Quilotoa Loop 1/3-1/6

 We got back from the jungle late Wednesday (1/2) night and on Thursday (1/3) traveled to Latacunga, the most accessible part of the Quilotoa loop. There isn't much to say about Latacunga, except to tell about the meal we had there on Thursday night. We ate at a restaurant called Mamá Negra (also the name of a festival in Latacunga). They served the classic dish of the area: "Chugchucara." It really shouldn’t be considered one dish as it includes fried pork, fried pig skin, fried banana(plantains), hominy, toasted corn, popcorn, and cheese empanadas. Don’t ask how all of those came together to make a “classic,” but it was good. The cheese empanadas were our favorite.
We got on the 9:00 bus on Friday morning from Latacunga to Zumbahua with what we thought we needed in Michael’s daypack and Andrea’s backpacking pack. We had plenty of time on the bus and sit and read the phrases written in Spanish on the walls. One said “Jesus es mi pastor nada me faltara” which we eventually figured out is quoting Psalm 23 – The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Every bus trip has to have a part that is the most interesting. This trip’s came when I pulled my backpack out from the storage underneath. I saw 3 chickens on the shelf next to it, sitting there like it was their coop. And just like if it was their coop, they’d laid an egg or two – which of course broke during the ride and my backpack got an egg bath. You can tell me if you think washing backpacks in eggs makes them nice and shiny when you see my pack next.

From Zumbahua we hitched a ride in a truck to Quilotoa. The driver dropped us off at the nicest hostel we’ve stayed at so far. Actually, I am going to go ahead and say it was a hotel. We got one room with two queen (or at least double) beds, just like an American hotel. It had it’s own bathroom, just like an American hotel. How was it different? We had a wood stove to heat the room. The sink had one knob with cold water only. The shower was bipolar as far as heat and even water pressure goes – up and down without ever touching the knobs. I won’t complain too much because there could have been no hot water at all.

Once we decided we’d pay the $20 per person to stay in the suite room, we bundled up to go see the Quilotoa lake. The lake is a collection of water inside the crater of a collapsed volcano. It has no stream going in or out of the lake, so the water is very alkaline and not potable. Sometimes it is called Lago Verde for the green color it has on sunny days. When we went to see it, the weather was cloudy and as we got to the crater rim, it started to rain. We thought we’d hike in the rain for a bit to see what we could see, but after less than 5 minutes Michael realized his red “raincoat” had lost its waterproofness. Luckily it still cuts the wind, so it is still good for warmth (as long as it’s not raining). Anyway, we decided to go back and have lunch and see if the weather would clear up. The restaurant we ate at on the crater rim was in a very nice building had pretty good food.  However, they didn’t heat the building at all and it was only warmer inside than outside because we were out of the rain.

The sky cleared some and we decided to hike down to the water’s edge. The incline was very steep, and in many places the path was soft like sand on a beach. As we went down, we passed people coming up on the backs of donkeys. There were only a few people “hoofing it” with their own two feet, and they were sweating and breathless. I soon learned how they felt

At the water’s edge, there was a little beach and a hill cropping up next to the beach. It would have been fun to explore all the little trails in the area, but Michael didn’t want to hang out too long incase it started raining on his non-rain coat. Therefore, we put our hand in the water (it wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t as cold as we thought it might be) and started the hike back up.I got tired on the gentler section closer to the beach and was worried Michael would run away from me. I shouldn’t have worried. He was very patient and gave my back a little push a few times. The guidebook said it would take about an hour to climb back up to the rim of the crater, but we got up in closer to 35 minutes. I’d like to say that Michael was pushing us so fast because he was afraid of rain, but I think that if it had been sunny we would have gone the same speed. 

After our hike we settled into the common room at the hotel. I drank lots of tea with hot water heated on top of the wood stove and talked with the other guests. There was a group of nine Dutch on a mountain bike trip, a couple living in Canada (the girl was from Germany originally),  and a younger couple studying at the University of Illinois who were visiting the guy’s family in Ecuador. We really enjoyed the company!

The next day we hired a guide to hike from Quilotoa to Chugchilan. Actually, we hired the guide's son, but then things got switched right before we left. He was trying to explain to us, but it was in Spanish so I'm not sure we really understood. He told us something like his mom had more experience than him, and maybe that she needed to go that way anyway. At first I thought she was just walking with the three of us, but then she led the way and he turned back to Quilotoa. Well...OK!!

We set out at about 9:30 in the morning from the lake. The first part of the hike is along the crater rim, but we soon started making the descent down. Overall, we went down in elevation from Quilotoa to Chugchilan. However, there was a fair amount of climbing up out of valleys too. When we first started, I thought that Chugchilan was just on the other side of the first valley. That was not correct at all. In fact, we couldn't see our destination until halfway through the trek. In the picture of Michael to the left, you can see the hill he is standing on, the hill behind him, and the hill to the left of his head. The hill to the left is the one that we came down from the crater rim. You can't see the bottom of the valley where there is a stream that we crossed. We started out with all our coats on, but you can see that after that first scramble up from the stream bed, Michael is down to his long-sleeved undershirts. It ended up being a beautiful day, and maybe even a little too much sun. Probably between 10 and 11 we got out our sunscreen. As we were applying, the guide asked if she could use some too. Of course we offered her the bottle. Later, we also offered her some water from our bottle and the water bladder in the backpack. It was fun to try and communicate how to use the bite valve for the bladder. 

Fairly early on, our guide broke off a branch from a bush near the path. She drug it along, and when we came up to some cows, she waved it at them to get them to move from the path. Later, she traded the branch with leaves for a stick about the size of a thin walking stick. This she used to point and shake at dogs that ran up to us barking and growling. We passed many small "farm" houses. It was interesting to see how they farmed any land they could, even land that had about a 60 degree grade to it. More often than not, the fields were more the size of our garden plots in Iowa. I wish I knew what they were growing. Michael also thought it was impressive how close to the edge of the canyon they planted. The picture without the cows shows the opposite edge of the canyon from where we walked and the fields on top going all the way to the edge. 

In addition to dogs, fields, and livestock (llamas, sheep, and cows were most common), we also saw people working in the fields and kids playing. Well, mostly we saw kids standing and staring at us as we walked past. The saddest thing we saw was a donkey on the side of the road. It was lying on its side and as we got closer it was evident that it was dead. There were three kids next to it, pushing on its large belly. At first I thought they were trying to wake it up, but as we passed them and I looked back, I decided they were trying to get the baby donkey out. It looked like there was something bulging from the donkey's rear end and our conclusion was that the poor burro had died because of stalled labor. 

The whole hike took us 3 hours, and we arrived at about 12:30 pm in Chugchilan. I think we really pushed the pace on this trek too, we were told it would be closer to 4 hours. Our little guide kept a pretty good pace for us until the last uphill into town. She had to pause quite frequently, and we were worried she hadn't had enough to drink. So, in addition to the $25 we owed her for her services, we gave her a 16 oz water bottle.  The picture to the right is of the three of us at the hostal in Chugchilan. We covered 10+ kilometers and didn't do anything for the rest of the day. If you find yourself in Chugchilan, I would recommend the Hostal Cloud Forest. It was very nice and from what we heard from other travelers the other places in town weren't as good.  :)

More pictures from the lake and the hike can be found at: https://plus.google.com/photos/104486736070540446376/albums/5834464356562982097?authkey=CO_owp2AxdikEQ