Saturday night is cockfighting night in Otavalo. It’s quite an unusual spectacle, and although illegal in the States, it is still a very big part of Ecuadorian culture. About 100 people, mostly men, but a decent number of families crowded into a small stadium. We arrived early and saw some of the “pre-game” show, so to speak. The owners would proudly place their roosters on a big table to display them to the other contestants. They would be inspected, weighed and evaluated to determine who would fight who and what the odds would be. Eventually, when everything was set, the roosters touch beaks (seriously) and the fights began.  It wasn’t nearly as gruesome as we had feared.  The roosters do smack each other around, but spend most of the time tangled up, just like regular boxers.  Unfortunately for the roosters, they have these sort of spikes taped to their feet, so when one of them jumps up and kicks, thats usually when the knockout blow comes.  When a rooster goes down, the referee gives him the version of a 10 count by holding him up by his wings and seeing if he can stand on his own.  3 tries and he’s out.  Luckily we didn’t see any real carnage, mostly a few stunned and scraped up roosters and a few very angry owners since you have to put up $100 to enter and you double your money if you win.

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