Cotacachi - our little town

The little town we've chosen to live in is really neat.  I can't get an exact size from the internet but population is in the range of 8,000-10,000.  The downtown business area is about a square mile.  There are two large Catholic churches, one at the old town square with a small market and the other at the new town square.  They both ring their bells at different times of day announcing their services.  We live directly across the old town square from the older church and their bells ring at 6:00, 6:15, 6:45, 7:00 a.m. so we have no need for an alarm clock.  There some homes and apartments mixed into the downtown are but most homes trickle out ward from the center of town.

The most walked street of downtown is affectionately called "leather street".  That's not it's official name but leather goods is what nearly every store on the street sells.  Cotacachi is well known for it's leather goods.  You can find bags of all sizes and colors, boots, shoes, jackets, ponchos, pants, etc, etc.  There are a couple of stores that also carry saddles and tack for horses and chaps, whips and spurs for the riders.  Many stores have the workshop in the back and you can meet the person who makes the things in the store.

 At one end of leather street is the market and the bus depot.  At the market you can find fresh fruits, veggies, and flowers every day of the week.  One section of this market has meat also.......but it hangs in the open air.  We love the fruits, veggies, and flowers but this is not where we buy our meat.  We stick with the regular grocery store for packaged, refrigerated meat.

There are many restaurants nestled in among the different shops.  Most of them are no bigger than a bedroom in your home and hold only 3 or 4 tables.  The owner cheerily takes your order then heads to the kitchen to prepare your meal.  You are next greeted by the children of the owner.  They take your drink order and bring you everything as it becomes ready.  We have found several restaurant we chosen to avoid because they looked a little too risky.  But we've also found several that we love.  So far not a single one of us has gotten sick.  Woo Hoo!

We've wandered about town several different days and I've taken hundreds of pictures.  Here are a few I would like to share.....

This is the market at the old town square.  We live on the second floor apartment of the building in the picture.  This market has several booths lining two side of the block.  The vendors are mostly, if not all, Quichua.  The good they sell include sweaters, jewelry, clothing, bags, belts.  We are frequently entertained from our bedroom window as we watch the market traffic.  Several times a day tour buses will stop and give their customers from different parts of the world time to wander through the market.  I also enjoy watching the vendors sit and knit sweaters and different items during the slow times of the day.

This is the big church located at the main town square.

The town square in front of the church.

Municipal building across from the town square

A flower nursery a few blocks from our apartment.

Our kids love this restaurant.  The owner caters to Americans.  A nice place to get some food that you are familiar with and enjoy visiting with other English speaking people.

This is the street in front of the kids' favorite restaurant.  All paved streets are these grey pavers. And the sidewalks in the business area are all tile of different colors and patterns.  The streets and sidewalks are swept every day so things are usually nice and clean.

This is  house on the same street.  The homes either have  a wall like this with a tiny yard or it will have a solid "privacy" wall with only a door.  Once you get in the door you have a nice courtyard area.  But from the street its just a wall and a door.

Many of the doors are very pretty.  Check out the door knocker in the center. It's a hand.

Once you get outside the business area the sidewalks are plain and things aren't as well cared for.  You really have to watch your step.  We have quickly learned that if you want to observe your surroundings you need to stop walking while you look around.  Otherwise you could have a nasty fall. There are lots of uneven areas, big holes with rocks stacked in them and sometimes just huge holes.......

.......like this one!  There was running water going through this one.  

This is a very common site.  When we first arrived we thought there were tons of stray dogs all over town.  But we've come to learn they aren't strays at all.  They all have a home and most are very well cared for.  But most people don't have yards so they let the dogs run around and the whole town becomes their yard.  Sometimes they pick a sunny spot in the middle of the road to take a nap and other times they are curled up outside their own home like this one.

But then you have lots of homes with "roof dogs" and they are there simply to alert the owners when anyone comes near the house.  From what we are told these kind of dogs are only guard dogs and they never come down off the roof.

Shopping is different here.  There is the market and the one grocery store that carries a tiny variety of several different things.  But there are tons of small store that are very specific in what they carry.  If you want a beer, you go to the liquor store.  If you need aspirin, you go to the pharmacy.  If you want croissants, you go to the bakery.  You get the idea.  We were surprised to see a store that only carried zippers and buckles.....very specialized.

This one was interesting too.........only things related to drywall.......tape,  mud, corner bead.   But don't come here for paint, that would be the paint store down the road!

Property security is a big thing here.  If things in your yard are easily accessible they will disappear.  And if something in your window can be easily taken, someone will take it.  So, They build walls around their property with access through a locked door.  And atop the walls you sometimes see barbed wire, or electric wire.  But most of the time the tops of the walls look like this with large pieces of glass or lots of broken bottles decorating the top.

There is lots of construction going on all over town both in the business areas and on the outskirts.  But you won't see or hear any power tools or big earth movers.  It's all done by hand and it's all concrete.

 On the outer edges of town we have found a couple large development-like areas where several homes are inside one wall and then there are a few really big homes on really big lots all by themselves.  Some of them have big sitting for years with no progress.  We are told that people build as they have the money.  So, work might be done for 6 months then it will sit for a year or more.  And other times people change their minds and let a house sit until they can sell it.

Most of the construction is concrete.  This one even has a concrete roof.

 Then there are several homes that are completely finished but have never been occupied.  We met a man from the states that lives down the street from this house.  He said he's lived here a year and this place has been finished since he moved here.  There is a rumor the owner is ready to sell.  But no one has contact info.  Realtors aren't common here.  It's usually word of mouth.  We did see a Remax sign on one house, but that's the only sign we've seen.

The other thing you see everywhere you go is people.  People working in their gardens, walking their geese, herding their sheep through town, riding horses to the store, hauling enormous loads of all sorts of things tied on their backs and the list goes on.  I haven't been brave enough to take many pics of the people but I find them very beautiful and entertaining.  After I've accumulated more pictures, I'll post something on the people.