Quilitoa crater lake


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South America » Ecuador » Centre » Quilotoa
July 1st 2010
Published: July 1st 2010
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We arrived in the very, very, very small town of Quilitoa via the larger town of Latacunga. First we took a bus to Latacunga from Baños. Of course this bus didn’t drop us off at the bus station so we had to roam around Latacunga until we found it. Latacunga is another one of those “uninspiring” towns that really has no charm whatsoever, but it’s the jumping off point for doing the loop. We boarded what was easily the ugliest, dirtiest, oldest, stinkiest bus I’ve ever seen and waited for nearly an hour before departing the bus terminal. The bus was full of Quechua people, the local native people who live in the small town in the middle of the country. When we passed thru the town of Zumbahua, where they were celebrating Corpus Cristi, about 50 people tried to board the already full bus. In Ecuador, the buses fill way past maximum capacity so people were literally pushing each other onto bus. Ryan and I had our heads hanging out the window in the steady, cold rain to fully experience the goings-on outside the bus. Even when the bus starts moving, they don’t give up. They keep shoving and pushing
Lake QuilitoaLake QuilitoaLake Quilitoa

It was freezing in Quilitoa!
in hopes of being able to get close enough to the door that they can at least hang on to the frame of the doorway, even if they’re mostly outside the bus while it’s bumping down the unpaved road. It was craziness. Fortunately, Ryan and I were already seated in our not-so-comfortable seats, but at least we weren’t squeezed into the aisle like the rest of the sardines on the bus.

When we finally arrived in Quilitoa, it was dark, raining (as usual), and freezing cold because Quilitoa is at 12,000 feet. We followed some other travelers to the hostel they were going to staying in called Las Cabanas. It was a Quechua-run hostel (as they all are up there) that included dinner and breakfast, served community style with everyone sitting at one long table and passing the food down the row. Dinner was actually really good, but breakfast the next day was lacking. That night we met our first (of several) large group of Americans. This group was a volunteer group based in Quito and taking a weekend trip to Quilitoa. They were nice folks, college kids from all over the States. Really lovely people, but annoying nonetheless to see this large herd of Americans. We never saw anything like it in Colombia, of course, but there are many, many of these big groups of Yankees all over Ecuador. (Yes, yes, I realize that Ryan and I are, in fact, Americans ourselves, but we’re not traveling with 20 others just like us so that makes us better 😉…)

The next day we feared it would rain, but instead it just remained cloudy all day. The sun even attempted to peak out just long enough to wink at us and then he hid back behind the clouds again. We spent half the day hiking down and around the Quilitoa crater lake. It was really beautiful. The water is green because of the minerals and algae that grow in it. Quilitoa is actually an inactive volcano and the last time it erupted it formed this lake, according to a poster on the wall of our hostel. Ryan went for a very brief swim in the cold waters of the lake. I took pictures. Ryan hiked the very steep trail back up to the rim. I took a donkey. Lazy me. Then we bought some alpaca goods from the locals at their little village “shopping strip.”

The last thing we did in Quilitoa was sit on the side of the dirt road waiting for a bus to drive by. Eventually one did and off we went to the next tiny town in the loop.



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6th July 2010

Helping hand
I have lived in Quito for over 16 years, I am happy to help with any questions you might have about the country. bullock0005@yahoo.com

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