Lake of Blood

Haven't written anything since we returned to Cotacachi, so will catch up today.  We were so wiped after our exploring that we just chilled, watching "Big Bang Theory."And talking with family on FaceTime.   Tuesday we did take the bus to Ibarra and took a taxi to the "Lake of Blood."There weren't very many people there but we did meet Herb, a guy about our age from Boynton Beach, Florida.  He is here doing pretty much the same thing we are-exploring possibilities in Ecuador.  He spent two weeks in Quito living with a local family and taking a Spanish course.  Then he spent a week in Otavalo during which time he visited Cotacachi.  He plans to go to Cuenca for a bit, too.  He told us a lot about San Miquel de Allende in Mexico, the place Kyle mentioned to us as another possibility. We hung out with him for quite a while waiting for them to take the tour boat out on the lake.  Turned out he had lived in New Jersey for about 30 years, has a brother in Toms River, graduated from Montclair State and now lives in Florida.  Small world, isn't it?After about half an hour, we decided to ask when they were going to take the boat out.  Now she tells us, not enough people so can't go.  Bummer!

Herb suggested we share a taxi back to Ibarra, so it only cost us $1.00.  The taxi dropped us off at the museum in town and we spent a while touring it.  Very nice museum, nicely laid out and displays were well done. After the museum we walked around the park and found a nice restaurant to have lunch.  I had chicken in a delicious sauce, with rice, French fries, and salad.  Ron had only French fries and salad, but the best part was my lemonade and Ron's juice that tasted like strawberries.  Best lemonade I've ever had. After lunch we tried to find a bus to go to the woodcarving town of San Antonio de Ibarra.  Gave up after 10 or 15 minutes and took a taxi.  We cannot learn that all the shops close for siesta, so since we were there about one o'clock, there wasn't much open.  Just as well-most of the stuff was unattractive, and we couldn't find anything we wanted to buy.  We saw lots of buses coming and going, so we flagged one down and hopped on.  We even managed to see where we needed to get off to go back to the bus station for the bus back to Cotacachi.  We are getting pretty good at getting around on buses.