We left Salinas and drove across a high plateau toward Parque Nacional Chimborazo. In what was becoming a pattern, we were supposed to be staring straight at the Chimborazo volcano for the whole drive, but all we saw was fog, and to be fair, we also saw some llamas and vicuñas. It was still a pretty drive, and after an hour or so we met back up with the Pan Am and turned north.
We’ve been trying to figure out the difference between llamas, vicuñas, and alpacas. So far we’ve decided that vicuñas are smaller and less scruffy looking than their cousins. Their long slender neck is an easy way to identify them.
Our next stop was the Quilatoa loop, a back road through the Ecuadorian highlands that takes in a beautiful crater lake and some local villages. It’s pretty well established on the backpacker circuit and there were lots of other travelers. The scenery was impressive as we wound through the valleys.
The first night after leaving the Pan Am we stayed at a working hacienda. The owners were very nice and served fresh meat and dairy products from the farm. The yogurt at breakfast was some of the best I’ve had!
I couldn’t get Quinn to let the baby cows suckle on his fingers. Yuck!
The next morning was sunny, and after the previous day’s rain everyone was out soaking up the warm sun.
The dogs appreciated it too.
El Jefe
A small steep-walled canyon made for some nice views.
The next day we stopped at Laguna Quilatoa, a deep turquoise crater lake.
Quinn wasn’t in the mood to get his picture taken for this shot.
He posed in this shot for Jen a little later.
After a couple of days on the Quilatoa Loop we we headed for Cotopaxi National park, home to yet another volcano. We found a beautiful campsite, but it was cold enough that we used our heater for the first time in over a year!
We saw some interesting birds, and a fox visited our camp.
We reached our highest altitude of the trip thus far, over 15,000 feet.
Unfortunately the volcano itself remained mostly hidden by clouds.
He’ll make someone a nice sweater someday…
Our next stop was Baños (meaning “baths” as it is named for the many hot springs in and near town), set in a deep valley at about 5000 feet on the road down toward the jungle. Here we met up with our friend Jeff and his giant dog Barley.
A lady a few minutes from our campsite has trout ponds, so we had to go fishing.
Quinn got bored with the fishing pretty quick, but he loved eating the fish. Kind of like his dad.
The cathedral in the town of Baños.
The whole valley is littered with waterfalls, and we made the short walk to see this one.
And finally a shot with all three of us!
Very beautiful and interesting!
Thanks, Bobbie!
Wow! Your pictures are all so beautiful they look unreal. Glad you are enjoying yourselves. (I’m sure that is an understatement).
Thanks, Susie! Ecuador was amazingly beautiful!