Carnaval!

Four-hour parades with only 5 floats, canned spray foam attacks, water balloon drive-bys, eggs seemingly dropping out of thin air, dancing in the mud, getting water sprayed in your bus window, roadside foods fried in copious amounts of oil, awful sugar cane liquor, and of course hoochie-mamas with shiny gold boots pulled up above the knee and tighter-than-tight gold short-shorts doing synchronized dancing on stage to Ecuadorian folk mucic.

This, my friends, describes just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Carnaval in Ecuador. A country-wide four-day Mardis Gras-type celebration, Ecuadorians get REALLY into this holiday and water balloon attacks are as common from 10-year old kids as from 40-year old moms. In fact the festivities started out at my office, when after a company lunch, each of us was coerced into sitting in a plastic lawn chair out front fully-clothed. Then we were attacked with the hose and 5 gallon buckets of water until we were thoroughly drenched and walking like penguins due to our pant legs sticking to our bodies!

From Loja I headed to Vilcabamba where two other volunteers (Andy and Janet) and I laid low since the Ecuadorians love attacking the gringos. We watched a few parades, had some dinner, and headed to a cool trout place where they pull the trout right out of the river and fry it up for you.

Then I headed off to the jungle to meet up with some other folks, and this is where the real Carnaval began (unfortunately no photos due to the fact that my camera doesn't play well with lots of foam and water!).  We spent the majority of the time in a town call Chicaña, where thousands of moderately inebriated people danced in a muddy field and bathed in a not-so-clean river. Very fun (in a white-trash trailer park kind of way)! And, yes, I couldn't resist the temptation and went through three cans of spray foam myself!

Here are a few photos of the not-so-wet portion of Carnaval...

Ready for the horse trotting part of the parade with traditional southern Ecuador hat

Vilcabamba's old folks doing a dance.  All nearing 100 years old!

Vilcabamba is known as the Valley of Longevity, with a much higher than normal percentage of the population living into the triple digits.

Niña de Carnaval

Señorita de Carnaval (recently sprayed with foam)

Traditional Dancing

More Dancing

There was a float for the Swine Flu!  Literally, "Get out of here swine flu!"

The gringos escaping to a safe area for dinner.

The pinnacle of safety.

Foamed!

Giddy Up

I had never ridden a horse before coming to Ecuador (unless you count the 5 minute pony rides at Camp Crestwood when I was seven, and I certainly don't!).

So, when I was suddenly thrown on the saddle of a horse for the dedication of a new environmental education center with the full assumption that I was a midwestern cowboy, I attempted to play the part well. But Long Island Jews aren't supposed to know how to ride horses, and I ended up arriving at the top of the mountain 45 minutes after everyone else including four 16 year old "reinas" or local beauty queens - an essential part of any official Ecuadorian event. It's not my fault that all my horse wanted to do was nibble on grass and poop, but as the strange gringo from North America, everything's excusable and all anybody wanted me to do was pose for pictures with the reinas.

After my first traumatic equine experience, I somehow voluntarily decided to go on a 2 day horseback riding trip with some friends in the Podocarpus National Park near Vilcabamba, about 45 minutes south of where I live.  And, once again my horse was far from cooperative! At first he started galloping along with everyone, thoroughly disturbing my manhood with each stride, but after an hour of climbing in the Andes he decided that it sucks for him to be giving me a free ride and that it would be easier to turn around and head back down.  Yes, he actually did a 180 and started going downhill!  So, I ended up having to jump off the saddle and walk him up the mountain.  

Don't think I'll be entering any rodeos anytime soon!  Here are a couple of photos...

The 4th Livestock Fair Reina getting ready to saddle up!

Me and the reinas

Uncooperative horse #2 and gringo with floppy gringo hat

Fording a river

Andean views

Heading the opposite direction on lazy horse #2

Gina and Holly after 2 days of riding