Saturday, November 14th- Sunday, November 15th
This adventure started out as a three day trek around the famous Quilotoa Loop which takes you through many different Andean communities. We took the bus two hours west up into the Andes in hopes of hiking the first 10 km section of the loop. Upon arrival Eli still was not feeling well (suffering from some stomach issues- not sure if it was from a steak he had eaten). We started out on the hike, but not too far in we quickly realized Eli was not going to make it. Brad hiked back to town (not really) and found a hostal there for the night. Asa and I decided to continue hiking and make it around the crater. Brad got Eli settled and set out in the opposite direction in hopes of running into us. While Eli slept the whole day, Asa and I trudged around. It is a bit deceiving- both in how long it actually is and how much the peaks actually go up and down. In the end it took us four and one half hours. Once again, Asa quit hiking!
We decided to take the bus back the next day for a couple of reasons: Asa was not about to do another two days of hiking, Eli still was not feeling 100% and we did not have time to get more dinero so we were short on cash.
The views were spectacular! It is amazing how different the Andes are depending where you are. This trip they were definitely much drier and more desert like. There were actually cactus growing all over.
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| Notice the trail in the background and below along the ridge. In the far back is the highest point of the crater. |
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| Halfway through Asa is still smiling. |
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| Look Closely and you can see a man and a woman working in the garden. Not sure how they were working, it was so steep! |
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| An Andean woman to the right in the green herding the sheep up the side of the mountain. |
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| The highest point. Asa was not sure he was going to make it. |
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| The next day, Brad hiked down to the lake. Eli and I went halfway down. |
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| It seems like this style house is found only in this part of the Andes. |
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| The most common house. |
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| If you look close, all parts of this feature is being farmed. |
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| Patches of farmland on just about all available places. |
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