Quilotoa and the Black Sheep

So technically not a black sheep... what are you gonna do?

Time to get south of the equator. We left Otovalo for the Black Sheep Inn down on the Quilotoa loop near the town of Chugchilan. On our way we asked the driver if we could stop at the equator, having heard that the little touristy place was fun for photo ops- balancing eggs, watching water go down drains straight- etc. He said that we were not going that way to save time but we could stop at the equator for photos- no problem.

As is evident from Luca's expression- this was not the most amazing roadside attraction in Ecuador. (not even in the top 15 I think) But here it is: the mighty equator!

Later that day we did get to an attraction: The Black sheep inn is set among some amazing hills where people are still just making a living by growing a few vegetables, getting eggs from the chickens, and some generally well behaved cows (they know the line between a milk cow and a beef cow is a fine one indeed).

The black sheep has "the highest frisbee golf" course in the world, just narrowly beating our hometown course in Leadville. Leadville does not however have a Llama hazard.

We were reminded of the joy of sitting around a campfire and poking it with sticks.

Time to explore! We loaded up into a truck and were driven to a nearby volcano. The crater has become a lake and we hiked around the rim, then back to the inn, about 14 kilometers in total. Great day.

Just a smidge chilly on the edge of the crater.

Luca throwing pine cones at Wilder.

Its fun to just see animals out grazing wherever you walk- they all seem to be tied and I assume it is some little kids job to go out and move the rope every so often. As we were ending our hike we saw all of these people near a house on a cliff holding a rope and heard a very loud squeal. Somehow the family pig had wandered too close to the edge and had fallen, so we grabbed a hold and pulled and slowly slowly, the biggest pig I had seen yet came up over that edge. 

We ended the hike in the town of Chugchilan, there was even a marching band playing!

Not sure why, but seeing the town bus loaded with beer was comforting.

This is ecuaball. Like Volleyball but a 10 ft. net, 3 to a side, and a bit more carrying is allowed. Fun to watch.

Yeah, you know whats going into the pan... and it smelled amazing!

So it was great hanging out, playing chess, reading, napping, and eating the most amazing vegetarian food. No kidding! We even were met up with the Simpsons- but for some strange reason I have no photos to prove it- weird.

One last tid bit- they had composting toilets. As you sat there you could look at the gardens that were fertilized with the humanure. Very cool- and not the least bit smelly. It makes you think how crazy it is that we flush clean drinking water every time we use it.