Quilotoa loop

Ride to Quilatoa

Canon del Rio Toachi

 Quilotoa Crater Lake

Ok I couldnt stop taking photos but the colors change with the clouds

Us at the lagoon

  There was only one big tree in side the crater

Leaving Quilotoa walking to Chigchillan, many children ran past us

The walk along the road

Alpaca

The views around Quilotoa on the road were amazing

A walk to the cloud forest and cheese factory

From Latucunga we arranged a tour for $40 a person through our hostel (hotel Tiana and Tovar tours).  The tour information and the guy selling the tour said we would stop in Pujili and Tigua to visit the painters and I was a bit disappointed that we didnt  stop in either.  After walking into and around the crater on our own we had lunch in Quilotoa.  The driver dropped us off in Quilotoa since we didnt want to go back to Latucunga but started the walk to Chigchillan and then when the bus passed we took the bus.  The tour to Quilatoa was not worth it as it was basically a driver since he didnt come hiking with us.  We should have taken the public bus which goes from Latacunga to Quilatoa since we didnt stop in the villages anyways with the tour and would have saved a lot of money. 

We spent the night at Mama Hildas in Chigchillan which was really nice.   It runs around $15 a night depending on the room and includes breakfast and dinner.  The dinners were really good.  I was a bit annoyed as drinks are not included not even coffee, tea or water and then they add the 12% tax to the $15 but overall it was a great place.. very quiet and cute.  We hiked around the area and into the cloud forest and visited the cheese factory.  We got a ride there for $5 a person and then walked back. I really liked the hiking around there.  The Black Sheep has maps of the area to go hiking. 

Quilatoa has an altitude of around 3,800M while Chugchilan has an altitude of around 3100 meters.

From Chigchillan we took the 3:30AM bus back to Latacunga. I think it cost around $2.5 and took almost 4 hours. 

Cotapaxi Day hike

hike to the glacier

hiking up Cotapaxi with clouds rolling in

next to the glacier

View from the refuge

After lunch the sky turned blue so we got a nice view of the top

At the refuge (15,953 ft or 4864 meters)

The drive back to Latunga from Cotapaxi was nice

We took the 1.5 hour bus ride to Latunga from the southern terminal in Quito (Quitumbe) which cost $1.5 and arrived in Latunga and walked around.  We ended up staying at a backpacker hostel called Tianas. They only had dorm beds available so we stayed in the dorm for $10 a night despite the funky smell in the dorm then moved to a private room for $12. I think it might be the only backpacker hostel in town or I would have gone somewhere else.  We arranged a day trip to Cotapaxi with them.  I am not sure why tours are more expensive in Latacunga then from Quito but it was $40 per person for the day hike without biking while most agencies charge around $35 in Quito or $45 for biking, while in Latacunga they charge $55 for biking).
I was surprised there was an airport in Latacunga since it so close to Quito and found out its because of the large greenhouse that exports roses to the US.  You can see the greenhouse on the ride out to Quilotoa because its so large.  Latacunga has an altitude of about 2,750 meters. 
We stopped at Limpiopungo lake to acclimate on the way to Cotapaxi and also stopped at the Cotopaxi museum.  

a really beautiful ride back

Canoa, Puerto Lopez

Quito to Canoa
I took a night bus to Canoa for $10. The bus was convenient from Quito cause it left from the center of town instead of the north or south of town.  As I was staying near the Elijido park it was quite convenient in proximity.  It left at 10:45pm and it was supposed to arrive around 5 or 6am but we arrived around 4am.  

Canoa
Many of the hostels will let you sleep on a couch or hammock till they open so we found a comfy couch to sleep on until 8am then started our walk around town looking for hostels. I stayed at Hostel Coco Loco which was cheap.. $8 for a dorm bed but a little disappointing cause the reviews were amazing.  The people were very nice but I guess I moved on because all the guests were talking about how their clothing was being stolen and the dorm I was in didnt have lockers though I heard that other dorms did.  Canoa was a very cute small laid back surf village on the coast.  Not too much to do other than surf. I had wanted to take a kitesurfing class but the wind ends in December.

Puerto Lopez
So off I went to Puerto Lopez.  Puerto Lopez has lots to do from diving to visiting the islands or going to the beach or surfing.  I went to the less touristic island of  Salango  instead of going to Isla de la plata because I have already been to the Galapagos and it is called the poor mans Galapagos.  I wouldnt recommend Salango Island though maybe I was disappointed because the agency lied to me about many things about the tour to get me to go.  The agencies also play these games. They start at $35 for a tour to Isla de la plata but people normally pay $30 or $25 if they bargain. 

Puerto Lopez

Blue footed boobies

You probably cant see the blue footed boobies, unfortunately my camera is still broken so these are the best I could take with my phone.

I go back to Quito on a night bus through the same company reina del camino for $13. Leaves at 8pm and is scheduled to arrive at 5am.  I hope it doesnt arrive much earlier like some review I have read.  But it arrives in the town center where I left so that makes my life easier.

Update:  The bus arrived in Quito at 5am and I went to the waiting room till almost 6am when it was light outside and hopped on the trole bus.  

Mindo

I went to Mindo, Ecuador in the cloud forest. 
Bus: Its only about 2.5 hours and $2.5 to get there from the terminal in the north Ofelia. 
Hotel: We stayed at Hostal Jardin de los Pajaros
We shared a private room with two beds and private bath on the second floor which was $15 a person and included breakfast (bread, hot drink, juice, fruit, butter, marmalade.  There was a pool and hammocks and wifi and as a benefit when the lights went out in town they had a generator so we had lights when some of the other hotels did not.
Food:  El Tigrillo - I dont normally go to pizza places in Latin America cause I normally find the pizza a bit strange but this pizza I thought was actually good.  

Since my camera is broken I dont have any good photos of Mindo since its a bit dark and cloudy. We went on a bird watching tour and saw a crazy looking red bird called gallo de pena or cock of the rock but it was too dark for me to take a photo with my camera.  We also saw many varieties of hummingbirds including silfa cola violeta (Purple tailed) as well as other birds such as  orange bellied euphonia squirrel cucko and a quetzal. We stayed at

Here is a humming bird called the booted raquet tail.  It has a long tail with two round feathers at the end and under it looks like it has cotton for feet, so in spanish they call it cotton feet. 

Quito, teleferico

Yesterday we went to Panecillo, a statue of the virgin on a hill. We walked there, the guide books say there are many robberies so not to bring much money or camera so we left our cameras at the hotel but we didnt see anything that looked to bad.  There were other people walking around so I think its becoming safer.  Its maybe a 20 minute walk and tourist police were at the bottom of the stairs and at the top. It was a nice view and inside the statue is a museum and you can walk up a few flights of stairs to have a view from the top of the statue. We also went to the City Museum after.  Then went to la ronda a cute street with lots of bars, cafes and restaurants which is right by our hotel. 

Went to the teleferico today. The ride up takes about 10 minutes and has a nice view point.  We did the 3 hour hike to the top of Rucu Pichincha. Which is 4,696 meters.  I have no pictures of the view from the top because it was completely cloudy so we had no view unfortunately. 

How to get there: We walked most of the way to the teleferico from the Santa Clara station on the Trolebus but then a taxi told us it was so far and it was all uphill when we got to the entrance and it was a few km. So we took the taxi but it wasnt far, it was uphill yes but I would have been fine to walk it.  There are buses that go to the entrance and different parts of town, the problem is that there are not hours.  We took the one back that goes to San Fransisco plaza and stops in front of the big hotel and passes through Santa Clara where we are staying.  The bus costs 1.50 and is a small van that says tourist van and has a small sign in front that says teleferico.   

made it to the top!

nice views on the walk back

Otavalo

Waterfalls taxopamba - 25 meters tall

You can walk to the waterfalls maybe 5 km outside of town or you can hire a taxi to take you.  We walked to the waterfalls. 

view from Fuya Fuya

To get there we walked to the waterfalls then started walking but my friend didnt want to waste his energy before getting to Fuya Fuya so we ended up hitching a ride with a truck up there. The driver didnt except any money and the family kept feeding us beer and asking us drunken questions repeatedly. Fuya Fuya is  4,263 meters (13,986 ft) high. We climbed this in about 1.5 hours to the summit.  The view was beautiful and the sky clear but my phone (camera) died as I reached the top.  This is the only picture I was able to take of lagunas de mojanda.  We got a ride back in a truck and paid $1 each. 

Condor Park

We went to Condor Park a park where they rescue and rehabilitate birds.  Most of the birds are brought in are injured from being shot.  They did a demonstration with different birds including this famous bird here, the bald eagle. We took a taxi up to the park cause my friend didnt want to walk. Maybe there is something wrong with me but I walk everywhere.. but I find other traveler like to take taxis, maybe cause they are so cheap.  He ran into his friends at the park and they were kind enough to give us a ride back to our hotel. 

Otavalo, Ecuador

The square in Otavalo was packed on Christmas Eve

Otavalo claims to have the biggest market in South America

They make masks and stuff old clothes and burn them for the New Year

Lago San Pablo

Lago San Pablo, I have never seen this new activity where you can get in a balloon and walk and jump on the water without getting wet

Another view from a different side of Lago San Pablo

Cuicocha volcanic Lagoon

Well I arrived in Otavalo on Christmas Eve and went to the plaza cause they had singing and events on the plaza.  Christmas day everyone was walking around.  Otavalo was about 3 hours ride from the north terminal in Quito (Carcelen).  I satyed at a nice hostel called El Geranio, they have really basic rooms from $6 a night and nicer ones for $8. They have a small kitchen and wifi and all the other travellers I met there were very nice.  It was a very social place and the staff was very nice. 

Otavalo is famous and claims to be the biggest market in South America and my version of the Lonely Planet guidebook says its one of the top 5 things to see in South America.  So here I am. There is a market everyday, but Saturday is the day all the vendors come into town to sell stuff and extends over many blocks.  The streets are packed.  It was fun to walk around and seem mostly artesenal items.  I walked around for a few hours before everything starts to look the same.

There is a short walk to some waterfalls close to town that I went to called peguche, it was nice to get out to see something natural after a month in Quito.  

The pictures above are of a volcanic lagoon that we walked around and took over 3 hours.  The most impressive was that we saw a tour group of older Germans doing the hike.  One of the girls in her 20s was having a hard time cause it was lots of up and down hills at altitude so seeing a big group of retired people doing it was quite inspiring as walking up some of the hills definitely took my breath away.  To get there you take a bus to the village Cotacachi then a truck to the park.  As we walked along the highway after the walk we found a bus that went back to Otavalo direct so we didnt have to take the truck.  Its free to enter the park.  I think its worth it to visit the lake but I dont think the hike around was worth it.  I think doing the short hike thats maybe a half hour where they have sun and mood dials and some exhibits and viewpoints of the lake. The views dont get any better as you go around the lake, but if you really like hiking its something to do and there were quite a few other groups doing it the day we went but the views are just as good doing the short interpretive trail. 
I also visited a lake that was very pretty but there were no hiking trails called san pablo.