Guaranda Carnival

One of the most famous popular festivities on the yearly calendar of celebrations in Ecuador is the Carnival staged in the central Andean city of Guaranda, capital of the small province of Bolivar. What makes this particular Carnival famous is the intensity with which the local population takes the fiesta, joined by thousands of national and international visitors, and also the particularities which make it different from those that are celebrated elsewhere in the country or abroad.

Guaranda is a quaint city, located in a fertile Andean valley, on the western slopes of the colossal Chimborazo Volcano, Ecuador’s highest mountain, rising to over 21.000 feet above sea level. The scenery that surrounds the colonial style city and its condition as important crossroads for the commerce between the Andes and the Ecuadorian Pacific Coast, make it interesting in many ways.  It is also known as the “City of the Seven Hills”.

Unlike more traditional Carnival celebrations, basically “imported” by the European cultures which conquered the Americas in the late 1400’s, the Guaranda Carnival claims to have its own ancestral roots, those of the Pre-Hispanic cultures which inhabited the present-day territory of Ecuador before the arrival of the Incas or the Spaniards. According to history, local legends and traditions, the Carnival was celebrated to honor Mother Earth and nature, who they worshipped. The central character was the Guaranga Cacique or Lord, who presided over the entire celebrations. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived, they introduced their own version of Carnivals, basically originated on the Roman festivities, which later were located by the Roman Catholic Calendar as a prelude to the period of Lent, the Holy Week and Easter Celebrations.

The Guaranda Carnival is a fantastic display of joy, colorfulness, music, dancing, eating and drinking. People literally abandon themselves to the pleasures of partying for several days without stop and leaving aside any other matters or concerns. Bright costumes, symbolic masks, parades, singing and sharing the traditional drinks and foods of Carnival with relatives, friends, neighbors and even strangers is the norm. The celebrations feature intense sessions of throwing each other water-filled balloons, water buckets, perfumed water, flowers, talcum powder, flour and other elements, while one single “official” song fills the air continuously day and night. The festivities are a reflex of the profound syncretism or blend between the indigenous cultures, traditions and cosmology and those that were brought by the European conquerors and the Catholic religion.

The Guaranda Carnival kicks-off with the “grand entry” to the city of the “Taita Carnaval” (“Taita" is the kichwa word for “Father”), which occurs around ten days before the actual festivities. It is an impressive parade, presided by a prominent male member of the local community, who represents power, wealth and, in this case, is also the provider of happiness, presents, and food and leads the party spirit. His characterization earns him the respect and gratitude of the massive party-goers. As in most indigenous-rooted rites, the Taita or Father is accompanied by a “Mama” or Mother, in this case the “Mama Carnaval”, who joins in presiding over the lively rituals, which include dressing-up in representative costumes and disguises with painted faces or masks and vociferously chanting the Carnival song to the beat of drums, flutes and panpipes. Parading through the city’s main streets, the exuberant caravan is escorted by musicians, bands and poem readers who recite verses which also fuse the indigenous with the European, producing dramatic samples of the “mestizo” culture.

A basic element of this festivity is the spirit of sharing. As in past epochs, when the local tribes prepared abundant food and beverages for the visitors from the surrounding areas, the concept of sharing with friends and strangers alike the food, the drinks and the joyful party spirit has been preserved up to these days. The signature beverage of the Guaranda celebration is the “pajaro azul” (meaning blue bird), a strong alcoholic concoction made of sugar-cane based fire-water and local herbs which give the drink its bluish coloration. The more indigenous rooted prefer to stick to the ancestral “chicha” drink, a fermented maize-based brew. Food includes roasted guinea-pig, potatoes, maize and pork prepared in many traditional and certainly delicious ways.

The main festivities last up to a whole week, from the 26th February to the 3rd March in 2014, and are also related to the ancient celebrations around the Spring Equinox, to which the Carnival is usually very close in time. It takes some three and a half hours to reach Guaranda from Ecuador’s capital city of Quito, on a very scenic drive south along the Pan-American Highway, passing Ambato and then taking a southwestern branch of the Pan-Am. So, if you have the chance, don’t miss the opportunity of being a part of this amazing celebration already included in Ecuador’s inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage expressions.

Ecuador Offers Tours To Famous Cemetery

Cemetery in the Ecuadorian city Guayaquil will be a touristic destination. Over an area of ​​15 hectares over the past 170 years was buried about 700 thousand people, many of which left a significant mark in the history of the country. A third burial due to the high artistic level of gravestones declared a national cultural heritage.

Streets and staircases of the cemetery resemble a museum: sculptures and statues, the whole arrangement of white marble, not inferior to the level of performance in the best collections of museums in Europe. Artistic compositions cemetery features a variety of architectural styles - Greco-Roman, Neo-Classical, Baroque and Moorish. The age of some monuments exceeds 200 years.

Tourists already come to look at these sites. Now, the sculptures are systematised in 4 thematic routes, which can be taken from 28 October. The total duration of excursions is about 1.5 hours.

So to pay tribute to the heroes of the country and the presidents of Ecuador it is possible in the route "Entre la grandeza y la huella eterna". Tour under the name "Tras las sombras del ultimo verso" will be held at the resting place of the arts, culture and music. By selecting "Memoria y el vuelo de los angeles", visitors will see the best sculptures cemetery, and the latest version of excursions includes the graves of other famous people of the city and country.

The heart of the southern coast, the port of Guayaquil - the biggest city and economic center of Ecuador, the country's major export gateway. It is located approximately 250 kilometers south-west of the capital, on the Guayas river.

Ecuador Sightseeings

The relative cheapness of food and rapidly growing market of tourist services make Ecuador an attractive country for tourism. In a charming, slightly elongated plain at an altitude of 2800 m, is located the capital of Ecuador - Quito - one of the most colorful cities in Latin America. It comprises many cultures and traditions. Most clearly seen in Architecture - Spain, Holland and even pre-Columbian architectural motifs create a wonderful mixture of the 2 eras. In modern buildings of the American Quarter adjoin the narrow streets of the Latin, with beautiful chapels, churches, monasteries, houses of stone and mud brick. Just need to visit the Independenc e Square, near the Presidential Palace, admire the monasteries of La Compagnia, San Francisco and San Diego, visit the Museum of Colonial Art, which contains the magnificent works of the masters of South America - picture Guyasamina Osvaldo Oswaldo Viteri and Olga Fish.

It is impossible not to visit the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Archaeology, where you make a fascinating journey into the past, see the collection of blood vessels, arrowheads from El Inga, dating from the 10th millennium BC, as well as the magnificent conical vessels - aribalos "period of Inca (1450 - 1534 years.). The art of the era preceding the Inca era, most pronounced in the figure of La Tolita (500 BC - 500 AD) and Valdivia - the oldest in America. Walk "Chiva Don Otto (" Chiva "- is the name of the old nation-wide public bus) - the sounds of folk music, you ride through the narrow streets of Lower City, try a hot drink of cinnamon - kanelazo, traditional sweets and snacks.

Walk to "Chiva" - a taste of night life of colonial Kito. Just 15 minutes away to the north of the capital is the equator, there is the Museum of Ethnography and Culture "middle world", the picturesque ruins of the Inca Rumicho and a fantastic view of the crater Pululaha. The most common routes: Quito - Guayaquil - Galapagos Islands and Quito - the neighborhood of the volcano Chimborazo, Nat. Park Sangay, Inca pyramids, mountain steppe highlands of the Andes, diving on the Pacific coast. Cuenca - cobbled streets of the city perfectly complemented by artfully cast vignettes balconies, traditional jewelry, handicrafts items confirm the ancient culture of the natives.

Magnificent cathedral, the convent buildings and museums will not leave you indifferent, as well as the city's landmarks - the river Tomebamba beautifully envelope of old houses. Not far from Cuenca is a wonderful place - El Kayasy - Country 200 lakes and lagoons, and a relic of an ancient culture - Ingapirca, traditional political and religious center Kanyaris, later turned into a ceremonial Inca castle and fortification. In the north-east of the town are picturesque villages and Gualaseo Horteleg, known for its artists and artisans. Here you can purchase artfully constructed "Panama", traditional textiles and ceramics. One of the most beautiful places in Ecuador, the area around the volcano Chimborazo (altitude 6310 m). Here goes Expresso Metropolitan "- one of the highest railway in the world, which is laid past the cliffs of the mountains. The train moves at a speed of 50 - 60 km / h. and rises to the top of the mountain for 8 hours (by car is much faster). From the roof of the train, specially equipped for the journey, a wonderful view. At Indian small markets at Ecuador you will find a variety of goods and crafty artisan crafts, rightly considered the best in America. Some Indian markets are not like the others, Otavalo Indian market is quite different from the Indian market Sakuisili, Zumbahua or Cáñar.

Marvel at the variety you a variety of products with an indelible imprint of the oldest in the Americas culture. Ecuador owned by the world-famous Galapagos, Ecuador's main tourist attraction. Educated as a result of volcanic activity and reminding spray congealed lava in the ocean, the islands abound with amazing beaches softest sand, olive, white and black, creating a unique landscape. On some islands you will see the red mangroves and acacia, the other - cacti and tropical plants. Underwater a diverse, there are more than 400 kinds of various fish and plants most bizarre coloring. It is a paradise for divers - in the waters of the archipelago inhabited by sea lions, penguins, dolphins, sharks, whales, and many other representatives outlandish fauna. In fact, the archipelago reign iguanas and giant tortoises - the most ancient reptiles planet. The country has the most favorable conditions for the trip to the jungle. In the national park "Oriente", 2 reserves and eight protected areas, are equipped with hiking trails and parking. According to one of the tributaries of the Amazon, Napo River, you can make a memorable trip in a real Indian canoe or boat.

Chimborazo volcano - the most distant point from the center of the planet

Chimborazo - an extinct volcano, which at one time stormed so that it became the highest point in modern Ecuador. And also - the main convexity of the planet, more precisely - the ice edge.

What do you think, what a mountain on Earth - the highest?

The most popular opinion - Qomolangma. That if we assume the height of peaks above sea level. (Yes, and then from time to time something here and there pop-up messages that K2, the world's second summit on the classical system, Everest ahead of a few meters - competition awful).

Looking at the mountain to the naked eye, simply tossing his head, and take the height from the base of the mountain to the summit - the highest you can recognize Ararat or McKinley (it depends on how you count). If included in the calculations and that part of the mountain, which is under water, the result is the highest mountain - Mauna Kea. This mountain is standing right at the bottom of the Pacific, and the waves looks only to its top.

But what if we assume the height of the mountain starting not from the earth, not to sea level and not even from the bottom of the sea, and from the center of the Earth?

In this case, the result is the world's highest peak located in Ecuador. And it is called - Volcano Chimborazo. It is at its peak is the most distant point from the center of the Earth.

This long-extinct volcano. Supposedly, its last eruption took another 2 or 3 thousand years ago.

The height of this mountain - 6384 meters. This is a mountain - an incredible heights by European standards. But to the Himalayas it is still far away. Being a same distance from the center of the planet she helped by the fact that the Earth is not the ideal sphere. And Chimborazo was lucky too in the right place it is located.

A volcano in the Andes, in the middle of Ecuador, even nearby, just 150 kilometers from the capital Quito.

At this point the mountains stretch from 2 to 4 thousand meters high. And among them the majestic tip of 2500 meters stands Chimborazo. The top of it covered with perpetual ice.