Last weekend Javier and I traveled to
Chugchilan to see the
Quilotoa crater lake and hang out with friends. If you remember, we took
our first Ecuadorian overnight trip ever to Quilotoa back in September with the Andersons and a large group of teachers. This is Michael's favorite spot in Ecuador, and since it was his birthday (and the Anderson's anniversary) we all piled into a bus on Friday after school to head to this magical spot.
As we did last time, we stayed at the
Black Sheep Inn and would still recommend it to anyone traveling to Chugchilan (it is AWESOME!). Unfortunately it does take a little time to get there (3.5 - 4 hours for Cumbaya) so after dinner on Friday night we
lame teachers all went to bed. But we had big hiking plans for Saturday and knew we'd need our rest.
Last time we went to the lake, Javier and I made the easy walk down, canoed around and then made the horrendous climb back up the ridge. This time, I really wanted to try the hike
around the rim. I'll admit that I remembered it a bit flatter than it was in reality, but the views I anticipated met and exceeded my expectations.
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| Panoramic from Javier's phone - simply amazing |
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| my attempt with our camera (but shows you that there are some peaks on our planned walk) |
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| everywhere you looked there were mountains and valleys - so beautiful |
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| a stray pup quickly joined our crew (looking for food we were sure)...sometimes the path was wide and easy (but not always) |
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| More breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains |
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| another panoramic as we walked! (we think that object to the right is a scarecrow) |
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| Sometimes we'd see cattle or farms stretching off the ridge and towards the houses or towns down below (faithful pup...we decided to call him Paco) |
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| other times our walk turned into a bit of a climb |
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| very steep, but look how the landscape just stretched behind |
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| luckily our group was in no rush and stopped often to take in the views |
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| there were many along the way |
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| We planned our trip around to ensure we hit the highest part of the ridge early on (didn't want to climb that high after hours of walking...) Here is Javier, Esperanza, Cristina and Mike Parker smiling wide (now that the climbing is over) |
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| doesn't it look like Javier's standing on top of the world... |
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| sign to let us know we've reached the top! (also you can see how quickly the land drops off toward the lake) |
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| there were some other people at the top, taking a break and snacking too |
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| this is my AMAZING face |
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| There were many attempts at a group selfie with the lake, but this one turned out the best! |
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| At this point we had made it almost all the way around (the peak in the background there is the highest point on the ridge that you saw us hit earlier on the hike) |
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| Cabezas at Quilotoa |
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| As we were approaching the end, we came across this large herd of sheep (that Paco played with for a bit - he walked the entire rim with us!) but it's amazing to me that they can graze on these steep slopes (also super beautiful) |
The total walk around ended up taking us 4.5 hours. It was a bit longer than we were hoping but way shorter than our research had told us that it might take. Besides, we stopped for a nice lunch (packed by Black Sheep) and learned that Paco was not a fan of popcorn or apples....and took lots of pictures to enjoy the views. There were some difficult parts (particularly a short portion of ledge that required me to dig my nails into the side of the mountain in order to pass without completely freaking out....) but for the most part it was a super enjoyable walk!
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| On the way to the lake, we had seen a woman butchering a cow on the street (cause thats just what you see in Chugchilan). To celebrate Michael's birthday, the boys decided to go purchase some fresh ribs to grill over the fire. |
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| Javier took some pictures insides of the lady butcher's shop |
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| What would the US health department say about this set up? |
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| The boys bought a Fred Flintstone portion of ribs, but were so excited to cook them! |
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| the men and their meat |
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| and the ladies (who were 100% entertained with this rib cooking venture) |
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| Michael's camo sweatshirt just tops it off... |
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| birthday boy and his mammoth rib |
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| they weren't as tender as we hoped, but it was a fun event and good excuse to start a camp fire |
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| Michael and Madison are such regulars at Black Sheep that they went all out for Michael's bday dinner |
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| Feliz Cumpleanos!! |
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| Even their sheep got into it |
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| Party hats for all |
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| and a cake with candles! |
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| We're really going to miss the Andersons next year!! |
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| After big hikes on Saturday, we all decided to take it easy on Sunday. Not a bad view to wake up and drink your coffee to. |
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| After breakfast Javier was excited to get back on Black Sheep's frisbee golf course (supposedly the highest altitude frisbee golf in the world) |
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| I walked with the competitors for a bit (hoping to see the llamas we saw on our last visit) but didn't play. The birthday boy, Michael, was the big winner on the course! |
I spent the morning reading my book and drinking warm beverages from the Black Sheep lodge. It was wonderful to enjoy the views and do nothing for a bit. It was super fun weekend spent with friends and fun hikes. Just another reminder that we've met some awesome people here that we will really miss next year!
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| The crew on our way out! |
