Quilatoa

From our Cotopaxi hacienda, we headed two hours south to Quilotoa. The drive was gorgeous, but terrifying—it involved an hour detour in a cloud on the curviest road I’ve ever seen, with a speedy driver, some chunks of road missing, etc. I’ll spare my mom the remaining details. Rest assured that we will do a bit more research re: road conditions and drivers in the future.

The drive was worth it though! We saw a lot of the Andean countryside—little villages, shepherds, lamas, horses, etc. Quilotoa was beautiful—a bright blue lake in a volcanic crater. We hiked past houses tucked into the hills and countless sheep. We didn’t have time to go all the way around the lake or to hike down to the bottom, but we still had a great time (and Kyla made it a bit further than Talia and I did).

One night back in Quito and then we are off to Guayaquil and then Olon. Happy Canadian thanksgiving/indigenous peoples day to all.

(Pics are from the horseback adventure at the Cotopaxi hacienda and from Quilotoa.)Read more