Ecuador Andes Adventure...Quilota and Banos

Quilotoa and Banos

Cotapaxi from Lataguana.

After a night in Latacunga, we boarded a bus to the Black Sheep inn outside the town of Chucchilan...well...we tried to board a bus there. At the bus stop in Latacunga, I showed a bus driver a map of where we were going. He ensured me his bus would take us there. About an hour into the trip, I stated to have my doubts.  The bus stopped at the village of Quilotoa...about 25 km short of our destination,,,at the last stop of the day. What chose did we have in this remote area but to hitch hike.

We got to the Black Sheep Inn late in the day. What a great little spot. There is a popular hike called the Quilotoa Loop and Chucchilan is one of the spots to rest. Most hikers stay at the hikers hostel in town...if so, they are missing out on some fine accommodation.
Check out www.blacksheepinn.com/

The Black Sheep Inn

The inn offers excellent meals, a variety of accommodation, a yoga studio and much more. They also arrange for tours...hiking and horse back riding. We did both. Our first day trip was back to Quilotoa and a hike down into the crater. This crater is an old volcanic cone with a beautiful coloured lake in the bottom.

Quilotoa

The rim is at 12,500 feet and it takes about an hour to hike the trail down to the lake. We rented kayaks and went for a paddle. We also rented a couple of donkeys to take us back to the top! The next day we took to the highlands with a wonderful guide. We rode over the Continental divide and into the cloud forest. Lots of laughs but 5 hours on a horse was a bit too much for me.

Our next travel destination was the hot springs town of Banos. We were going to go back to Latacunga for the night but a festival called the Negro Mama was going on and we hadn't booked a room so we got up really early and caught the bus to Banos. We hit Banos in the middle of a national holiday and the place was packed with Ecuadorian families. We only managed to find some crappy hotel for a couple of nights until the town cleared out. We did get some great local hiking in and oddly enough, didn't bump into too many people.

Wonderful old church...service many times a day.

Crushing sugar cane.

East side looking back at town.

Suspension bridge

Cuy...or Guinea Pigs

Enjoying coffee at the Luna Ruttan resort.

We also rented mountain bikes and road downhill to the Devil's Cauldron.

Devil's Cauldron

Banos had lots to offer...canyoning, white water rafter, trips into the Amazon and hot springs. Our final accommodation was the Chimenea Hostel...wonderful for $20 a night!
www.hostelchimenea.com/

Our next stop, the old city of Cuenca. On the map it looked about a four hour bus trip to get there but it took closer to seven. It is under 400 km away but the ups and downs and hairpins turns sure add to your driving time.

Ecuador Andes Adventure...Cotapaxi

Secret Garden Cotapaxi

We spent our last night in Quit at Secret Garden Hostel. Located near old town, this funky place with friendly staff and a great roof top pub is the place to be...also, they provide a shuttle to Cotapaxi Secret Garden hostel too.  http://secretgardencotopaxi.com/
This hotel is located a good hour drive from Quito and has a beautiful view of the Cotapaxi volcano ...at nearly 20,000 feet and still active..last activity was in 2015.

Cotapaxi

A few happy guys

Secret Garden offers an arrival hike to a local waterfall. The next day you can choose a hike to various volcanoes, horse back riding or mountain biking.

We hiked with a group up to the summit of Ruminahui Volcano at about 13,800 feet abs. Short of breath but we made it to the top.

There were even wild horses running around. Great views the whole time.

Secret Garden

Great volunteer staff, good food and a fine place to just chill.
Next stop...heading to Quilotoa. To get there, we take a bus to Latagunca. Taking the bus in Ecuador is an experience. No real bus stops..just wave down the bus and they will stop anywhere. Lot of vendors getting on and off selling pretty much anything. The main Pan America highway runs north to south..the bus to Latagunca doesn't actually go into the town bus station. You have to get off on the Pan American and catch a local bus into town.

We stayed at the Hostel Tiana which seemed to be the backpackers spot.
http://www.hostaltiana.com/

Next day off to Quilotoa!

Ecuador Andes Adventure...around Quito

Quito touring

Basilica Quito

 

The blog is about a 5 week tour of the Ecuadorian Andes. Hope there is some good information for you future travelers. Starting with Quito...to Cotapaxi, Quilotoa, Banos, Cuenca and Vilcabamba...and finally Otavalo.

First off...why Ecuador? For us, we have friends in Quito so it gave us a base to start and a place to go when we were done.
Ecuador is fairly stable, generally safe, darn easy to get around, no visa required and runs on the American dollar. There are also tons of beautiful sites. We spent all our time in the Andes...most travelers hit the beach or the Amazon as well but that will be for next time. Being on the equator, the temperature remains the same year round. Shorts and T shirt during the day...something a bit warmer at night.

The Presidential palace

Cobblestones and pastel buildings

We flew Toronto to Panama City to Quito on Copa Airlines...about 7 hours of flight time. There are lots of flights into Quito from the States but a bulk of them arrive in the middle of the night. Quito is serviced by a beautiful new airport a good 40 minute drive to downtown. Quito is at 10,000 feet so you may be a little short of breath for the first few days.

We toured Old Town in Quito...beautiful old buildings, churches and squares. Cheap meals and friendly people. Heard stories about petty thief and such but we were traveling in October so it was generally pretty quiet on the streets. Good idea to wear your knapsack on your front and be mindful of where your cell phone is.

We took a tour north of town to the Middle of the Earth. There is a nice park and monument indicating the equator that was built by the French many years ago...unfortunately, GPS technology showed they built it in the wrong place...the equator if actually 200 meters north.

A sun dial at the equator

The French monument

There is a little operation at the right location that is a must see. All sorts of little experiments...balancing an egg on it's end, water flowing down a drain in both directions and such...well work the visit.

balancing an egg

We also took the Teleferico De Quito...a cable car that takes you up to 13000 feet above Quito. The view is amazing. You can also hike to an old volcano about a 1000 feet higher.

A beautiful city..we didn't visit New Town and I am sure there are lots of other things to see in Quito but this was a good place to get acclimatized and get ready for the next adventure...off to Cotapaxi!