Well, as we’ve had some rain lately, it seems the Dry Season in the north of Ecuador is on its way out. Although with the way the weather seems to be going in most parts of the world lately, who knows what’s going on?
Because we are on the equator here in Ecuador, we don’t have 4 seasons like most of the rest of the world does, but instead we have Wet and Dry Seasons, which vary depending on which part of the country you are in, and on local microclimates.
When we still lived in Cuenca, we really only had a Dry Season the first year (2012), around the middle of the year, and it really was dry – the grass in the parks dried out and it was sunny and warm (but not unpleasantly so). But the next 2 Dry Seasons weren’t really dry at all – it rained and was cloudy and cool. Although we had moved up to Otavalo before the Cuenca Dry Season of 2014, we did visit Cuenca around the end of July and it was rainy then and the grass was green, and friends there said that it had been rainy.
Up here in Otavalo and surrounding areas, there was no doubt we had a Dry Season this year. For 2 or 3 months, we really had no rain at all; maybe a rain shower now and then. You could see it in the surrounding hills as the grass and vegetation dried out, and we began to see smoke from fires that some of the indigenous people traditionally set alight in order to bring rain.
Out in field service, we saw this lady (in the foreground wearing black and grey) moving her cows along – she was jogging along behind them and hitting them with her stick when they didn’t go fast enough!
One of the not so pleasant things about the dry season is that many of the country roads are not paved, and if you happen to have to walk along them, you find yourself walking in dust (very hard to keep your shoes looking clean and tidy) and also the sand fleas tend to find and bite you, which is not pleasant.
Brendan and another brother walking along a dusty road out in field service – there was supposed to be an English speaking man out there, but we couldn’t find him
One thing that happens with the Dry Season in the north of Ecuador is that at some point there are a few weeks where it can get extremely windy. In moderation, the warm wind is quite pleasant – I’ve enjoyed being able to hang my washing up on the washing line on our flat roof and to have the sun and the wind dry it, shake the wrinkles out and make it all fresh, and to be able to get it in again within a couple of hours. But there’s also a measure of necessity in not leaving your washing up there any longer than you have to – it may blow off the washing line never to be seen again!!
I was inside our apartment one day, looking towards the window, and I could hear a really strong wind coming towards us, and I quickly went to shut the sliding door as I knew there would be a lot of dust coming along with the wind. What I did see being blown along with the wind was a pair of jeans from the washing line of an apartment just near us.
A couple of weeks earlier, someone’s sheet blew off their line. It’s the time of year that doubling up on clothes pegs is essential if you want to be able to bring in as many items as you hung out on the line!
I also came to realise why it is that many of the houses or apartments here that don’t have concrete roofs as we do, but have corrugated iron or cement sheet roofing, also have car or truck tyres, or cement blocks sitting up on their roofs. It kinda holds your roof on when it’s windy!
Oops! One of the pieces of cement sheet that was on the roof is now shattered into a thousand tiny pieces on the ground below
It’s a good thing someone invented cement blocks – they are handy for roofs as well as for walls!
Shall we bring some rain with us in 2 months?
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