Quilotoa Loop

Feeling burnt out from constant travelling, tours and a wee bit of partying, I needed to relax for a few days and regaine some backpackers vitality. Paracas seemed like a perfect option as it offered a beach front hostel (literally in the sand) called Kokopelli, in a small town that was known for little more than Islas Ballestas, commonly known as poor mans Gallapogas. In the end I avoided the opportunity to be shat on by thousands of sea birds and spot a few sea lions, opting inststead for some chilled out beach time.

With time in Peru now pushing its limits, I decided on skipping the north and took a 3 hour bus up to the capital, Lima, connecting with a 28 hour Cruz Del Sur bus which took me all the way up to Ecuador's second largest city, Guayaquil. It felt like just another big city to me, so the following morning I was on the next bus out to the nearby surf and party town of Montanita. On the way I sat next to Daniel, a surfer from Colombia who convinced me to come and stay with them at a big white mansion on a cliff at the end of the beach. The days to follow consisted of kicking back, sampling some of the local specialties including a delicious raw fish breakfast dish and enjoying some of the nightlife this beach town had to offer.

Next stop was Latacunga, where I was headed for Quilotoa Loop, a 3 day trek recommended by numerous Gringo's along the trail. Parking up at Tiana's guesthouse, they were kind enough to provide clear directions and a map for the loop. On the hour long local bus ride to the start I met up with Cam and Owen, a couple of Aussies with a similar plan. The first days hike is mainly focused around Quilotoa lake, where you spend around 3 hours carefully walking around the volcanic rim. Such thick cloud wash came in that we could barely see in front of us and spent the second half of the walk with no idea where along the rim we were.

The next section was supposed to be an "easy walk" to our nights accommodation, which ended up having a small canyon in the middle of it, not what our tired legs were anticipating. Having seen the highlight of the trek, I convinced the boys to catch the local milk truck with me in the morning, stopping to collect fresh pots of cow juice from all the families along the way, a much easier and preferable way to see the rest of the trail. Our adventure was topped off with a delicious feed of chicken necks and intestines.