Ecuador 2009»Quilotao Crater Lake

Seeing the crater lake for the first time was quite breath taking! It was just a shame the cloud was so low. We decided to take the precarious path down into the crater, this took us a good 45 minutes to reach to the bottom, but the changing dimensions of the crater lake were no less spectacular. The trek down was quite a distance, so we took the easier option of a mule ride back to the top. The ride was bumpy and hard on the buttocks as the mules just had a blanket instead of a saddle. It was much harder on the mules though, as they were panting continuously on their strenuous journey to the top and they seemed to be on auto pilot as they obviously knew the route well. Parts of the ride was a bit scary as we passed precariously close to the edge at times. Falling off was not an option, as it would have meant certain death! Nevertheless, it was really enjoyable as we were led back by the locals playing their panpipes en route. Once we reached the top, the poor exhausted mules, then had a short breather before returning to the bottom only to do the same trip back up again!