I never thought I’d be able to get as much done as we did on day four of this trip. Our first stop after breakfast was Cotacachi where we boarded a boat and saw a small portion of the vast lake and some of the diverse wildlife. It was interesting afterwards to see a diagram of the mountains surrounding it and see how small the lake is in comparison. After the boat ride we took off on foot up the mountain where the views were unbeatable and our breath was short. Those stairs definitely winded me and the thinner air did not help, but I would hike it again in a heartbeat. There was even a little stray dog that followed us up and down like our own guide! I love seeing all the dogs on this trip, they are so adorable.
We took a bus ride to Cascada de Peguche, a beautiful waterfall that gave us a much needed mist in the high UV sun. On the short walk to the waterfall, the mosquitos were attacking us but I luckily came out unscathed this time. The surrounding area had so much character as well, and we tried fresh golden berries and passion fruit which was so refreshing. And I also saw my first cat of the trip!
Even though we were all kind of exhausted at this point, we made our way to the condor park for our last stop of the day. It was amazing to see the national bird of Ecuador in the flesh. Their wings are huge!! We even got to hold a smaller bird on our arm, I am so grateful they allowed us to. A lot of people’s favorite other birds were the Pygmy owls though, they were super cool.
At this point we were all pretty exhausted and headed back to the hotel for a bit before dinner. I got these delicious potato and broccoli llapingachos with vegetables, which definitely put me into a food coma for the night. I look forward to trying to more Ecuadorian food in the coming days!