We spent a few days in the community of San Clemente. It sits on the western flank of the Imbabura volcano. Population: 180 descendants of the Incas. They live traditionally and have embraced tourism as a means of bringing in some income in order to keep up with the bustling world around them.
Our group split into threes and we stayed with families. For four days we helped out around the house and ate their food. I LOVE Inca food!! We had different varieties of corn and potatoes with every meal along with fresh mint tea and exotic fruits.
Our hostess, Nancy is on the left. Christina, one of our guides is on the right. I always thought that the Inca dress was just for show. Nope - it's their daily dress throughout the Andes. The women purchase the white shirts and then add the embroidery to match their skirts.
The house next door to where we stayed was where our host was born. His mom still lives there and keeps herself busy cooking and making yarn from their llamas' wool. She always had a huge smile and was fun to chat with, even though she spoke more Quichua (original language of the Inca) than Spanish. She said she likes sheep more than llamas because they are edible.
One afternoon I stopped by to say hi and she tossed me a smoking hot ear of corn right out of the fire. It was tasty and would have been mind blowing with just a bit of butter and salt.
I asked our host if I could buy some llama wool from him. He produced some yarn. Through a protracted discussion in spanglish and hand language, I was finally able to explain that my wife wanted raw wool (with all the dirt and sticks in it) so that she and her friends could make yarn themselves. He thought it was a strange request, but obliged me anyways with a big chunk of raw wool.
San Clemente was my favorite part of our trip. The people are beautiful, the landscape is breathtaking (as is the altitude of 9,000 ft), and their lifestyle is totally relaxing.
