Quito.

Out of 26 volcanoes in Ecuador, at least a dozen are within 50 miles of Quito. Quito is the closest capital city to the equator, the highest at 9,300 feet, and is the only one menaced by an active volcano, Pichincha, which looms over the western side of the city.

31 miles south of the city is the spectacular stratovolcano, Cotopaxi. At 19,347 feet, it is the second tallest volcano in Ecuador. As of July, 2015, Cotopaxi is experiencing a lot of new activity has been recorded and as of the 25th of June, 2015 is under active watch by volcanologists.

Quito has a population of about 2.5 million. The old colonial part of the city, seen in the foreground was, along with Krakow, Poland, one of the first two world heritage sites. The highrises in background are part of the rapidly-growing new Quito.

Quito is a very religious city with many churches, including the largest neo-Gothic cathedral in South America. Designed in the 1880s, the Basilica remains technically unfinished. Local legend has it that if the cathedral is ever completed it will mean the end of the world.

The city's most ornate church is the baroque Church of the Society of Jesus. Started in 1605, it took 160 years to complete.

Towering over the city is the hill named El Panecillo (little loaf of bread), topped by the statue of a winged Madonna, representing the woman of the apocalypse treading on a giant serpent.

Erected in 1976, the statue is made of over 7,000 pieces of aluminum.

This figure is not a colorful Klansman. Penitents that march in Quito's many religious processions wear these conical hoods known as capirotes. You can buy these little religious figurines at just about any shop in Quito.

Racial sensitivity is not really high in Ecuador, as you can see by this sign for this popular chain of restaurants. Ecuador has an African-descended population of about 1.1 million out of a total population of about 16 million. Most Afro-Ecuadorians are the descendants of enslaved Africans who originally arrived in Ecuador in 1533, when a slave ship heading to Peru was stranded off the Ecuadorian coast. The enslaved Africans escaped and established maroon settlements in Esmeraldas, on the northwest coast, which became a safe haven as many Africans fleeing slavery. Unfortunately, the racism deeply ingrained in Spanish colonial society is still found today; Afro-Ecuadorians are strongly discriminated against by the mestizo and criollo populations.

Our hotel in old town Quito was converted from a colonial era convent. The current owners have lavished a lot of money and effort making the hotel a lovely place, abounding in local artwork, including this beautiful skylight.

Outside the bounds of old town, the vibrant new town features exciting contemporary architecture.

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Saraguro Market.

We love visiting local markets, so when we heard that the little hill town of Saraguro had an especially large and interesting one, we got on a local bus and made the 0ne-and-a-half-hour journey without hesitation.

It was a lovely trip through green, rolling hills.

The market was large and bustling. The produce was incredible.

There was a wide variety of delicious-looking foods.

 Most the customers were dressed in their traditional clothing.

Short pants for the men.

Even some people without shoes.

 But of course everyone had a cell phone.

We were especially taken by this mobile ice cream parlor.

In all, it was an interesting glimpse into the daily lives of traditional Ecuadoreans.

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A Walk Through The Jungle And A Cruise On Cuyabeno Lagoon.

Walking through the jungle is hard work. It's hot and humid, the paths are narrow and twisting, and the mud is deep and slippery.

We struggled through mud that sometimes reached almost to the tops of our rubber boots. The suction was so strong that we almost lost our boots several times.

But there's so much cool stuff to see.

Huge trees and brilliant flowers.

The ceibo or kapok tree is the biggest tree in the Amazon jungle, reaching as much as 150 feet tall.

With huge roots that snake across and under the jungle floor for up to half a mile.

The roots of the palms grow out of the trunk, reaching for the ground to stabilize the tree as it grows taller.

 This iridescent dung beetle is expert at dealing with shit.

 We saw huge liana vines with trunks as thick as trees.

 Hundreds of ant and termite nests.

 A congregation of caterpillars.

And some tiny mushrooms.

 Some of the trees had bright red roots.

After the jungle walk, we went for a cruise on Cuyabeno Lagoon. This is part of of the flooded forest, a unique ecosystem. The trees that grow out of the water provide a home for whatever seeds happen to land on them: bromeliads, cacti (epiphyllum), even other trees.

 They are even home to ant and termite nests.

Their reflections on the still waters of the lagoon are weird and lovely. Sometimes it's hard to see where the tree ends and the reflection begins.

 We stayed for a lovely sunset.

 A fitting end to our jungle journey.

Next, back to Quito.

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Visiting The Siona People.

Part of our Amazon adventure was a visit to the Siona people, one of the indigenous groups that live in the Cuyabeno Reserve.

Before our second granddaughter was born, her parents, Teresa and Matthew, were looking for names on the internet. They ran across an article about the Siona people and really liked the name. They changed the spelling to Syona and the name stuck.

So when we found that visiting Syona's namesakes was on the itinerary, we were very curious to see them.

Our visit began with a session with the group's shaman, Tomas. We met him and one of his daughters at his house. He was dressed in his traditional grab for our visit.

The marks on his face represent the three animals that rule the air, the jungle, and the river. On his forehead, the harpy eagle, on his cheeks, the jaguar’s spots, and on his chin, the anaconda’s snout.

He performed a short ceremony for us. O volunteered to be the subject. For a real ceremony, he would drink the ayahuasca in the bottle by his feet and visit the spirit world to determine what was ailing his patient.

Afterwards, two of Tomas' daugthers showed us his cacao orchard, which has unfortunately become infected with the witches' broom fungus that is devastating chocolate production all over South America. They managed to find a few pods that were unaffected to show us. I didn't know that the pulp around the seeds is edible. In fact, it is sweet and delicious, tasting much like a custard apple. The girls saved the seeds for processing after we ate the pulp.

 Next, it was time to make bread. Really from scratch. We started by pulling up manioc roots.

 Once we had harvested enough roots, Gardenia, one of the villagers, showed us how to peel them.

 O got her technique down.

  Cassava bread is like a large flatbread or tortilla, cooked on a large iron pan over a wood fire.

 O helped Gardenia wash any remaining dirt off the manioc roots.

 And then grate them.

 Once the roots were grated, Gardenia rolled them into a squeezer woven from palm leaves.

 Wringing all the water out of the grated manioc. The water is saved and used for cooking.

 O helps sift the resulting flour.

 Gardenia spreads the flour on the hot pan.
 

 Once the bread is crispy on one side, she expertly flips it over.

 Then finishes cooking the bread.



 O enjoys the finished bread. With a little salt, it was quite good.

About 250 people live in this village. Conditions are fairly primitive by our standards, but there were a couple of satellite dishes and a school. Our guide told us that the government has put money into developing infrastructure here, but poor planning and lack of expertise have caused most of the projects to fail.

Two girls do the laundry in the river. The only transportation here is by motorized canoe. These have proliferated to the point that the pollution they produce is becoming a problem. The government is trying to get people to adopt less-polluting four-stroke outboards, but most people can't afford them.

 When we left the village, Tomas was there to wave goodbye. He'd changed for his shaman regalia to his everyday clothes.

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