9/30: Otavalo, Ecuador: Soaring with the Eagles at Parque Condor

First thing this morning we hightailed it over to the famous weekly Otavalo animal and artisan markets. Then, having our full of shopping, we headed out to the nearby weaving village of Peguche and its ceremonial waterfalls. Since it was still early enough, we took a taxi to Parque Condor, located on a high hill between Otavalo and Lago San Pablo, as we wanted to see the free flight raptor demonstration at 3:30.

But our destination was in doubt as the taxi driver wasn’t sure he could get up the very steep and rutted road without a 4X4. We heaved a huge sigh of relief when he dropped us off in one piece at the entrance to the Condor Park which was owned by a Dutch foundation. Thank goodness we hadn’t followed the directions in the tour guide because it stated the trek would only have been 45 minutes but we figured it would easily have been two plus hours.

The Park was home to a number of spectacular raptors and other eye-catching birds, all of whom, as far as we could understand, had been rescued from illegal captivity, trafficking or were recovering from injury. We had time to wander through the exhibits before the show.

These Barred Hawks live in cloud forests up to about 7,000 ft but are not very common in Ecuador.

It took me ten minutes to take the photo of this Ornate Hawk Eagle as he just wouldn’t cooperate! There was no way I was going to give up without getting at least a mediocre shot!

We enjoyed spectacular views of the surrounding volcanoes and valleys but the clouds rolling in gave us pause for concern.

Variable Hawks live in the Andes from Colombia to Tierra del Fuego along the Pacific Coast. Their name comes from the fact their plumage varies in color.

Two lovebirds, just like us, we joked!

A Solitary Eagle:

We couldn’t believe we had this gorgeous place almost to ourselves.

The flowers were as magnificent as the birds.

I am certainly no ornithologist but this sure looked liked an American Eagle.

A Black-Chested Buzzard:

Both the White Hawk and Broad-Winged Hawks were in the same cage. The white one looked much friendlier!

No translation needed!

The Great Horned Owls are found from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but they prefer tropical climates. They are active during the daytime as well as at nighttime.

Spectacled Owls are relatively common in tropical forests from Mexico to the north of Argentina.

Burrowing Owls:

It was unnerving how this Stygian Owl kept staring and blinking at us!

Unknowingly, we had saved the best sight for last when we came across the display of Andean Condors. I was mesmerized by their size and beauty.

If I was able to understand the Spanish sign, I understood the Andean Condors lived in the Andean countries and have the biggest wingspan in the world at more than 15 ft.

They are the national symbol of Ecuador and of Andean culture and considered to be the king of the Andes. Young condors have light feathers which darken around eight years of age. The birds, who are risk of extinction in Ecuador, can live up to 80 years of age!

We only watched for a few minutes as the demonstration was about to begin.

The trainer came out with what we think was probably a Harris Hawk. The hawk certainly knew the trainer’s number! The bird walked around the man in circles, looking for a handout of food from the man’s satchel and screeching all the time.

The trainer kept picking him up and putting him on the pillar but the smart hawk kept flying back to the man’s feet and awaiting more handouts! About the only thing we understood from the trainer’s spiel as it was in Spanish was that the hawk, if that’s what it was, lived to be 80 years old.

We didn’t know our birds obviously because we couldn’t identify the succession of birds the trainer brought out one by one! One was some sort of owl, one likely an eagle but the others remained a mystery!

Seeing these massive birds wheeling and soaring above the valleys below, as well as right over our heads was truly impressive stuff and well worth the entrance fee.

It was unfortunate for us that the trainer spoke only in Spanish so we had basically no idea about who the various birds were or how he described them. However, if there were ever a time our non-Spanish didn't matter, this was it as our enjoyment came from watching those birds be free as they soared in the wind's currents, often for a few minutes at a time.

I remember so clearly holding my breath each time the trainer gestured the bird to fly away wondering if and when it would return since it was free to 'escape.'

We couldn’t possibly imagine a more beautiful and natural setting for the Condor Park.

We happened to sit by Emmy, a lovely Belgian young woman traveling solo, and began chatting with her after the show. She and I took even more pictures of the Andean condors!

We watched with great interest as one of the park staff took a huge bucket of raw meat into the condor pen.

None of the condors seemed to pay any attention to the woman wandering about their territory. Guess they were used to it and knew she was bringing their food.

Of course my camera moved as soon as the condor spread its massive wings!

While waiting for the taxi Emmy had so wisely pre-arranged, the three of us had time to admire more of the stunning scenery around the park.

I only had very thin capris and a cardigan on so I was getting pretty chilled as the temperature dropped. Stupid me for not dressing more warmly, I know!

I think these are called churro flowers. Aren't they exquisite?!

On the way down the mountain, we made tentative plans with Emmy to meet in the morning to possibly go hiking together at one of the nearby crater lakes.

Because the streets were still busy from the day’s market, the taxi driver let us off in the center of town and we began walking toward our hotel. This gooey stuff looked like marshmallow creme!

Since we ‘had’ to go past Plaza de Ponchos again, I suggested to Steven we stop at The Pie Shop first. I had read that, if there was

going to be one reason to visit Otavalo, it should be the pie shop right on the square as it was home to the best fruit pies in South America. With that plug, how could we not stop by, right?

Steven ordered the American standard apple pie and ice cream but I decided to go out on a limb and taste the strawberry and rhubarb pie, also with ice cream! That turned out to be our dinner that night as the serving sizes were larger than we’d anticipated. Mind you, the prices were, too. Having a yummy slice of pie à la mode was a great treat at the end of a long day of shopping at the weekly markets, discovering the weaving village of Peguche, hiking to the waterfalls and then onto Parque Condor!