Spring Break Adventures (Crater Lakes, Cloud Forests, and la Playa!)

Quilotoa

After an extremely busy week full of tests, projects, and papers, seven friends from my program and I left last Friday evening for spring break.  We spent the last 10 days travelling all over Ecuador in the mountains, cities, and the coast. 

We began our trip in Quilotoa, a beautiful crater lake found to the west of the Andes Mountains.  It is a magnificent turquoise lake that was formed around 800 years ago after a volcano erupted. Surrounding the lake are beautiful hills and valleys of upper montane cloud forest. We started off at the top of the lake early Saturday morning and we hiked down from the top to actually get to the lake. Once we reached the bottom, we went kayaking all around the gorgeous and very cold lake, which was incredible! After the kayaking there was only one direction for us to go and that was back up to the top. Rather than taking alpacas, we decided that we would get some exercise and hiked up the super steep path. The 12,800 feet in elevation definitely provided an extra challenge and we definitely got a workout!

Kayaking in the lake

The view from the crater lake

That was only the beginning of a day full of amazing hiking. Once at the top, we continued to walk around the entire lake (it definitely gives Lake Calhoun a run for its money) and at times we were actually walking through clouds. We then proceeded to walk back to our hostel through the neighboring towns. Of course when we left in the morning the owner of the hostel told us it was very close and easy to get back to the hostel, but he must have a different definition of close than we do, but 15 miles later, two very steep climbs, and a lot of chocolate, we made it back! The following day we hiked around the cloud forest area again, which was full of beautiful valleys and lookouts.

Cuenca

We then left Quilotoa and took a bus to Cuenca, a city in the highlands of Ecuador and a very popular American ex-pat town. We stayed in the center of the city, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site due to its many historical buildings. We spent the first day there, taking it a little easy, and walked around the city and appreciated the stunning architecture of the many old buildings and churches.  In the afternoon we visited the Museum of Aboriginal Cultures of Ecuador, which we set up because my host mom’s cousin owns the museum. The minute we walked in, she greeted me with a hug and a kiss and told her coworkers that we were family!  The museum was also extremely fascinating and well put together. I learned that Ecuador’s aborigines are made up of 11 different cultures, and the Incas actually only ruled Ecuador for 80 years!

Artifacts from the museum

Polylepus Forest

Cajas

Cajas

After taking it relatively easy for one day, we were ready to get back to hiking. We travelled to Cajas National Park, which is located in the Páramo around 13,600 feet in elevation and close to Cuenca.  It did not take long for our adventures to start because 30 minutes into the ride the bus broke down! We decided we were close enough to hike and we started our walk a little early and paved our own unique road into the park.  Our surroundings were absolutely beautiful and using a map (from my phone, it’s amazing what iphones can do these days) we hiked through the jagged landscape made up of steep hills and valleys.  It was raining and a little chilly throughout the day, but all around us was lush and gorgeous vegetation and beautiful polylepus trees, the only trees that grow at that high of elevation. It was another great and long day of hiking and aside from getting lost a few times we all made it out!

 

Landslide on the highway

The next day we continued on our journey to la costa- the coast of Ecuador! We did not leave our bus troubles behind, however, because about half way there, our bus stopped again. This time it was not a broken bus, but rather a landslide that had completely blocked the road. We waited for an hour as construction workers hurriedly made a new road through the dirt and eventually our bus made it around the landslide. After a long day of travelling, and some help from some Canadians we met along the way, we arrived on the coast where the temperature was at least 20 degrees hotter than in Cuenca.

Surfing in Montanita

We spent the next few days and nights travelling along the Coast and stayed in Olon and Montañita, two beautiful beach towns. There we ate delicious food, swam in the ocean, watched the gorgeous sunsets, and relaxed in the sun (and burned a little, our Midwestern skin is definitely not used to the strong Equatorial sun). We also went surfing and my San Diego surf lessons definitely paid off and I was able to get up multiple times, and of course fall down even more times! I was even able to speak a little Hebrew in the coast when one afternoon when we were at a pizza restaurant Idan Reichel Hebrew music came on and the I found out that the owner of the restaurant was Israeli! Sunday night we took a late night flight back to Quito and and this morning we were already back at school!

I can definitely say, however, that I am most excited to come back after this spring break because in three days we head back to the Coast and then the Galapagos for three weeks! 

While it is hard to believe how quickly my study abroad experience is going, I know that so many more adventures await, and perhaps, even a Badger NCAA championship!