Hiking the Quilotoa Crater

Location: Andes

Today we had breakfast at 8:15 am and prepared ourselves for the hike in the Quilotoa crater. We took two trucks up the mountain, and it was way windier and colder than expected. We saw three hitchhikers and all of a sudden they were in our car because they were friends of the driver. We were so cold that when we got there, we ran into a store and bought a bunch of alpaca clothes. After bundling up, we felt a lot better. Then the twelve amigos ventured to the side of the crater. The crater lake was so beautiful and blue. Then we started our hike to the halfway point around the crater. As we started the hike, we began to notice how the wind affected our walking. We had to walk sideways just to walk straight. During the hike, a dog followed us for a long time, so Nicole named it Paco. When we decided to rest, the dog left us, and we were all upset that it chose another family to hike with. At the end of the hike, we noticed a difference in the terrain. It got more sandy than the usual path, and it looked like a desert. The wind was so strong, we all fell over one by one as the sand flew into our faces. At the end of the hike we ate lunch and found Paco, and we fed him popcorn. On the way back to the Inn, the dog chased our truck but couldn’t keep up! Overall, the day went great, and the hike was a great experience.