Otavalo

Our pre-booked taxi doesn’t arrive and Will’s forced to find one on the street that will take us on our 2-hour trip to Otavalo. Of course, it’s now $15 more expensive than the pre-booked one and it’s smaller meaning that some of our bags are squashed inside the car with us.

Our apartment at Hacienda Palmeiras is located a little way from town but this means that we have some beautiful grounds around us and, for the first time this trip, feel confident enough to let the kids wander off without us watching them. They can’t go far and are having a great time playing with the resident dogs and alpacas. I hope Harley manages to get off bite-free this time.

Saturday is market day in Otavalo and this one is huge. We buy some presents for our families knowing that we don’t have to carry them around for very much longer. Most of our families have done something for us be it storing our car or furniture, taking our mail or delivery of our packages or something else so it’s only right that we take them something back, even if it is a dead guinea pig…

And speaking of dead animals, the local speciality here looks to be whole pig, head still attached complete with startled expression (well what expression would you have if someone stuck a poker up your bottom and shoved you on a spit) from which large chunks are ripped off and served up with some crispy roast potatoes, corn, salsa and gravy. A plateful for £2.50. Will’s enjoying it so much he scoffs down three platefuls and washes it down with a couple of beers and I’m almost gagging on the smell of hot pork fat combined with piggy giving me the eye.

We’re off to Cusin to go horse riding and we all get our own horse apart from Harley who’s sitting on Dobbin with the guide. A 1 hour ride gives us a pleasant view of some surrounding countryside but I’m finding the slow-pace a bit of a bore. I’d love to give my steed a whip and have him take me for a canter, but I’m not allowed to since the others will follow suit, probably dumping Will (who’s on a horse for the first time in 35 years) and Ruby (who’s on a horse for the second time in her life) in the process.