http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Ecuador , Quilitoa Loop en-us Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:26:11 BST Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:26:11 BST This weekend we made another excursion outside of Quito to the mountainous region of Quilitoa. There are a number of small towns that make up the Quilitoa Loopand we were able to visit three of them in two days. Friday morning we took a 2 hour bus to the town of Latacunga where we walked to another bus station wanting to go to Quilitoa and they immediately threw us on a bus that was complete http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-316265.html In Chugchilan I finally met some other backpackers and I had a blast exchanging stories and finally speaking English. A few of us went on a day trip searching for a Cloud Forest and a cheese factory neither of which we found and were surrounded by a pack of fierce angry dogs at one point but overall it was a peaceful two days at the wonderful Cloud Forest Hotel. Chugchilan is a lovely litt http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-291656.html After barely sleeping in my leaky room in Quilotoa I simply wanted to get out of that town despite feeling tired and a bit ill. Atahualpa and Maria left with a guide at around 830 AM and I stayed behind curled up in my bed leaving periodically to stand outside when the sun peeked through the clouds. It was still in the high forties at around 930 so I decided to pack up and leave instead http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/Chugchilan/blog-291653.html After a short bus layover in Latacunga and an interesting baggedlunch I took a second bus into the clouds and to an area called Tigua. Here I stayed at the Posada de Tigua a familyrun farm house. When I first arrived I went for a hike near the Rio Toachi Canyon more to come about this canyon later and then returned for one of the best dinners Ive ever eaten. Everything was organically http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-291649.html 2 blog postings in one day I was feeling bad with the less that standard performance that I had once kept up and combined with much information I decided to post this one today as well the real truth is is that this is the fastest internet that I have found in a long time and it is really cheap as well...how could I not take advantage of this. This blog will be about the Quilitoa Loop. http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-283342.html Today we set off for Lake Quilotoa also know as crater lake. Why Because it's a lake in a crater of course. An extinct volcano to be more precise.The drive out was a good 2 hours on windy roads and switchbacks across beautiful mountain scenery. Our driver Luis was a good natured friendly man with a quiet disposition. A man of few words at first till Megan broke out the Spanish on him he was a http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-282617.html Hello to you all firstly apologies for being so slack on the blog front we have been incredibly busy as you will see....The last blog saw us arriving in northern Ecuador greeted by quite possibly the worst weather we had seen since leaving the UK and to be honest it didnt lay up for quite some timeAfter arriving we headed south to Quito which was literally monsoonal after checking out the http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-266401.html Hey Teamheres a little update sorry I havent written too many blogs in this country the rainy weather everyday supresses my writing style. This Saturday I went to a huge lakelagoon called Quilotoa. Its about 4 hours from Quito I went with 8 other students from my school and the english speaking director of the school from Germany. Weather was completely awesome when we arrived at the lake http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-266062.html On to the final country of the trip then and into Ecuador the hard way. From Trujillo it was 3 separate bus trips totalling 24 hours to get the city of Cuenca on the Central highlands route through Ecuador. Unfortunately bus comfort deterioates into Ecuador so it was no comfortable bus seats to sleep on for us. Instead pretty hard seats that didnt recline much accompanied by that much loved http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-257787.html Wow what an amazing weekThe last time I posted we were in Quito and we were going to head out into the rural highlands of Ecuador. We took a bus two hours south of Quito to a small city at 11000 feet called Latacunga. When we got to Latacunga it was market day and the city was filled with traditional Andean people that come down from the mountains to buy supplies for the week. These people dr http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-256510.html Hola from Quitohellip.againWe are back from some more adventures and preparing for our next. So here we are writing another couple of entries about our latest exploits.First things first I suppose. We both got a little sick when we were spending time around Cotopaxi at Hosteria Papagayo. No offence to the Hosteria but we ate and drank nothing but food and drink provided by them for 4 days http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-244208.html The next morning I left early to hike to the Laguna de Quilotoa. This is a beautiful deep green crater lake. The Quilotoa is a journey around the villages in the Quilotoa region such as Tigua Zumbuhua Chugchilan Isinlivi and Sichos. Most of them are just tiny and basic but have interesting markets.Stefn one of the sons at Posada de Tigua had given me directions on how to get to the laguna. http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-232340.html For Christmas I went to the Posada de Tigua an old hazienda on the Quilotoa Loop. It is a lovely family with four sons who run this farm. They produce their own cheese and yoghurt and I even got a chance to milk one of their cows. And hey I managed to obtain a whole glass of milk It is pretty easy in fact. Me and two Dutch girls also were invited to ride on the farmsrsquos Alpakas. I really http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-232335.html The last week has been a good week of travelling around Ecuador and also some partying in the city due to the Quito day which means festivities all week not just one day.I headed to a free concert on Saturday last weekend that I read about in the paper. Getting to the queue at the park entrance I realised this would not be the normal pop concert in the park this was the alternative Death M http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/Chugchilan/blog-226115.html Well Kyran was finally better and off we went to Quilotoa. It was a two hour bus ride to Latacunga from Quito and we arrived at about 10am. We wanted to climb Cotopaxi that day but our haggling skills with the taxi drivers werenrsquot really up to scratch and we couldnrsquot figure out if we were being ripped off or not so we decided to head straight to Chugchilan which is located about ha http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-218537.html We spent four days in the mountains of the Quilotoa Loop a cluster of indigenous villages that surround Quilotoa a dormant volcano with a caldera 2.5 kilometers wide and filled with turquoise water. The Loop has awesome hiking trails and a landscape of pastures and farming fields so it looks like a patchwork quilt was thrown over the rolling hills. The place is teeming with exotic wildlife. We http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/Chugchilan/The-Black-Sheep-Inn/blog-210466.html My next stop was Quilitoa a remote mountainous region and some of the most spectacular scenery I have seen so far. It was a 4hour journey over unpaved roads with a bus driver who was a certified NUTTER Generally if a road has potholes the bus slows down and gently weaves around them. This guy continued at full pelt and wrenched the steering wheel hard to avoid them. This caused the bus to lea http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/Chugchilan/blog-190272.html First full day in Ecuador and I set off with two Dutch Onno and Angela and two Italians Andrea and Laura to see the highest volcano in Ecuador called Cotopaxi about 80km south of Quito. We drove with our local guide in our 4WD truck through the stunning Avenue of Volcanosto get there and then drove up the side of the snow capped volcano to 4500m. We then trekked up 300m to 4800m where t http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-180597.html went west from latacunga a couple of hours by bus and stayed in quilitoa for a couple of days. hiked down to the crater lake and back...back is the 1200 ft of gain one day and hiked around the periphery of the crater the next day which was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs that took about six hours. got up early for a bus that was supposed to stop in front of the hostal at 5 a.m. and conf http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-178201.html I was going to do the Quilotoa Loop but it's one of those out of the way trips nicer when done with a travel companion. Coincidentally shortly before I planned to go I met a guy who did it 7 years ago and wanted to see the owner of a hostel he went to back then. So it worked out well that we met. Country Ecuador is BEAUTIFUL. The bus ride up was invigorating and it was great to see loads of indig http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-175263.html I'm afraid to say that this may be my last blog in a good long time unless I decide to write one in the next few days just for fun. I now have three days left at work because there are no classes on Friday as per usual before I set off on the longawaited and muchdelayed Galapagos trip in firstclass luxuryliner style. Wahey http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/Chugchilan/The-Black-Sheep-Inn/blog-170848.html After a throughly exhausting weekend attempting Cotopaxi going back to work was very hard. Dave came to Cenit on Tuesdays which was really cool and he got to meet all the kids. He really enjoyed himself and the kids loved him. They treated him as a jungle gym and fought over who got to climb on him. At one point two of the boys tried to pull out him chest and leg hair On Wednesday we went out wi http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-169308.html So how come I decides Oldhamese grammar to deviate from my plan of heading south and on into Peru after landing back in Quito from my week in Galapagos and instead decide to climb the monstrous Cotopaxi volcanoWell here is a look into my jellyforbrains thought processesUpon awakingmmm really looking forward to seeing a bit of the Amazon oh but Ill do that on my way to Brazil by boa http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-166848.html Laguna Quilotoa is a gorgeous crater lake that was formed after the Volcanorsquos last eruption in 1797. This site is at like 4000m above sea level so its freeeezzzzing cold bring a lot of warm clothes Today it is the home of a small community that gets to see this beauty everyday. When we got there Saturday afternoon after traveling from Quito to Latacunga to Zumbahua to finally Quilot http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-165770.html Hello. First photos that accompany this are at EquadorphotosHave been nowhere near internet this week this is the first computer ive seen since I left Quito The bus to Latacuga was uneventfulmostly because of the boatload of immodium i shovelled down before we set off but got to town fine early enough and went for good pizza in town before being in bed very very early to compensate for be http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-152952.html Last November I travelled with Pam and the first group of Engineers up to Malingua Pamba to initiate work on a water system for the village. Pam has been coming to Ecuador for 4 years each time to bring supplies and materials for the school she helped to construct. This was Pams 9th visit to Ecuador and shed never been to the coast so I convinced her to fly into Guayaquil and she and I tr http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-151606.html again for more photos see Katies flickr page www.flickr.comphotoskatierob The difference between Colombia and Ecuador for two neighbouring countries who share quite a common history is stark. Colombia for all its fincas and coffee plantations really remains quite urban with localized regions of high population and vast areas of mountains valleys and rivers with not more than a few scatter http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-150973.html We woke up bright and early at 5.30am well early but not really bright as it was still pitch black and managed to drag everyone out from under their blanket mountains. Noone managed to brave the shower though as it was actually colder than outside no idea how they manage that We kitted up enough for an Arctic expedition with at leats five layers plus our newest acquisitions of matching llam http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-147887.html Had a crap day travelling back to Quito at six in the morning and then went onto Latacunga which in the nicest way possible was an absolutley hellish place which I never want to see again. The hostal was rather dubious and we made full use of our sleeping bag liners for the first time since arriving as the beds were rather iffy. Bel and I even got followed back from the bank by some guy so we h http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/blog-147632.html After exchanging numerous emails with Andres and Michelle we finally arrived in Ecuador and checked our messages to find an email saying the sooner you get here the better in our inbox along with some bus directions to find our way to the Black Sheep Inn. The bus trip was about 6 hours half on a normal road and the other half on something that could only be called a road because cars attempted http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Ecuador/Quilitoa-Loop/Chugchilan/The-Black-Sheep-Inn/blog-139641.html