Ecuador: Quilotoa Loop (29 May)

After the usual brekkie of eggs, tea and fruit, it was time for the Quilotoa Loop. We met the solid looking red 4WD at the tour place and were greeted by Alex, our guide and driver. Let me say at this stage that anywhere in the world it is very hard to be both a good guide and a good driver but full credit to those who try. We picked up a married couple - Dominican Republic and Spanish - and hit the road. The Quilotoa Loop took us through some spectacular countryside - Andean villages, plunging cliffs and canyons, green hills and the villages nestled amongst them.

Apart from some quick photo stops our first real stop was at the Laguna Quilotoa. Alex made us close our eyes and walked us over to the edge. When we opened our eyes, the sight was breathtaking and one of the most amazing I have seen in South America. The laguna is in an old volcano´s crater which has steep cliffs that drop off 400 metres to the water below. The laguna is many shades of green and as the water wells up from below, some blues and creams also appear. We walked down in less than half an hour, meeting cows and llamas along the way. The way up was tough and took over an hour, which was not helped by Alex telling us “solo dies minuto mas” (just ten minutes more) every ten minutes. He was great on the local knowledge though, having studied to be a guide at university.

The loop then took us on a bumpy road that wound in and around the mountains and alternated between just dirt (most of the time) to some stones to cobbled to sealed. We lunched in the misty village of Chugchilan at the cute Hostal Cloud Forest.

The rest of the trip back to Latacunga took us through the villages of Sigchos, Toacaso, Saquisili and Pujili with the snow capped mountains of Cotopaxi and Ruminahi and Iliniza making guest appearances along the way. Everyone seemed to be happy with me being DJ and managed to introduce a few people to Silverchair, Electric Eels, Rastawookie plus some cracker tracks from Gatecrasher and others.

Looking back on it I think the uplifting music may have been the bad influence on Alex. Also the rain had started, turning the dirt road into a slippery mud track. The first two times Alex spun the car out were ok, we just lost traction and slid a few metres. I should point out that this road is at times up to 4,000m high and there are no guard rails - nada.

The third time was not so much fun. We came around a corner and he lost control. The rear of the car swung out and we slid, spinning faster as we neared the edge. Somehow, the curve of our slide took us to the edge, not over and then back to the other side which saw us thump into the ditch of the inside of the road. We were stuck and had to enlist the help of a passing truck of people to help us push the car out. We laughed and shook and I also had a little chat to Alex about control and perception. I also changed the music to Nora Jones.

We arrived safe and sound back in Latacunga and after some ok lasagne and beers, we looked forward to relaxing in the town of Baños.

Coming up: bathing, bridge jumping and biking in Baños.