Jacchigua

Jacchigua ballet - Casa de la cultura, Quito - Ecuador

We were invited to attend this traditional ballet in Quito, a folklore summary of some of the cultures and traditions of the people of the highlands of Ecuador. It's great to see young people involved in this, as most of the country has lost many of its old values. I tried to capture the colourful and energetic performance by using a slow shutter speed whilst trying to keep the guys in the middle sharp. The dancers holding the colourful strips followed a very well choreographed routine that lead up to all the colour strips braided around the post.

The house band was good, performing on traditional instruments such as the Charango (10 string mini guitar), Rondador (panpipes) and handmade drums and instruments that were introduced later on by the Spaniards like the guitar. It really shows what a melting pot the region is for very different cultures.



Quito - Ecuador
October 2008

Mindo

Mindo is a cool little village about 2 hours away from Quito. A great city for nature and adventure fanatics. I caught this hummingbird feeding just outside the hotel we were staying at, and he wasn't alone, there was a whole pack of them including tiny baby ones. Very cool indeed.

Although I wasn't feeling great that day I really wanted to join everybody at Mindo Canopy, 13 zip lines above the jungle just outside town. They advised us that late afternoon was the best time for it so we showed up at about 5. Little did we know some of the 13 lines were a walk from each other and it was going to run after past the sunset (630pm) what ended up happening is us jumping in the dark for the last 5 - which was lots of fun - and using a flashlight to indicate 'break'. We might have missed the view, but zip lining a 400m long cable in pitch black conditions, with fog and just some fireflies around you is definitely something worth trying!

Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi volcano
Elevation: 5,897 m (19,347 ft) above sea level

Amongst the highest active volcanoes in the world and one of my favourite places to visit. You just can't help feeling so small and powerless next to such giant. To give you an idea how big it really is you should remember that I took this photo at about 3,800 m (12,467 ft) high. The glaciar starts to appear around 5,000 m (16,404 ft) above sea level - so all that snow is only 897m (2,942 ft) of the total height of the volcano!

I chatted to a local cab driver about the danger for the inhabitants of the surrounding areas - if Cotopaxi erupts the ice that melts during the heating of the cone will create powerful mudflows destroying everything in it's path. The mudflows could reach the valleys around Quito 40 - 50 miles away in about 20 minutes. No threat for the capital (my hometown) but disastrous for the small mountain towns.

Something that really struck me was how this local man referred to the Andes as 'Papa' (father) or 'Mama' (mother). He told me how in the south 'Mama Tungurahua' was still 'awake' after 10 years of activity and how he hopes 'Papa Cotopaxi' doesn't 'wake up'. Amazing to see that kind of respect and admiration for nature and it's power.


My dad and I at Cotopaxi



Cotopaxi - Ecuador
September 2008

El Chulla Quiteno

As far as I know the Chulla Quiteno means something along the lines of 'Gentleman from Quito'. The 'prototype' of the Quito man from the 19th to the 20th century according to Wikipedia.

I don't know if this man qualifies as a Chulla, but sitting in the plazas and parks benches in the old town you'll see many like him talking about times gone by.

Quito - Ecuador
September 2008

Welcome

I'm Carlos Garcia, musician living in London.

I play for a band called The Crave which has taken travelling me around the UK and USA on a regular basis. I love taking photographs, I feel the need to capture what happens around me and the things I see through my camera. I am not a writer and so this is going to be my photoblog. One, maybe two photos updated as often as I can to show whoever reads what I've been up to and what interests me.

I hope you enjoy it

Carlos x