 | We leave MaMa Hilda's well rested. The street is bustling with activity. It appears the school bus has corralled the kids. It's cathartic to realize at least some parts of the world ingenuity still prevails. While Ecuador has been paving more each year, the pavement is so nice. Wonderful sweeping turns and very smooth. I lusted for the power of a nice street bike, but alas, my DR200 has taken such good care of me off-road. In less than an hour, we find ourselves at the Quilotoa Crater Lake. A 3KM wide caldera in the Andes formed by the VEI-6 eruption 800 years ago. Today, it is filled with 250M of greenish colored water which are a result of the dissolved erruption minerals. |
Leaving the crater, we enter a beautiful valley.
We get gas then start up a mountain pass. As expected, the fog quickly envelopes us. So much fog, that 3 of 4 riders miss the turn off. Nonetheless, the GPS finds a turnaround 20KMs later to reroute us onto this cherry piece of earth.
There is much grazing land up here, filled with all kinds of fauna. Tastes like chicken?
We are fairly far out, and haven't seen a vehicle in hours. Very few homes even. And then out of the fog this peeps up. It's good to see God.
As soon as we are used to our near zero visibility, we drop out of the cloud forest. How about a straw hut with grass walls. It's got the seal of approval from the Llamas even!
