Month: November 2021

We all celebrated Mateo’s 22nd birthday Saturday night. Good food, good music, good people, equals good time! Feliz Cumpleanos!!!

After the hike around the crater we were pleasantly surprised that Rosario (Daniela’s Grandmother) and Rodrigo decided to take a drive and met us in Quilotoa. We had lunch then headed for the Turkish bath. Later we had a wonderful supper. On Tuesday we headed home on a road they had not been on before. It was the same route as Daniela and I took Saturday but it was dark and foggy then so it was new to us also. Very nice country and nice ending to a great weekend.

Quilotoa is a small village that is popular with foreign tourists and Ecuadorians alike. It costs Two dollars per person to enter the village. There are many restaurants and vendors selling souvenirs. You can check out the lake from the viewpoint. There is a trail down to the lake where you can rent a kayak or take a boat ride. We hiked the trail around the rim of the volcano gazing at the scenery. It’s a four to six hour hike depending on how fast you want to go. Beautiful!

Ecuador does not celebrate Halloween in the way the United States does. The Indigenous population goes to the cemetery and spend the day with their family and relatives honoring the deceased. This year it worked out to be a five day weekend. There had been protests the week prior but the protests were put on hold until the holiday was over.

Daniela had a long weekend and asked if I wanted to go to the mountains for a couple of days. Off we went to a lodge in the village of Chugchilan. We arrived Saturday evening and Sunday morning headed off on a bike ride. Two local chaps let us tag along which was great for Daniela learned much about the local area. The very start of the ride was a long steep hill that kicked my behind right off the bat.

After reaching the top we entered into a cloud forest then had a long decent to the highway. It was steep and long so you had to manage your brakes not to over heat them. I mistakenly thought that we would be near the lodge when we hit the highway but it was another 12k up hill. In total the ride was almost 31k. The weather was perfect. That afternoon the Turkish bath at the lodge felt wonderful.