Man, Ecaudor. That earthquake/terremoto was a doozy (7.8 is stronggg). While we only flew through the city of Guayaquil, we are thinking of all those affected there and in the other coastal cities.
Ecaudor was simply beautiful, and–as just demonstrated–it does sit on the ring of fire, meaning there are lots of volcanoes and associated craters. And some stunning views and vistas. The crater lake we visited was high, at approximately 11,000 feet. But the hike was easy and mostly downhill. This lake is to be very deep and very cold. But it’s very pretty, as was watching the fog roll in and out. The weather changes so quickly in the mountains.
I also really enjoyed taking lots of flower pictures, practicing my macro skills. They aren’t great, but I have fun trying and I like to mess around with my DSLR. That was such a great purchase.
I didn’t learn this until much later, as the other people in our group thought I would be upset (I wasn’t, I just laughed), but apparently DH was trying a little too hard to get a photo and almost fell off the steep drop-off behind him when his foot slipped. And he thinks I can be clumsy. I am not clumsy.
I have to admit I was a little preoccupied the second part of the hike, as I really had to go to the bathroom, and being on the rim of the crater, there really wasn’t any way just to sneak off behind a bush without falling off the side or, well, being seen by everyone. I am all about using the bush for bathroom breaks when needed, but I do not pee in front of people. Ever. There is a card in the game Exploding Kittens that is “Shy Bladder Cat”, which–although I don’t like comparing myself to a cat for any reason as I am a die-hard dog person–is very appropriate. I am a shy bladder cat.
The point of all this, though, is that apparently there are spectacled bears in this area, which I think would just be oh so neat to see. Spectacled bears are the only bears in South America, and just look super cute. Unfortunately, we did not see any spectacled bears. Except these. Which I’ll have to make do with for now.
If you are hiking around the crater lakes in the Otavalo area, I’d say 1) hiking boots are not necessary, the paths are well used and generally not rocky; 2) bring layers, as I shed and reclothed myself numerous times. Anything from a t-shirt to a insulated Patagonia nano-puff in the span of a few hours; 3) it’s hard to get lost on the craters, seeing as one way is down into the lake and one way is down…just down. Pretty easy to stick to the trail here.
But all of this was in preparation for the Galapagos! Super excited to start sharing those pictures and stories, as it truly is an amazing place.
