The cast: Colombian indigenous people.

The location: The small town of Silvia, population 5000.

The action: The bustling and colourful Tuesday morning market . Through some kind of intuitive female shopping instinct Rach had arranged it so we were in the right place at the right time to go! There wasn´t much of interest for us to buy – it was mainly fruit and veg with the odd live chicken and pig, but as the only tourists there, is was really interesting to watch the locals go about their weekly shop.

Indigenous people, Silvia market

Silvia market

Indigenous woman, Silvia market

Stall holder, Silvia market

Potatoes at Silvia market

Scene 2: Cowboys

The cast: Us!

The location: San Agustin. This rural town can only be reached by travelling 120 km along a bumpy unpaved road. A journey that took an unbelievable 6 hours, including 4 stops to pump up the tyres, and 1 to tighten the wheel nuts. Between the 6th and 14th century a mysterious group of people buried their dead here leaving behind a collection of monumental stone statues.

The action: Us becoming cowboys for the day to ride around the archeological sites. I´m no expert but I´m pretty sure we made a canter, and no accidents to report. We had an amazing time and our guide was great. He didn´t speak a word of English and yet we managed to understand all his info.

Rob riding Dray

Rach riding Lucio

Parque Arqueologico, San Agustin

Parque Arqueologico, San Agustin

El Purutal, San Agustin

La Chaquira, San Agustin

San Agustin

Alto del las Piedras, San Agustin

And that was it – Colombia – DONE!
We couldn´t get enough of Cowboys and Indians though, so went straight in for some more in Ecuador!

Scene 3: Ecuador Indians

The cast: Ecuador indigenous people.  No pictures here though as we felt we were imposing a bit when we took the camera out.

The location: Otavalo market - the largest market in South America, selling everything from ponchos to Panama hats and pigs trotters to chicken feet.

The action: Loads of stuff to buy here and we had fun wondering round and bartering with the sellers. Rach left a few pairs of earrings richer, and I got a much cooler cowboy hat.

Scene 4: Ecuador Cowboys

The cast: Us again!

The location: Lagunas de Mojonda – an old volanco crater lake.

The action: Fresh with my new hat there was no stopping me. A 3 hour ride up the lakes then a 45 minute scramble to the summit of cerro Taurichupa (3950m) to get some proper views.

Rob the cowboy

Rach at Lagunas de Mojanda