Otavalo
Otavalo is a city in the Ecuadorian province of Imbabura and the capital of the canton of Otavalo. About 50,000 people live here at an altitude of 2500 m (as of 2008 ). The city is surrounded by the three volcanoes Imbabura , Cotacachi and Mojanda .
Mainly because of the colorful market on the Plaza de los Ponchos, the city, which is about 110 km (about 2 hours by bus on the Panamericana ) north of Quito, is the most popular tourist destination in northern Ecuador. The majority of the inhabitants in Otavalo and the surrounding villages are the Indígenas ( Kichwas ) called Otavalos . The inhabitants of Otavalos are called Otavaleños (regardless of their ethnicity) .
The city is the seat of the environmental protection organization Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag, which is committed to the preservation of the rainforest in the Intag Valley.
Otavalo is the starting point for a train ride towards Salinas (which is now only undertaken by local and foreign tourists).
Since 2014, Gustavo Pareja from the AVANZA - FUERZA CIUDADANA party has once again been an indigenous mayor (Alcalde) of the city.
sons and daughters of the town
- Mario Conejo Maldonado (* 1959), co-founder and former member of the Pachakutik indigenous movement , Mayor of Otavalo from 2000 to 2014
- Ariruma Kowii (* 1961), Kichwa poet
- Cesar Humberto Cotacachi Velásquez (* 1972), Kichwa singer
- María Mercedes Cotacachi , Kichwa writer
- Leo Rojas (* 1984), pan flute player
Web links
- http://www.ecuadorexplorer.com/html/otavalo.html (Engl.)
- Photo page about the market in Otavalo
- Information about Otavalo
- Information on indigenous communities around Otavalo
Coordinates: 0 ° 14 ′ N , 78 ° 16 ′ W
