Latacunga & Cotopaxi volcano & Quilotoa lake

We booked a downhill mountain bike tour from the Cotopaxi volcano in our Hotel. The next morning a guide with a jeep picked us up. We asked where the bikes are. To his surprise he assumed we want a walking tour. The receptionist confirmed that a mistake was made with our booking. To our relief, the guide managed to organize two mountain bikes. The guide drove us to the volcano to 4300m from where we hiked to the shelter "Refugio Jose Rivas" at 4864m. After a short picnic we descended back to the car to start the downhill biking. After a few meters it became obvious that it will be difficult. The terrain is very unstable and full of volcanic ash, the bikes were of mediocre quality, the brakes were insufficient. Every 200m we had to stop and give our wrists and hands a rest from the constant breaking. We felt like riding wild horses and not bicycles, because they were so uncontrollable. Andrea was swearing and shouting like a warrior going to battle. One could have a good laugh watching us fight with our bicycles. The best part of the mountain bike tour was "encebollado", a fish soup at the end.

About

Latacunga is a small town south of Quito in central Ecuador. It is a good starting point for the Cotopaxi volcano and the Quilotoa laguna.

How to get to Latacunga from Quito

Take a bus or trolleybus to "Estación Terminal Sur en Bus - El Recreo", where you need to change to a bus that takes you to "Terminal Terrestre Quitumbe". All buses cost 0.25 USD for a single route and you can use multiple buses, provided you don't leave the terminal/station. The bus from Terminal Quitumbe to Latacunga costs 2.20 USD.

Attractions

Quilotoa laguna

Quilotoa is a beautiful blue crater laguna. You don't have to book anything in advance. Take a bus from the terminal in Latacunga for 2.50 USD. You should leave from Latacunga 8-9 am to have enough time for the hike. The bus ride takes 2 hours. For a better acclimatization, we recommend to do the Quilotoa hike before you go to Cotopaxi.
At Quilotoa you have to register and pay an entrance fee of 2 USD. You can visit a small indoor handcraft market there. It might be windy and cold on top of the crater, but once you start descending down to the lake, it will get warmer. The path down to the lake is slippery and full of ash. It took us 20 - 30 minutes to descent to the lake. If you take food with you, this would be a perfect place for a picnic. Walking back takes longer, 60 - 90 minutes. You can rent a mule to take you back up. In any case, bring enough water.
There is also the possibility to do a trek around the lake, with sleep overs in hostels in the surrounding villages.

Cotopaxi volcano

The receptionist in the Latacunga hostel, where we were staying, offered us a trip to Cotopaxi volcano including downhill biking and lunch for 50 USD. This is a normal price, but better is to do some research and find a reliable company. We read very good reviews about Biking Dutchman. Like we mentioned above we weren't happy with the downhill at all. The rest of the tour was fine. We weren't lucky, because that day the volcano was covered in clouds. On the way to the volcano our guide informed us that the natural park used to be much bigger. Unfortunately the corrupted government sold a big part of the park to a wood logging company. They cut down the original vegetation and started to plant pine trees instead. This caused problems with water, as pine trees accumulate the water, which led to water shrinkages in the surrounding areas. On the way back we visited a museum that shows how climate changes influenced flora and fauna around the volcano. Before these changes, the nature was green and Cotopaxi was covered with lot more snow. Now everything is very dry and the wild horses living in the park are dying of hunger. There are hundreds of them, we loved to watch them. You can also visit other nearby volcanoes or a lagoon.

Food

Market

We love eating in markets, as the food is very fresh and you get a chance to taste local dishes for low prices. "Chancho", roasted pig with corn and salad, is very popular in Ecuador. We paid 2.50 USD for a meal.

Nice cream & tutto fredo

It is a good spot for breakfast and ice cream. We went there twice for American breakfast and we loved their "mora" juice and marmalades. Mora tastes like blackberry. The price for American breakfast (toast, marmalade, juice, coffee and eggs) is 2.75 USD.

• Nice cream & tutto fredo, Guayaquil y Sanchez de Orellana

Where to stay

Latacunga hostel is located in the city center. They have dorms and private rooms. The hostel looks nice, but the showers were dirty and the water wasn't really hot. We paid for a dorm, but in the end we were alone in the room. The room was cold at night, you can ask for an extra blanket. The Wi-Fi was ok. A dormitory bed costs 10 USD.

22 September 2015