Highlights from Vacation, Part III: Solitude in the Sierra

I spent most of the two weeks after Mom left enjoying Ecuador on my own.  I stationed myself in Mindo for most of the first week and ventured off the Panamericana, the main highway, on the Quilotoa Loop for the second week.

Mindo is a tiny, little town in a cloudforest a few hours northwest of Quito.  People visit for birdwatching, horseback riding, ziplining, mountain biking and hiking but I went mostly to lay low and enjoy the scenery.

One day I went to the a butterfly farm outside of town, Mariposas de Mindo.  Here you can observe more than 1,000 butterflies from 25 species in all stages of life.

More than 400 species of birds have been observed in the Mindo area.

Another day I went on a chocolate tour.  The actual cacao is harvested at a slightly lower elevation and brought to Mindo. Here they dry the cacao seeds and crack them into nibs. Then the nibs are liquified and refined.

I spent the rest of my time in Mindo hiking, lounging in these hammocks at my hostel, and relaxing down by the river with a book.

After a weekend back in Quito, I set out on the Quilotoa Loop. The Quilotoa Loop is a long bumpy road through small towns and beautiful countryside in the Cotopaxi province. Transportation is infrequent and therefore complicated but well worth the bother. On the first day, I took a 4 hour bus ride from Latacunga to Chugchilan where I had a reservation to stay at the Black Sheep Inn.

The Black Sheep Inn is a scenic ecolodge run by an American couple. The lodge features on-site organic vegetable gardens, water pumped with solar power, composting toilets, and delicious vegetarian meals provided three times a day to all guests.

During my stay at the Black Sheep Inn, I went on several hikes. With some other guests at the Inn, I visited the local dairy cooperative where farmers in the area contribute milk that is made into cheese and hiked back from there.

 

I made a hiking buddy, Pam, from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We went on a hike together that ended up being much more complicated than the instructions we were given. Aside from unwanted company of stray dogs and a mild sunburn, the hike was beautiful.

Leaving Chuchilan and the Black Sheep Inn is complicated. It requires hiring a private car or departing from town in the middle of the night. Lucky for me, a couple from Nashville was also departing the Inn and gave me a ride back to Latacunga. On the way, we admired the landscape, which included the Illinizas (a pair of Andean peaks) in the background and took time to stop at Laguna Quilotoa.

Laguna Quilotoa is a crater lake of an unbelievable turquoise color. Locals say the lake is bottomless but geologists estimate a depth of 820 feet.