We came to ride horses through the Valley of the Immortals.
Titled as such, because Vilcabamba boasts one of the oldest populations on the planet with people living up to 126 years old. Since the early 20th century, scientists have flocked there to study the longevity of the locals. There was a bit of controversy over some of the age claims because it became apparent some were using their parent’s birth certificates, but either way they would still be quite old as many of their parents had them very young. Riding up the hillside, we could see elderly people anywhere from ages 86- 100 in their boots sowing their fields.
The elevation in Vilcabamba creates a constant perfect temperature with sunny weather year-round. Rain comes enough that their gardens grow an endless supply of crops. The air is crisp and clean and the overall atmosphere relaxing. There is also allegedly a near perfect natural mineral balance in the water. Vilcabamba also attracts a sizeable international expatriate community which explains why it has the only actual “Cyber café” (that combines internet services with coffee) that I have seen in the entire country. Basically, Vilcabamba is a pretty chill town:
Upon arrival, we were followed for about thirty minutes by a small dog. This made us a little nervous, but it seemed friendly enough. Gavin, a New Zealand based guide we were told to find was out on a three day ride but there were numerous similar tours all around Vilcabamba and it didn’t take us long to locate another. Fifteen bucks a person bought us both a 2 hour guided ride through the mountains. I didn’t quite lie when I said I was an experienced rider, I just counted my third grade girl scout horse-camp as experience and the additional very tame trail rides I have taken over the years (all two of them). Unlike those rides, it was just Ryan and I and a young Ecuadorian dude and he was cool with letting us gallop up and down the mountain.
And gallop up and down the mountain, we did.
At one point, we rode up a small stream and up to a scenic overlook. Vilcabamba from a distance:
From there, we headed back:
Both our butts paid dearly for that horse-ride.
We had a filling lunch at a busy restaurant in town. Most of the vegetables on my veggie fajita were straight from their garden out back.
Later, back in Loja, it was difficult to tell who was celebrating what with the different festivities around this time of year, including Halloween, a tradition that seems to penetrated the younger generation of Ecuador. Today was some sort of celebration of Ecuador’s seal, as well as the beginning of a holiday in which the people of Loja transport a statue of Mary from Loja to another town. Also for Nov. 2nd’s, El dia de los difutos (Ecuador day of the dead) entire streets were filled with vendors selling bread figures shaped like babies (very delicious (( not inspired by Mr. Swift)) and coloda moroda, a warm purple drink filled with chunks of fruit.
We rushed to different pirated DVD stores to try to find a horror movie in English to show his
classes for Halloween. We weren’t just being cheap. It’s very difficult to buy a legitimate DVD in this country because they simply don’t seem to import them and there are apparently no copyright lies preventing the sale of pirated DVDs. We ended up with Invasion, a remake / adaptation of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”I joined in on his first class to meet his students and watch the film. The students (those who showed up) seemed to have a lot of difficulty understanding it even with English subtitles, but I am sure it beat a typical English lesson.
We ended my last night in Loja at Mimos, an ice-cream parlor and restaurant where we had sandwiches and shared a magnificent three flavored ice-cream Sunday filled with fruit and topped with whip cream.
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