Adventure: Crate Lake Quilotoa

Johnny and I, along with our two Australian neighbors, went on an adventure to a crate lake about 2.5 hours south of Quito. Since we wanted to spend most of the day there (but not have to worry about having to spend the night) we decided to hire a car with a driver ($90) instead of taking multiple/unreliable/confusing buses. Our driver was awesome and actually showed up early to pick us up right in front of the house. After a few construction detours we arrived in Quilotoa around 10am. Our driver dropped us off at the lookout point for the crater and said that he would see us in 5 hours.

First view of the crater from the lookout point.

 The first view of the crater was breathtaking.  We could not have asked for better weather. The sun was slightly hidden by the clouds but the colors of blue and green on the lake still looked beautiful. Quilotoa Lake has been on our list of things to do for a while. I wanted a pretty picture of the lake of my own. After taking in the crater for about 15 minutes and getting necessary pictures we started off on the 9 km (5.6 mile) hike. We decided to hike counter-clockwise around the crater. 

The hike was super interesting and the views of the crater got better and better. We actually had good views on both sides of the hike.  When we weren't looking at the crater we saw views of the mountains and little villages in the valleys. Everything looked so peaceful and it made us want to live out there instead of in Quito. The first part of the hike was fairly easy with litter ups or downs. Then we can across this gigantic uphill that seriously looked vertical and impossible. With John as our leader we slowly made it up the trail (note: John was not slow). The views from the top were even better and made the climb worth it. The trail continued with a few more ups and downs until making its way to a field of potatoes. At this point we were about half way through the hike and decided to break for lunch. We picked a spot with an awesome view of the lake and out of the wind. After refueling we continued along the trail. The second half of the hike took us up and down, over a flat space that looked like the moon or something, through a pine forest, over a sandy dune type place, and into a super humid small bush/tree forest type place. The changing landscape definitely kept the hike interesting. Of course all along the way I kept stopping to take pictures : ) Our hike lasted about 5 hours, and we could have stayed 5 hours longer just taking in the scenery. 

Lunch spot

I have more pictures up on my facebook page. 

Interesting driving fact:  When a car is coming at you (whether you be a person or another car) if they flash their brights it means that they are going to keep moving and you should move out of the way or they will hit you.  This is opposite from the States where a flash of the brights means that you have the right of way and the coming car will yield for you. Watching the cars drive here in Ecuador is really a scary sight to someone who is not used to it. Surprisingly, even with the unsafe driving habits, there are not many accidents.