Ep. 3: Quilotoa Loop

Trails Worth Hiking

Jeremy's son Justin joins him to talk about Ecuador and the Quilotoa Loop (spoiler alert: it's not actually a loop). They discuss visiting Ecuador's two rival equator theme parks, the capital city Quito, studying Spanish in the beautiful and friendly city Cuenca, visiting the crest of the Andes in El Cajas National Park, the Inca ruins at Ingapirca, the possibility of climbing the Cotopaxi volcano, the city of Latacunga and its legendary Mama Negra festival, as well as the indigenous Inti Raymi festival and how Ecuador celebrates Corpus Christi. They talk about walking the Quilotoa trek on the route from Sigchos to Quilotoa, including their favorite hostel on the route, Llullu LLama, and its social media star St. Bernard dog (Baloo) and namesake llama, Tito. And of course they recount the dramatic and exhausting finish of the trek at the beautiful and mysterious Laguna Quilotoa at almost 13,000 feet of elevation (almost 4,000 meters). Justin tells us about what it was like growing up backpacking from a young age and how it impacted him. He also talks about the benefits of warm socks, the joy of seeing the world at the speed of walking, and why he wants to hike in a jungle. To plan this trek check out the Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Hiking the Quilotoa Loop on the Whirlwind Travellers blog, which Jeremy relied heavily on for planning his family's trek. Reach out to us with any questions, comments, or ideas for future episodes at [e-mail].