Quilotoa Loop Ecuador
QUILOTOA LOOP
One of my favorite things I have done
And look who I got to meet back up with to take on this adventure with me...
DENISE!!
Do you guys remember Denise? I met her through an online girls travel group and first met her in person when we met up in El Salvador to chase waterfalls, drink juice out of bags and sleep on kitchen floors.
Well the stars aligned and we got to meet back up to take on most of Ecuador together.
Denise had her sights set on doing something called the 'Quilotoa loop' .. and I was excited to be along for the ride.
THE LOOP
A three to five day self-guided hike through the Andean hills. You will come across rivers, snow capped mountains, valleys, vast countryside, a volcano, a crater lake, small Quechua communities, loads of farm animals, amazing nature, epic landscapes and cosy little hostels.
The isolation of the loop brings you into contact with lots of Quechua-speaking indigenous people and their centuries old way of life.
Each day you hike from one small village to the next. Each of these villages has at least one hostel to call home for the night. What we loved is that all of the hostels are ‘all inclusive’ meaning your dinner and breakfast is included in the rate. Which is necessary for two reasons..
There are basically no restaurants in any of these villages.
You are too exhausted from your days hike to even think about having to find food or cook for yourself
GETTING LOST
Now it is self guided.. and you WILL get lost.
The hostels provide maps and guidance but lets be real, this is South America and stuff changes all the time and is never organized. Some of the maps where outdated or not drawn properly… Mix this with random constriction, landslides blocking paths and 10 different ways to get to where you were going and you are on your own to make it to each of these villages!!
You are literally in the middle of no where, lost in the Andes hills. There were plenty of farms and locals throughout the hills that we asked for directions when in need, but couldn’t always count on them to understand us as most didn’t even speak Spanish! Only the local language of Quechua.
But hey, this is what made it an ADVENTURE.
And we all know I am up for an adventure.
Now it is a loop. So there is more than one way to go...
Apparently we picked the harder route, with most of the hikes being uphill. This was not the hardest hike i've ever done, but certain days were more challenging than others. I wouldn't classify these hikes as easy by any means.
Now Denise has me beat when it comes to cooking, navigating, planning, bargaining, travel equipment and the Spanish Language (she is fluent) so maybe I took a little enjoyment in excelling in the one area I can, hiking
I was there to offer her words of encouragement of course,
but it didn’t stop me from snapping some pictures of her misery.
Alright, Alright full disclosure, Denise has severe asthma, and these uphills were TOUGH. So I give her a lot of credit! On the second day, we got lost for hours and then got caught in the rain for an hour.. quite the adventure. When we finally got back on track we came upon a monstrous uphill portion..
And here is one of the many reasons I love Denise...
"AHH,. HELL NAHH, I am not climbing that, no way, someone needs to drive me to the next town" (in her half Argentinian half Long Island accent)
Please picture this.... we are in the middle of no where. But leave it to Denise to actually accomplish finding a ride. There was a very very small village at the base of this uphill battle. Made up of a tiny church, one house and a school.
Denise marches right up to this house and knocks of the door. A woman and her child answer. In Spanish Denise asks if they knew anyway she could get a ride. This woman says something to her child and he darts out the door sprinting out of sight. It is very difficult to understand the dialect of the native people, even for Denise who’s first language is Spanish. So when I ask her what was said she shrugged and said she didn’t really know but she thinks they understood.
We wait a few minutes and all of the sudden a big van comes rolling through out of nowhere with the little boy in the passengers seat.
“I guess thats my ride” says Denise
And I just laugh.
Determined to finish this hike I wave goodbye to Denise and head up this monster hill.
THE KIDS
We had heard from other travelers that is it customary to bring snacks or candy for the local children you run into along the way.
As I am absolutely huffing and puffing up this hill, school must have just gotten out. As all of the sudden there are loads of children in their school uniforms climbing up this hill behind me... like it's nothing.
Armed with suckers I say hello and put my Spanish skills to the test by striking up a conversation with them.
They are THRILLED to receive these suckers and completely swarm me with hugs.
They tell me their names and that they just got out of school. When I ask if they walk up and down this hill everyday to get to school they reply with a yes. I am so impressed.
And so out of breath...
but with my team of Ecuadorian children behind me I am more motivated than ever to make it up this hill and keep pace with them.
When we make it a top there is a marvelous view point with a gazebo where we all sit to take a rest. I ask them about school and what they are learning. Some of them are shy, while others are not. They are fascinated with things like the combination lock that hangs from my backpack, and my sunglasses and all the earrings in my ears.
The girls ask if I will listen to a song they all learned in school. It was the cutest thing ever!
Then they ask me to get up and sing.. oh gosh. HOW CAN I SAY NO?? (slash secretly I am thrilled)
The last time a child asked me to sing was in Guatemala with my homestay family, where I of course racked my brain for what I could sing and OF COURSE the only thing I could get out was... Taylor Swift
SO round two of colleen sings T Swift to Spanish children commences
They love it and ask me to dance AND sing this time... HOW CAN I SAY NO?
Then I teach them how to sing Wheels on the bus
(Adorable)
And then pick each of them up and spin them around what feels like a million times until I cannot feel my arms any more. After about an hour I say I need to continue on. Half of them live to the right and the other half to the left, the same way I am going.
I walk with them and one by one that drop off as we pass their houses, until finally it is just me and two siblings, a girl and her younger brother.
As we are walking I notice the little boy, probably around 4 years old, is no longer next to me. I turn around and he is on his hands and knees sipping water out of a pot hole in the dirt road.
My heart sinks, I am so mortified at the sight of him drinking this filthy water.
I double back and immediately offer him my water bottle. He seems a little confused but eventually takes the water bottle.
I cannot even bare it. I open my backpack and give him and his sister all of the fruit, cookies and water I have left. They immediately start ripping into the snacks and we continue our walk. A few minutes later we come up to a large long downhill path where you can see a house at the bottom of it. They say this is there house, I hug them goodbye and wave to their parents who are standing outside of their house down below. Who both give me a great big wave back.
Now it is blazing hot, I have no water, and I am still about 1.5 hours from my destination. But finally I make it to camp and reunite with Denise.
As I fell asleep that night I decided it was one of my favorite days so far.
New Friends
As day 3 commenced, which would be the highest level of difficulty, I found two new friends to hike with. At this point Denise is under the weather and down for the count.
Lauren and Pierce, from England! A couple on a year-ish long trip before their wedding! They were lovely, felt like people I would be friends with back home, and most importantly.. monster hikers. We crushed the last leg and got to the grand finale, the Quilotoa Crater Lake in record time.
This was by far one of the most unique and freaking awesome things I did on my entire trip throughout South America.
For anyone who has found this article by researching the loop and wondering if you should go... GO. It isn't a breeze of a hike but with any bit of determination you will be absolutely fine! It seems to be easier to start at the crater lake instead of finishing there. However I found it rewarding to save the best for last!
I believe with transportation, accommodation and snacks... these four days cost me just over $100 USD...
what a bargain for such an awesome experience.
Stay tuned for all of the other adventures Denise and I went on in Ecuador..
Feel free to send me a message in the below contact box! What was your favorite part of this post? Any questions?I would love to hear from you!
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