My butt is sore but I still can’t pick my jaw up off the floor: The Quilotoa Loop

[Disclaimer: This is going to be long. I don’t feel like editing myself much, sorry.]

So this past weekend was my last big trip before I leave this amazing country, and it was definitely one of my favorite trips in my 7.5 months here. It certainly made it hard to come back to Quito for my last week of work and two hectic weeks of trying to piece together the rest of my final paper. Anyhow.

My friend Emily and I met up in Latacunga on Thursday evening so we could start out early Friday on the Quilotoa Loop, a few-day long trip that you adjust to your needs and interests, but mainly about seeing Laguna Quilotoa, a huge crater lake that BLOWS YOUR MIND upon first seeing it.

Our only real excitement between Thursday and Friday was hoping that the lunch we were served in Zumbahua (zoom-bawh-wah), the first tiny poor town we visited, wasn’t going to get us sick, and the super cool hike/climb we made up as we went along up into some random part of the mountains around Zumbahua.

Saturday morning we were up early for an improvised breakfast of protein bars and dried fruit, a quick glance at Zumbahua’s Saturday morning market, and a pickup ride to the lake. The pickup ride was your typical, crammed into the cab with the driver (mind you, with bags and it’s a stickshift—comfy) and praying to God that the fact that it was on below empty the whole time just meant the barometer was broken. It was cool, though, because although I’ve seen a ton of mountainous Ecuadorian terrain, this had some really new sights for me—mainly the huge canyon that I never knew existed.

Anyhow, we got into the town of Quilotoa and set off to enter the crater and head on down to the lake. I think we got about 100 yards in when, at the very first sight I had of the turquoise-blue of the lake, I turned around squealing and jumping yelling “I can’t believe this!!!” to Emily.

This picture does not remotely do it justice...

I don’t have the words to describe Laguna Quilotoa. It is, simply put, absolutely mind-blowing. The crater walls tower over a gorgeous body of dark and light blues and turquoises, and the peace and quiet is almost tangible. You can’t help but just sit and stare, then try to pick your jaw off the ground to get your butt moving and head down, stopping to gawk millions of times along the way (turning what should be a 45-minute hike down into something more like 2 hours). I can’t do it justice; I wish everyone could see it. It is absolutely incredible.

You can't even appreciate its size! Huuuuge lake.

A while of gawking/self-timing pictures/saying “oh my goodness” later, we arrived at the bottom, with some time to just sit and take it in for a while and eat some snacks before hopping on our “pimp my ride”-status mules to head back up. We had heavy bags, and it also just makes our story funnier. My mule was lazy, and had to be threatened a lot to head up. Mules are not comfortable, but it was funny when we had a show-down with a herd of sheep and then with some other mules when we were trying to pass through a narrow crack in the mountain…good times.

Also excellent: the weather for us. It was SO clear when we were in the crater, and started getting foggy just when we were heading out…for which we were very much grateful.

Emily and I had heard conflicting stories about when a bus was going to come through to Chugchilán, but most people agreed that between 1 and 2 there should be one. So we were out in the chilly fog waiting on the side of the road (after being given some hot chocolate that kind of tasted like soap at a nearby hostel, which reminded me of my mom’s dishsoap foccacia incident—I love you, mom!), hoping that this bus would actually pass.

Well we got lucky. A pickup came by, honked, and pulled over. It was full of gringos also going to Chugchilán, with an Ecuadorian driving. We hopped in back and were on our way. It was a bit of a rough ride, because that road is super dusty and full of curves and potholes, so it was adding some bruises to our already sensitive bums, but whatever. It was cheap and easy…and fun to get to know our company. And it only sprinkled a little towards the end, thankfully.

We arrived in Chugchilán and set up camp in one of the three hostels. Chugchilán has only a little more to it than Zumbahua, and Emily and I were already tired, so we only wandered around a little bit after lunch and other than that just chilled out on the balcony and talked/journaled, which was really nice. Oh, I also got to take my first shower since Thursday morning and a lot of dirt/sunscreen, which was AMAZING.

What was cool about the hostel was the fact that we had a communal dinner, which means everyone who was staying in the place shared tables and just hung out, enjoyed the delicious food they brought us, and got to know one another. After that was more chill and then bed time…to wake up to a communal desayuno (no b-word mom), which was also great and then to pack up and head out to catch a bus.

Well, we got lucky again. We ended up sharing another pickup with three of the people from the day before and a couple from our hostel. In the back it was Emily, me, two guys from yesterday, and another American guy. It was a fun ride, and a lot more comfortable (which was good, considering it was about 3.5 hours long). The only bad part was it getting cold/windy, but that was borne with good humor since the landscapes were incredible and the company good as well.

Our setup for the 3.5-hour ride

So our adventures ended…sore butts and a little tired but very much satisfied. I am SO glad that was my last trip, and that I was able to see Quilotoa before leaving Ecuador. It was weird starting Easter in the back of a pickup, missing Easter for the second year in a row (last year I was visiting Chlo in Guatemala), but it was an excellent weekend.

But I can’t lie, I actually cried a bit on the bus back to Quito today. It wasn’t because it’s sad that I can’t see any more real new stuff because I leave, but because it’s really really hitting me how short my last 18 days are going to be—pretty scary. It’ll be good to see folks I dig (thank you, Joni Mitchell’s “California”) but it’s going to be hard leaving here, where I’ve built a life for myself from zero and have come to hold so dear to my heart.

But I really need to stop blabbing to you all and get back to my paper…11 days for that, so I should get back to work. Thanks for reading so much! Happy Easter, if that’s your thing!