Trompin' the 'Mericas: Quilatoa Loop

View of the mountains from Sigchos

Hiking The Quilatoa Loop

Road to Insinlivi

Quilatoa is a volcanic crater lake in Ecuador just south of Quito. To get there you can bus it to nearby Latacunga which is the starring point of the loop. From there you can hire a truck or hire a taxi, some people catch a bus to a nearby town and hike from one to four days. Many people take bit of a loop going through Quilatoa and other towns, ending back in Latacunga.

We decided to hike the majority of he loop as the country side was supposed to be beautiful. It didn't disappoint. We went with a guy we met at the airport, Jonas. The plan was to catch a bus in Quito, and go to Latacunga, about 3 hours south. From there we would go to hostel Tiana, drop off our big bags and take our day packs to the first stop on the hike.

Andrea overlooking the Andes

We hit a snag right away! When we got to Latacunga we realized the bus to our first stop on the loop left in 30 minutes! No time! We busted a move to Hostel Tiana, dropped our bags off, busted a move to the bus station and literally chased our bus! The unfortunate part? We missed the information part of things about the hiking paths... Guess we were on our own.

First stop: Sigchos

We decided to start by busing to Sigchos, north of Quilatoa. By the way the buses don't stop for bathrooms. Ever pee in a bottle before? Neither had I. And seriously, what are the odds a group of school children would search the garbage find said bottle and start throwing it around? Andrea, stop laughing! I must clarify the children came onto the bus AFTER the duty was done.

Beautiful views of the Andes are shared with the donkeys

Once there, there wasn't much to do so we chatted up the locals found our route, got the grand tour of town by a school teacher, and settled into our 8 dollar room for the night.

From Sigchos we took a secondary road through the mountains to Insinlivi. The mountains were pretty cool but the road was not an exhilarating hiking trail. I think we missed out on the actual trail. Guess we could have used some more info on day one.

Insinlivi

Mike reads the directions to Chugchilan

Once in Insinlivi, we decided to stay at a really cool hostel called Llullu Llama. It was real cool. Little expensive at 21 dollars pp for a private room but we got breakfast and dinner with that so it was ok. And Andrea and I both thought it may have been the best hostel we've stayed at. We were served coffee in the afternoon in front of the wood burning fire place as it poured rain outside and the beds were warm and comfy. From here we got the actual information for the hiking path to the next town Chugchilan. (Pictures of forks in the road included!)

Hostel Llullu LLama directs traffic from Insinlivi to Chugilan
with arrows

The hike to Chugchilan was amazing. Steep, tall, pointy, lush green mountains surrounded us as we hiked down to the river and back up the other side through a pass, past a school and into Chugchilan. For a bit of a hiking break Jonas and I joined the school kids in a game of soccer. I love that kind of stuff. Andrea loved all the farms that dotted the steep mountain sides. Including the cows just chilling on the cliff sides. This hike would have been great as a stand alone activity even if you weren't going to Quilatoa. Beautiful.

Chugchilan

Andrea crosses the fence on the way to Chugchilan

Once in Chugchilan, we were running low on energy and high on blisters. Change of plan. Instead of a 6 hour hike up hill to Quilatoa, we decided to catch a 6AM bus there, and spend our day hiking the crater.

Crossing the valley, and up the other side

Taking a break

Quilatoa

Quilatoa was the pot of gold at the end our rainbow. Our rainbow was our hike... It was worth the journey! We spent the morning hiking down the crater to the lake and back. Mules for 8 bucks would have been worth it as the hike back up was exhausting, the altitude here is 3800m.

From here, we bused it back to Latacunga, completing our loop, and said goodbye to Jonas. Next stop: Banos.

Travelers notes:

The bus to Sigchos from Latacunga was supposed to leave at 1PM, but it left at 12:15. Get there early, you just never know.

You can store bags at Hostel Tiana in Latacunga, and they can supply you with some detailed hiking routes. These are a need.

In Sigchos we stayed at Hostel Miguel. Definitely nothing special. 8 bucks per person. This wasn't our favourite stop. Maybe if we had better hiking instructions the hike would be better. Instead we walked a road. (Still really nice though!)

At Insinlivi there are 2 options for Hostels. Llullu llama at 18 bucks pp (21 per private room) was really cool. I recommend it. It includes dinner and breakfast. A cheaper and very nice alternative is down the street and costs 12 pp. (Also includes dinner and breakfast) Lots of day hikes here. We could have spent a couple of days here.

In Chugchilan there are also 2 hostels. Cloud Forest and Mama Hilda's. Mama Hilda will lower their price to the 12 pp that Cloud Forrest charges. We liked Mama Hilda's. Both include dinner and breakfast. The next leg is apparently pretty tough. 5-6 hours uphill. A bus is another alternative.

Give yourself another good day for the crater, as its the reward from your hike and you want to have some energy to enjoy it!

Most importantly is this: Hike in the morning! It rained every afternoon we were on the loop!