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

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.

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.

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!