Friday 2-20-09: Quilotoa hike

On Friday morning we woke up to a beautiful day and just look at the view from our lodge with the snow capped Volcán Iliniza in the background! Awesome!

Ben really wanted to hike around the top of the the Quilotoa volcano, a trip made by very few because it is long and rigorous and involves actually having to use your hands and feet and a few scary moments along the way. Since the day just couldn´t be any more beautiful, we decided to do it.

The views were amazing and the exercise at that altitude was great. Inside the volcano was a steep drop and the most beautiful blue green water and outside the volcano was an even steeper drop and beautiful farming on the mountain sides. They farm land here is much steeper than we would attempt to farm in the U.S. Everywhere you looked, it was overwhelmingly serene and beautiful. We did run into a few children from the farms. They were herding pigs along with their dog. Yes, life is different here.

The complete journey around took 5 hours and we were exhausted toward the end.

No rest for the weary though, we had a quick snack and then did what most tourists do here, descend into the volcano all the way down to the lake on foot. Here is a picture of Britton and I down by the lakeside in the volcano. Then we used mules to get back out. There are not many tourists in this remote area and I think we were the only non- Ecudoreans (or at least the only gringos). We ran into another child herded sheep up the volcano, a typical Friday afternoon? It would have taken us forever to get out of that volcano on foot, the mule ride was scary but fun! We had a late lunch in Quilotoa and then headed back to Quito.