Montañas, vistas, and lots of farm animals - Otavalo, Ecuador

We'd heard that Otavalo had a great Saturday market, in fact one of the biggest in South America. By this stage though we were a little 'market-ed out', we'd seen our fair share of multi-coloured stripy trousers, fluffy llama jumpers and all the rest of the trinkets sold across the Andes. However what made this market different was the animal market that takes place in the early hours of the morning.









Though not something for the faint hearted or animal activists, it was fascinating market all the same. Campesinos come into the town from the surrounding countryside to trade their animals every Saturday - chickens, cows, llamas, pigs. You name it, all the farm animals were there to be traded. We saw women and men with chickens up their jumpers, piglets wrapped up in blankets and bulls charging at people. The relationship is a close one between animals and people in this part of the world!






Tom was in pork heaven when he found the locals baking these up just across from where the live animals were being sold. Unfortunately for Tom the pork did not agree with him so well!