Where to begin...Carnaval is celebrated in much of Latin America as a time for excess celebration before the beginning of lent and a more solemn 40 days. So, we made sure to do just that (when in rome, right?) this past weekend, well actually 5 days since we had off school 2 days for the holiday. On Thursday afternoon we set off on our journey towards Ambato, a fairly small city located about 1-2 hours from Quito which is well known for its traditional Carnaval festivities. We arrived fairly late in Ambato the first night and settled into our hostel before wandering the streets a bit and getting to know the area (aka getting really lost). The next day, Friday, we once again did plenty of exploring, but it wasn´t until Saturday when the city really came to life and Carnaval festivities overtook the place. However we did feel the need to purchase a piñata to celebrate Carnaval (a barbie one at that) and thoroughly enjoyed beating her between rounds of cherades and tequila. That night we felt a revitalized buzz in the air and excitement in everyone´s actions and even heard about what promised to be a fun foam party (basically a dance party at some bar with lots of foam everywhere...). Despite the fact that there was only an occasional tiny spurt of foam every 20 minutes we did enjoy ourselves and returned to the hostel quite late and tired. On Saturday we awoke to a lively environment outside and set out to wondering around. First, we stumbled upon a giant crowd gathered for some ceremony at a plaza next to an amazing mural made completely of flowers, fruit, and bread (the celebrations in Ambato are named the Festival of fruit, flowers, and bread so I suppose that made sense), but it was quite a sight and seemed like it would have taken years to make. Here´s what it looked like:
After that we found another plaza where there was a unique competition taking place. Everywhere you looked there were very talented artists painting the bodies of nude women. One woman was pregnant and the painter drew a beautiful (i guess) image of a baby on her stomach. After the naked art we checked out a few different indigenous dance groups that were a lot of fun to watch. Later on we decided it would be interesting, not quite fun, but worthwhile to check out the bullfight. Bullfights are a longstanding tradition here and always draw quite a crowd, especially during times of celebration such as during Carnaval. I myself was skeptic of the event and knew I´d feel pretty awful for the bulls, after all I was a vegetarian for 7+ years and in all likelihood may be again soon. Walking into the stadium was quite a thrill as I´ve only heard of what the events were like or seen pictures (and they gave away free cardboad cowboy hats which I took quite a liking to). The fights themselves were pretty intense, though extremely unfair - it was essentially about 12 humans against one bull. Although the bulls lost every time, I made sure to cheer for them and I was pretty excited when our favorite bull, whom we named Mars Favre after the god of war and the god of everything, threw one of the matadors over the wall with his head, smashed down another wall with his head, and even got up several times after being taken down (did I mention all the spewing of blood during his final heroic moments?). Here´s a shot of a stare down between a bull and the heartless killer:
After the 6 bulls were slain we headed back to town, ate dinner, and packed up our stuff to get ready for our trip to Baños. We made it to the bus station only to find that there were no more busses that night to Baños but we found out it would only cost $20 a cab to take us there as it was only about an hour away and cabs are super cheap here. We arrived in Baños and found our way to our really nice hostel, located steps away from the craziest street in town that already showed signs of carnaval chaos the second we arrived. That night we were already pretty tired from our busy day and all the travelling so we took it pretty easy. We checked out the scene a bit and learned to avoid kids with bottles of foam spray in their hand, as they were always pretty eager to drench the gringos. The next morning we awoke early enough for the hostel´s free breakfast and were out by noon in search of plans. Baños is located on the brink of the Amazon so there are tons of places around town offering various expeditions and activities into the jungle. Right away we decided it would be fun to go whitewater rafting so we headed into one of the agencies to find out more. After watching a brief video about the trip and agreeing we would embark on the adventure the following day we noticed some pictures on the wall of people jumping off bridges, harnessed of course, and thought to ourselves, hey why not? After us guys spent a minute or two convincing all the girls it would be fun (and safe) we paid the 10 dollars and took off in the back of pickup truck, through mountainous tunnels, across rivers, and in between giant green mountains to the bridge that we were to jump off. It was truly a gorgeous scene and the bridge was set above a magnificent river filled with ecuadorian kids enjoying its water and the nice weather and plenty of large, jagged rocks. We set aside our fears, and to some extent our better judgment, and took turns harnessing up and leaping off the bridge before a long drop and a few swings back and forth. To this point I can´t decide which moment was more breathtaking and awe-inspiring, taking in the most amazing views from the glacier of Cotopaxi or dangling from the rope above a glistening river between enormous green mountains on the edge of the Amazon jungle.
Nervous smile?
After we all took our turns losing our stomachs but also having the times of lives we headed back and immediately took a nap. That night, refreshed and ready for whatever the city would throw at us, we partook in the typical tequila drinking that accompanied our Carnaval experience (when in rome...) and hit the streets. We soon found out we were not safe unarmed, as we were bombarded with foam from every direction the second we left our hostel. Immediately we located the nearest foam vendor and took part in what seemed to me to be the equivalent of World War III. Within minutes we were all covered in foam from head to toe, but laughing uncontrollably and working as a team to avenge any foaming we had received. The foam is really a weird tradition, and to some extremely disrespectful, but we decided to make the most of it and hand plenty of fun doing so. Later on we stumbled upon a dance competition taking place on a stage set up in the streets and two of our friends decided to test their moves and hop on stage. Needless to say they didn´t win but it was certainly good for a few laughs. There we met a few Ecuadorians who wanted to take us to a nearby dance club so we willingly obliged. Within an hour or so we were extremely tired so we retired to our hostel to get a little rest before what would prove to be unbelievable day on the river and atop a volcano. However I must go, I´ll try to write again soon about the rest of our incredible carnaval adventures.
Chao!
Brett
p.s.
I added a few pictures to the entry about camping at Cotopaxi, sorry I´m yet to add a whole bunch to the yahoo photo site, bare with me.
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