Pululahua

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The Pululahua crater reserve is only an hour away from Quito, but a world by itself. Pululahua means "smoke of water" in the indigenous language Quichua. The Pululahua is an inactive volcano with its last eruption was believed it happened around the year 500 b.C. Inside the Pululahua crater there are three other elevations which are Pandoña, El Chivo and El Pan de Azucar.

Inside the crater there is fertile land which is tilled by a few remaining indigenous families. Unfortunately many of the families sold their land and emigrated to Spain or other places - as so many Ecuadorians. The first settlers in the Pululahua Crater were the Incas. Later in the year 1825 the Dominicos monks settled in the crater to search for treasures, extract lime and tosow the land. In the year 1905 with the Liberal Revolution the lands were confiscated by the government and later in 1979 given back to the huasipungueros, (farmers).

This place is a world in itself and, next to Vilcabamba, is now one of my favorite locations in Ecuador. In most of the guidebooks this is is only a side note, but there are plenty of options for hiking, biking, horseback riding etc. There is a lovely hostal with a jacuzzi and the owner is a hiking and GPS fan like me and weexchanged tracks and information in GPS and hiking. I have been there twice now, and I'll definitely return. I did two hikes, one around the Padona, a mountain in the middle of the crater, and one up to the rim and around parts of the crater.

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