Our last few days in Cuenca were CARNIVAL! Thursday night was the kick-off party downtown, to which we brought our raincoats. Different countries/areas have different traditions (obviously) and in Ecuador Carnival means water: water balloons, water guns, pushing each other in fountains, etc etc. A few years ago some kids in Cuenca started putting dye in the water and as usual they spoiled it for everyone. Water is now discouraged (although still present), and now the big thing are foot-tall cans of bubbles. Or more like a cross between bubbles and shaving cream. They call it “Caraoka” or something like that, and it’s not just for the kids; I got “got” by a bunch of middle aged women who hid their cans under their arms until the last second.

In Cuenca the first night we watched giant puppets dance manically for at least an hour to a live marching band, saw the “Carnival Queen” get sprayed while giving a speech on stage, watched three different groups of traditional dancers perform, and then we left around the time the police started getting foamed. Mom resorted to pulling up her rain coat hood. I just duck and ran. It was so much fun.

Over the next few days at all times of day we had to be on the alert for spray cans at all times. It was mostly just kids in doorways and teenagers spraying out of the windows of their cars, but Carnival was everywhere. On Saturday we heard about a town called Ambato that celebrates a “Festival of Flowers and Fruits,” coinciding with Carnival with floats like the Rose Parade. Mom wasn’t feeling 100% but we decided to give it a try. The bus was supposed to take 2.5 hours so we headed to the bus station just after breakfast. The first problem was the bus station was on the absolute southern outskirts of the city so it took us an hour just to get there on the trolley (for 25 cents). The next problem was the line. Apparently everyone from Quito (we were back in Quito at this point) leaves for the long weekend. And they either go to the coast, or to Ambato. They were as prepared as they could be – buses literally left every 5 minutes, as fast as they could load them. But even so, once we bought our tickets ($2.50 each), we were faced with this:

We finally got on and as the bus was pulling out of the station, I hear the ticket man say that, with traffic, it will take four hours to get there. I looked at Mom. She wasn’t pleased but we stuck it out. We had already made it this far. The trip ended up being about 3.5 hours but once we arrived and started following signs to the center, Mom pointed out that we were walking against a tide of folks who were carrying their folding chairs, as if there had been a parade that morning and it had just finished. We didn’t let it deter us and pressed on. Into another karaoke  MAYHEM! It was like a block party with the most massive game of foam/spryaing/tag you should imagine. And of course we were targeted. “Hola Gringas!” *spray* Car rolled by *spray* Cute guy winks at me *spray* It was raucous. I could have walked around for hours laughing it up but poor Mom just wanted to see the flowers and there was only one float in sight. Determined not to give up too easily we made it to the central square and walked around it. Nothing but foam and beer.

At that point we started searching for lunch and couldn’t find anything except chicken and rice places until we were almost back to the bus station. I asked the waiter (who delivered us soup and fried trout) where the floats were and he confirmed that a parade had happened that morning, and he thought the floats were displayed one block behind the square. Bummer. We were headed back there and I asked a cabbie to confirm; he said that the flowers were all put away and stored for the day and that we should come back tomorrow. It was starting to drizzle, Mom was worn out, and I was distracted trying to get the bubbles out of my ears, so we headed back to the bus station (again, a bus leaving every 5 minutes once you made it through the 30 minute line). I wish we had seen more flowers but I had a ton of fun anyway so the trip was not for naught. We were later told that Ambato is one of the biggest celebrations so I felt good that we got a serious carnival experience.

The day before we left Cuenca I convinced Mom to return to Cajas National Park with me. I wanted her to experience the highest altitude forest on the planet and all of the crazy plants there. This bus ride was also abnormal (what a champ Mom was), in that we had standing room only for the 45 minute trip out. It was in the afternoon after she wrapped up her last Spanish class so we only had about 2 hours before we needed to catch a bus back. That turned out to be just the right amount of time for us to hike out to the forest, chill out there for awhile, and head back just in front of the rain. I got some more beautiful pictures of this special place:

Our last day together in Ecuador I wanted to do the touristy thing and go to the Equator. I wasn’t interested (knowing it’s a tourist trap) until a couple from Michigan that we had spent some time with described a bunch of tests that they make you do at the Museum: balancing a raw egg on its end (which is possible here with the strongest pull being straight down), walking the line with your eyes closed to feel the gravitational pull, flushing water on the line (no vortex), south of the line (clockwise vortex) and north of the line (counter-clockwise vortex). I didn’t believe it was true so I wanted to witness firsthand. The water was very convincing, although I’m not sure I quite believe it. I was one of only two people who successfully balanced the egg and I was presented with a certificate which will definitely be framed. (Kidding)

The museum there also had a few displays of traditional Ecuadorian tribes, such as the Naked tribe (who don’t wear any clothing but tie their penis’ up so the “penis fish” doesn’t swim up… you guessed it, and the folks who make the shrunken heads. They even had a real one on display. That’s a sloth head next to the boy’s:

All in all, Ecuador treated us right. Mom is ready to go home after almost 5 weeks away, and I’m ready to wind down my travels for a bit. I still have a nasty cough and I think my body is telling me I need to rest. We’ll see what happens next…