Condor Park

We haven't heard of any zoos in this part of the world.  But we did find something close in the nearby town of Otavalo.  Condor Park is on the mountainside high above the town.  It is home to several birds of prey that have been rescued.  We chose the perfect day to explore the park.  We were the only visitors for the morning and the weather was sunny, clear, and beautiful.

After a warm welcome from the lady at the front door we explored gardens of unique flowers and trees......

  

Then we followed the rock path through the rest of the park.

This was an area with a rock structure that resembled a large sundial.  The sign explained that it was the "Calendar of the Condor" where the shadow actually showed the month of the year.

The feathered friends were many and they ranged from large to small.  This next little guy was about 6" tall. I took several pictures of him but his eyes were closed every time.  I was disappointed.  When his eyes were open it looked like he had enormous eyelashes all around them.

At the other end of the size spectrum was the Condor.  They were taller than Olivia with an enormous wing span.  I waited for what seemed like forever to get a picture of one of them with their wings spread out.  I finally got tired of waiting.

The information building had a nice poster that displayed the actual size of the Condor's wingspan.  The girls standing in front of it helps with perspective.

There were several birds of other sizes as well.  Some we recognized, like the Harpy Eagle and Bald Eagle, and others that we've never seen before.

One section of the park was really neat.  It was arranged in a large circle.  There were nearly a dozen different birds in this area and they each had their own perch and shelter.  The cool thing was that you could sit on a small wall and watch the birds on their perches only 6ft away with nothing between you.

Most of them sat quietly looking around.  They all seemed entertained by the birds that were flying in the air. My favorite bird in this section was the Bald Eagle.  They are are such beautiful birds.  And this one didn't sit quietly.  He moved around watching everything, including us!  We moved around the area and he watched each of us individually.  We felt like we were his entertainment for the day.  Then he got vocal and started squawking at us.  We were very entertained.

The park isn't large.  In just under two hours we were able to walk the whole park and take our time watching the birds.  The views were spectacular.  I wanted to pack my bags and move in to one of the storage buildings.

The picture above is a nice view of the town of Otavalo. The picture below is a section of the Pan-American Highway that stretches between Otavalo and Cotacachi.

Twice a day the park performs a show with a few of the birds.  It gave us a chance to see some of them very closely and watch them fly and land repeatedly.  

The man showing the birds wore a leather pouch filled with chunks of meat to feed the birds as a treat each time they returned to him.  This worked for all but one of the birds.  After a couple of flights he decided he would stay gone a while.  We watched him fly around freely for about 15 minutes.  The man said they will all do this now and then.....one stayed gone for 4 days.....but they all have returned eventually.  The fact that they are all rescued birds makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to live in the wild on their own.  At the end of the show they brought out an American Kestrel and offered to let us take turns holding it.

First was Connor and then Emily.  We tried to get Liv to hold it too but she chickened out.  I still can't tell you much about the birds other than how old they are and their normal life-span.  Why?  It was entirely in Spanish!  And the age and life-span was all I could understand.  Oh well.  We enjoyed the show anyway.