The cacti that grows along the side of the road was also very picturesque.
We passed and drove along a long canyon.
A close-up to the canyon.
The canyon in fact was incredibly deep!
Here is shot of our group that day, from left to right : Jose, Richard Ricardo, Brigitte, Alexandra, Me, and Nancy.
This my poor attempt of making a panoramic picture of Quilatoa Lake... but I didn't have the necessary Photoshop tools at hand. Either way, it is definitely worth showing you the breathless view from the top of the extinct volcano crater, into the crater itself!
We hiked down into the crater towards the lake (took 30 minutes).
Another group shot in the crater!
A view of the paramo straw, the lake and the crater wall (getting closer to the bottom!).
On the way down we encountered a herd of sheep. In fact, we encountered FIVE herds of sheep!! The first one was fantastic,...
...the second was great too because I had just run out of film after that first shot, ...
...but the rest were getting a little too much for us.
And of course, we even saw some in the valley below!
The view down towards the crater was awesome!... with lots of interesting lava lines in the upper beach area.
Got a picture of this indigenous man, looking very proud and having fun watching his children in a paddleboat on the lake. (yes a paddleboat!)
Carrying children on women's back is a very practical way to keep your hands free... and you don't need more than a big piece of cloth. This woman also made me wonder why she was wearing two hats at the same time... alas, I never found the answer to that question.
These folks actually live in the crater (I was earlier told that Pululahua was the only crater with a community living in it, but evidently this brings a new light to the argument.)
Being "good tourists", we supported the local community by paying for mules (half horse, half donkey, and they look like horses with very short legs) to take us back up to the crater's edge. All in all, visiting Quilatoa was a fantastic excursion with a tons of interesting things to see and do along the way!
Back in Quito... I thought I would share with you some more interesting experiences. This is a chain store in Quito (and maybe across Ecuador)... it is called "D'Yogourt & Cafe". I just never thought that these two went well together... and I still remain to be convinced.
This multicoloured building in the background is a mall called, surprise, surprise, Spiral Mall. You take an elevator to the top and walk all the way down seven floors without ever encountering stairs!
Many of the buildings in Quito remind me of the spaceage American cartoon program, The Jetsons. I am convinced that they build these buildings in this shape to minimize the impact from earthquakes (which happen less often then volcano eruptions). Note, I also found buildings shaped like this in Tokyo, so there might be some sense to this earthquake theory.
