October 17th through October 23rd part 1:
Monday: We hired a taxi to take us to Banos and the Devil's Cauldron, a waterfall 20 minutes east of Banos. He picked us up at 8:00am and we had a 2 hour drive straight to the waterfall. It was nothing but amazing. It was truly one of the coolest places I have ever been. I have included a lot of pictures and videos, but I am not sure they do it justice.
The trip to Banos and the waterfall was through many valleys that were cultivated all the way up the slope of the mountain.
These are mandarin groves on steep slopes.
This is a small dam just above the waterfall.
This is the path to the waterfall.
This is a small waterfall above the main waterfall.
This is video of the first waterfall.
There were 2 suspension bridges we had to cross.
This is the main waterfall.
This is a video of the main waterfall.
Behind the waterfall.
Video of behind the waterfall.
I climbed down to get behind the waterfall, but it was too many steps and they were very slippery for Chris and Judy.
Another video of the main waterfall.
These steps are from the lower path. We were on the upper path.
You can see the other bridge above.
I was enjoying this so much.
Another video.
Beautiful flowers everywhere.
We hope that the water was brown from the minerals in the water.
Swimming caps were required.
The waterfall made for a very picturesque setting.
Two bathing beauties.
Mom is spreading her wings again.
I love the beautiful carved doors.
This is the passageway on either side of the main seating area.
This is where the priest stands and gives his message.
This confessional was so beautiful.
These are the doors to the the center courtyard.
The center courtyard at the church. It must have been a convent at one point.
Happy P-day missionaries from Riobamba.
It is amazing how they cultivate all the way up the slope.
The road home past some of the greenest farm country we have ever seen.
In the afternoon, we took an Uber to the Chapel of Man and the home of Oswaldo Guayasamin, probably the most famous painter and sculptor in Ecuador. His home has not been touched since his death in 1999. He wanted it to be preserved as a museum and put it into a foundation before his death. He was also a collector of pre-colonial artifacts, as well as colonial art. He was an ardent supporter of Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. Many of his works are protests against oppression, racism, and poverty.
The gardens have a lots of his sculptures.
A beautiful Spanish leather and wood chair.
He has thousand of artifacts from the pre-Colombian period.
Many pre-Columbian sculptures were often sold into private collections and many left Ecuador. This one is very unusual because it has a very clear form of the head and face.
You can see that most of the faces on the figures don't really look like real people.
This sculpture of the Winged Virgin of Quito is often replicated. The figure stands on a crescent moon with her foot on the serpent. Her hands are raised in a graceful dancing motion.
The house has art everywhere.
He found 4 oxen yokes from Spain and had them made into the backs for these chairs.
A picture of Quito.
Beautifully carved chest.
This is a Picasso
He had art from many famous artists.
This is one of his palettes.
This is an unfinished piece.
Another one of his palettes.
This is a painting of a famous musician. We watched a video of Guayasamin painting this while the man sat for the painting. He did it in 1 hour and 15 minutes. He did the painting in appreciation for the musician's work and wanted it to be part of his collection. It was never painted to be sold.
His desk was beautiful wood inlay.
He painted this when he was 19 and this painting was purchased by one of the Rockafellers.
This is a water color.
Another water color.
Judy and Chris bought new clothes in the museum shop to keep themselves warm.
The Chapel of Man is an art museum that was started before his death, but was not completed until after he had died. The paintings in the museum are enormous.
This piece is at least 50 feet long.
How big do you think this is.
With Chris standing next to the painting you get an idea of how big they really are.
This is another water color of Quito. It was for sale for $2,800.00.
Plaza de Independencia
La Merced at the bottom of the street.
We had lunch at Pim's restaurant near the top of the hill. The views were amazing. Quito and surrounding or connecting cities have a population of about 4 million people.
This is looking north and the city is even bigger looking south.
You can't see the end of the buildings.
Sorry the lighting is bad.
This is a statue of the Virgin of Quito. This was not on the top of the hill when we were missionaries.
1 comment:
What an amazing city, rich in culture and statuesque architecture. The artist’s museum was extremely impressive!
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