Laguna Quilatoa

Trip Start Mar 02, 2005
1
5
28
Trip End May 07, 2005


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Flag of Ecuador  ,
Sunday, March 6, 2005

Slow internet connections really make it difficult to keep up this travelogue. This is now the third time that I`m writing this entry, after the previous two versions were lost when the internet connection at the internet cafe went down. Let`s hope the third time`s the charm....

Laguna Quilatoa is an extinct volcanic crator that is now filled with water, forming a beautiful turquoise-green lake. On Sunday morning I took a bus from the village of Chugchilan (where I was staying at the Black Sheep Inn) to Quilatoa, and then hiked back to the hostel along with three other guests. The hike was quite strenuous. We started at the crator rim (elev. 3800 meters), descended to the village of Huayama (3200m), then descended via a narrow pathway to the bottom of a large canyon carved out by a river (2800m) and finally climbed back up the other side of the canyon to arrive back at the Black Sheep Inn.

It was a great hike (Outside Magazine named this the best dayhike in Ecuador). It`s 11 kilometers of walking with a full 1 kilometer descent. Plus, it started raining midway through the hike. Luckily for me, I had a raincoat and waterproof boots, but my pants still got soaked. In total we made the hike in 4 hours, but we were all exhausted afterwards. It would have been a strenuous hike in any condition, but the high altitude made it even tougher. When we got back to the Black Sheep Inn, we all curled up by the fire and spent the evening playing cards.
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