metal (not so comfy). The train ride takes about 6 hours (we got our seats at 6am!), passing beautiful mountain scenery complete with native people farming, then rapidly descending the Nose: a series of switchbacks (during which the train has to travel backwards) to drop 1000 feet. It was a little disconcerting to look down on the track to see just how well the railway is being maintained. One of the best parts of the ride was all of the children that flocked to the railway to wave at the tourists and hope for a handout of candy. So cute!