Ecuador: Following the Inca Trail Travel Course Environmental Policy and Planning Public and Environmental Affairs Travel Course Lead by Dr. Marcelo Cruz 951/416-361 June 1 – June 16, 2020 Course Description The Inca incorporated what is today Ecuador in the 15th century. The Incas were the last of several Indigenous peoples that occupied and settled what is today Ecuador before the arrival of the Spanish. This travel course will survey and follow the Inca trail throughout the Ecuadorean Andes. By travelling through and exploring the Ecuadorean Andes, we will learn the story of Inca spatial organization and architecture, conquest, incorporation and the impact that Spanish conquest and colonization had in this part of the Inca Empire. We will visit pre- Inca and Inca ruins as well as sacred sites still maintained by contemporary indigenous communities. Monday, June 1 Leave Green Bay TBA Carrier and Flight Number TBA Arrive in Quito TBA Carrier and Flight Number TBA Tuesday, June 2 We will visit the Inca Ruins of Rumicucho, an Inca fortress in the northern part of the city. Inca ruins of Rumichucho The Rumicucho Pucara ruins are located 30 km north of Quito close to the Equatorial Monument and Catequilla Hill where the pre Inca tribes calculated the true equatorial line, collaborated today by GPS technology. The Inca invaders built the fortress on top of earlier ruins in the 15th century. The Inca, Tupac Yupanqui, initiated the construction as a military outpost to serve as an offensive and defensive guard post in their struggle to subjugate the northern tribes of the Cayambe, Cochasqui and Caranquis Indians, who offered them bitter resistance. Leaving Rumicucho, we take a North West direction going down the Western Andean mountain chain to the Ruins of Tulipe. Ruins of Tulipe Cultura Yumbos The people who built these pools were the Yumbo, a nation that dates to 800AD that survived until after the Spanish conquest in the late 1500s. There are Inca ruins just up the hillside from this location, suggesting that the Inca found this site important and may have attempted to control the source of the spring that fed these pools. Attempts by the Inca to conquer these lands were interrupted by the arrival of the Spanish. Direct connection with the Yumbo culture was lost for two reasons – sickness brought by Europeans severely decimated the population. Survivors of disease left the area after the eruption of the volcano Pichincha in 1660 when their lands were covered by volcanic ash. Wednesday, June 3 Ayora Angochagua Valley Zuleta Road The day begins with a bus trip leaving Quito early in the morning. We will travel north/northwest to the province of Imbabura (Approximately 4 hour bus ride with stops). We will have an exercise on the bus on identifying ecological niches in mountain environments, and Native American rural landscapes so Bring notebooks, cameras, and a keen eye. We arrive to the provincial capital city of Ibarra. Ibarra was founded in 1606 by order of the President of the Royal Audience of Quito, Miguel de Ibarra. We will visit Caranqui, the ancient capital of the Caranquis. The Caranquis rebelled against the Inca, and their capital was destroyed and is now suburb of the provincial capital of the province, Ibarra. We will then continue north/northeast to visit the lake of Yaguarcocha, the site of the historic battle between the Incas and Caranquis. Historic Caranqui Thursday, June 4 Imbabura Province: North of Quito is home of the Otavalo Native Americans, famous for their entrepreneurial success in marketing their textiles throughout the world. We will visit Pinsaqui, an Otavalo settlement located near an ancient burial mound. We will learn about Otavalo creation beliefs and the importance of the vestment and rituals in Inti Raymi Cultural Center. Indigenous Market (We will visit one of the oldest and internationally known indigenous markets surviving in America today, dating back to Pre-Inca times. Enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of this market spree: happy hunting!) Friday, June 5 On our return to Quito, we will visit the Quitsatu Research Center and the true equatorial line, calculated by the ancients. The Incas followed a sun cult and we will discuss the importance of the sun and astronomy to pre- Inca and Inca societies. The ancients were able to calculate the exact equatorial line (Lat 0.00), confirmed by GPS. The center will challenge our pre notions of how we represent our planet and how we reproduce unequal power relationships in our map making. What can we learn from indigenous interpretations of our relation to our planet and our local environment? What were their assumptions? Moreover, understandings of life on the planet and local environment? Saturday, June 6 Quito (City Walking Tour: wear walking shoes) (Morning) Casco Colonial (Old Colonial City): The Spanish city was founded in 1534 on top of the Inca ruins of the imperial administrative/religion center of Quitu. Christened San Francisco de Quito, this historic district is characterized by 16th to 19th century architecture and city planning. UNESCO named the district a World Heritage Site in 1978. The historic center of Quito has one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centers in America. The oldest traces of human presence in Quito were excavated by the American archaeologist Robert E. Bell in 1960 on the slopes of the Ilaló volcano, located between the eastern valleys of Los Chillos and Tumbaco. Hunter-gatherers left tools made of obsidian glass dated back to 8000 BC. Allen Graffham brought the archaeological site herein designated by the name of EI Inga to the attention of Bell. The historic district was an important trading point for several Andean and people’s from lower elevations to come and trade their wares. The Inca city of Quitu fell to the conquistadors, Gonzalo Pizzaro, Sebastian Benalcazar, and Diego Almagro in 1534. Plaza de San Francisco Sunday, June 7 Flight to Cuenca in the Southern Ecuadorean Andes (approximately one hour flight) Cuenca’s history begins long before the arrival of both the Spanish and the Inca. The city was originally a Cañari settlement called Guapondeleg and is believed to have been founded around 500 AD. Guapondeleg translates into “land as big as heaven.” Less than half a century before, the conquistadors landed, the Inca, after a bitter struggle, conquered the Cañari and occupied Guapondeleg and the surrounding area. Though the Inca replaced Cañari architecture with their own, they did not exclude the Cañari or their impressive achievements in astronomy and agriculture. Rather, they absorbed these elements of Cañari culture, as was customary when the Inca conquered other cultures. Cuenca Shortly after the defeat of the Cañari, the Inca, Tupac Yupanqui ordered the construction of a grand city – Tomebamba and later his successor Huayna Capac built his residence Pumapungo, “the door of the Puma”—whose magnificence was to challenge that of the Inca capital of Cuzco. We will visit the ruins of Pumapongo and the reconstructed Inca Gardens and the importance of the river Tomebamba was to the Inca emperor Huayna Capac. Indigenous people told the Spanish conquerors stories of golden temples and other such wonders, but by the time the Spaniards found the legendary city of Tomebamba and Pumapungo, all that remained were ruins, leaving the Spanish to wonder what happened to the fabled splendor and riches of the second Inca capital. Atahualpa destroyed the city during the civil war. Taking revenge on the city for siding with his half-brother Huascar in that war. After being abandoned by the Cañari and the Inca, the city was renamed Santa Ana de los Cuatro Rios de Cuenca in 1557. Cuenca was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. The historic district of Cuenca is characterized by its eclectic architecture. Within walking distance throughout the district, there are pre Inca Ruins when it was capital of the Cañari Nation, Inca ruins, Spanish colonial architecture, and Italian Rococo architecture, which makes the historic district of Cuenca an architectural wonder. Ruins of Todos los Santos, Cuenca (above). Ruins of Pumapongo, Cuenca We end the day with an Ecuadorean – Italian meal. Italian immigration was particularly important in the southern Andean region of the country. Their impact on Ecuadorean culture is subtle but ubiquitous, from local vernacular to local and regional cuisine. Monday, June 8 A restful day of shopping at Chordoleg, a quiet town nestled in the southern Ecuadorean Andes where you can find artisans working on silver and gold jewelry. Afternoon After a morning shopping spree we return to Cuenca (ancient Tomebamba) to enjoy a relaxing afternoon. Enjoy the sights and sounds of this beautiful city in the southern Ecuadorean Andes, capital of the province of Azuay. Further Europeanization of the city occurred with the arrival of Italian immigrants to the region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tuesday, June 9 We travel north to the ruins of Ingapirca and the Inca Baths in the province of Cañar. These are the largest known Inca ruins in Ecuador. The most significant building is the Temple of the Sun, an elliptically shaped building constructed around a large rock. The building is constructed in the Inca way without mortar, as are most of the structures in the complex. The stones were carefully chiseled and fashioned to fit together perfectly. The Temple of the Sun was positioned so that on the solstices, at exactly the right time of day, sunlight would fall through the center of the doorway of the small chamber at the top of the temple. Most of this chamber has fallen down. Ingapirca had long been settled by the Cañari indigenous people, who called it Hatun Cañar.