Out On A Limb : Class Field Trip #3: Cayambe and Pedro Moncayo (February 28-March 3)

The last field trip of the quarter took us to the north, about an hour and a half from Quito. Our first stop was an equator monument near the town of Cayambe, that had a neat display and explained why the equator passing through Ecuador is so important (because Ecuador has mountains and you can see the changing positions of the sun during different times of the year). Then we stopped off at our hostel for the night, which was actually in a Hacienda from the 1500s! We had a conference there, ate lunch and explored around a bit, when we checked out a super spooky church! In the afternoon we visited a hospital in Cayambe, that actually gave us a very informative tour, we even got to pass through their emergency room. Our tour guide from CIMAS, Luis Chontasi, showed us around the town of Cayambe and a few times the snow capped Volcan Cayambe popped out of the clouds. We returned to our hacienda for dinner and then the current mayor of Cayambe stopped by and talked to us about his opinions on the flower plantations in the area. He was a very animated and entertaining guy and afterwards we learned that he can put his leg behind his head when he does yoga! Later at night we gathered around the fireplace to listen to Geoff play his new mini guitar ("charango").

Another Mitad del Mundo monument, near Cayambe

A little balance on the equator!

The fireplace in our cozy hacienda

Courtyard of the hacienda

Tuesday morning we headed off to the neighboring town of Tabacundo, where flower companies are also a huge part of the economy. We visited a plantation and talked with the director and "flower engineers" that work to grow the perfect flower. While they repeated dodged our questions about pesticide use, working conditions and workers rights, they couldn´t hide the signs that said "Do Not Enter: Pesticide Spraying in Process", or the workers without gloves, or the dead duck by their reservoir, or a worker with a gas mask on mixing liquids in a giant bucket. Compared to the other plantation that we visited back in November, this one was much larger, much more like a full-scale production plant for Russian roses and guarded by at least 5 snarling rottweilers. After leaving the plantation, we were all a little dazed by what we´d just seen. We stopped off at Luis´s country home in Picalquí next, which is a small community near Tabacundo that has prohibited flower plantations on their lands. In the afternoon we met up with the president of the Picalquí neighborhood inside their new computer center. As the sun was going down we played soccer on a field and met some fun little kids. Later on in the evening we met their moms when we participated in a meeting of the local womens group. They prepared an incredible "colada" soup with 7 grains and we hung out with them and talked as they knitted and showed us their artesanal work.

Rosimar-the flower plantation that we visited with very fancy offices!

Rottweilers protecting the premises (note that the one in the back jumped halfway up the wall)

No chemical mixing and fumigation in process here...

A cow in Picalqui, a community without flower plantations, but where many people still work in flowers outside of the area

Dinner with the womens group

The next morning we visited a hospital in Tabacundo and a clinic in the neighboring town of La Esperanza. We also talked with a very intelligent woman who works on development projects in the area and visited a super awesome organic farm! The farm was an eye-opening experience and it was so neat to see a highly successful alternative to flower plantations that is totally possible! And now it turns out that my friend Vanessa from CIMAS is going to spend her 10 week internship at that farm next quarter. I can´t wait to go visit her and eat their amazing tomatoes, amaranth and strawberries!

Volcan Cayambe in the morning!

All dressed up in traditional Inty Raymi dancing clothes!

In-house band playing some traditional tunes from the Sierra!

After the farm we stopped by a native tree plantation and picked out a few to plant the next morning at Luis´s house. To start the planting, we got up early and dug holes before breakfast. Luis encouraged us to bring our children back to his house and farm in 10 years to see how much the trees had grown. I really hope that I get a chance to visit the wonderful Picalquí again someday! After breakfast we packed up our things and drove to a school just outside of Tabacundo. It was a blast to hang out with elementary school kids for the morning as they demonstrated the uses of different medicinal plants to us. We made lots of friends, took lots of pictures and danced around with them! It was nearly impossible for our van to leave when we were supposed to go and we ended up spending extra time there because we were having so much fun!
Next we drove to the nearby community of Tocachi to visit a senior center where they serve free breakfast and lunch every weekday to lots of elderly people. We helped serve the lunch and afterwards they fed us too! Our school in Quito, CIMAS, supported the building of the community house and continues to work on development projects in the area. Our last stop of the trip was an archeological site called Cochasquí. We walked around more than 20 built mounds of earth that have been at the site since before the Incas. I was amazed when our guide told us that from one point in the reserve, 19 volcanoes can be seen! Unfortunately it wasn´t clear enough for us to count 19, but we saw plenty of llamas and alpacas instead! Then we were back in the van to head back to Quito for a 5 day vacation for Carnaval!