So when I made my return to Quito after an incredible time in Galapagos. I had one mission... to buy myself a new camera! I spent a few days hunting for a decent camera which was quite a challenge but eventually found a pretty good one. I also said goodbye to Ben who was now in a hurry to get to Lima for his flight home and I teamed up with a Parisian named Antoine for some hiking in the so called Quilotoa Loop. This is basically a circular route of interesting mountain towns and villages with beautiful hiking opportunities. So we hopped in a bus and headed to central Ecuador for a few days. As you can see Quilotoa itself is a stunning crater lake. We spent the day hiking around the summit picking up a lone German girl on the way with whom we shared our cheese sandwiches! The area is inhabited by mostly indigenous people who were generally incredibly friendly. This was also my introduction to South American high altitude chills... it got icy at night. We had a wood burner in our room which was seemingly impossible to light so we called in the help of two local boy amateur arsonists who managed to get it going with the cunning use of a water bottle filled with petrol and a box of matches... literally just throwing the whole lot in, bottle and all, laughing manically as they watched it roar... I took cover in the bathroom!

Lungs cleansed and thighs fully exercised we moved on for more r&r in Baños...