Loopy

The pre-script to this and the next two posts is that my both of my camera cables failed and are boycotting me loading photos. They are exhausted. I have created two ´best-of´ albums on my Picasa account that I invite you to peruse. You can reach them by copy and pasting links at bottom or getting yourself over to Picasa and searching for alliebird. Look for the two albums with BEST-OF in their title (Quilotoa Best-of and La Selva Best-of). My one warning is that while other albums are open to look through, I have taken 2000 photos here and you may get tired)

And now for our feature story:
Laguna Quilotoa is a volcanic crater lake located at the end of the world. The climbing is exhilarating and frightening, at points. Certain portions required arms and legs, others required knowledge of tightrope walking and still others were just an ash desert complete with a lot of panting on my part. But the alkaline lake set against the lupin and snow capped Cotopaxi is breathtaking. For hours my old friend Vanessa were the only two we could see for miles, a refreshing change from Cali´s overcrowded trails.

Unless you have your own car it is impossible to make the trip in a day. Getting in and out takes a combination of several buses and pick-ups. We took it slow and spent 4 days, giving us ample time to adjust to the altitude and check out the animals.

Most amazing (after the lake itself) was the farming communities tilling on 60-75% grades.
Check the pix:
http://picasaweb.google.com/alliebird/QuilotoaBestOf