Day 15: Quito We started our day off with some breakfast at the hotel and then headed on our way to Quilotoa, a volcanic crater that erupted years ago and has since filled with water. On our way we picked up Dr. Theo Theofilios, who discussed with us the volcanic activity in Ecuador. He informed the group that the only mega-fault found on Earth goes through Guayaquil, Quito, and Venezuela, making Ecuador one of the most dangerous countries due to its high amount of volcanoes and earthquakes. Ecuador has an average of 250 volcanoes of which about 19 of them are active. The Galapagos Islands have an average of 3,000 volcanoes of which 17 of them are active.
The indigenous family (Seen in the middle)
On our way to Quilotoa we visited an indigenous family and they welcomed us into their home. Their house was built by hand and is made from wood, rocks, mud and tall grasses. The older gentleman that was explaining their way of life to us informed the group that his house is over 70 years old and they have not done any repairs to it. When we went inside of their home, there were guinea pigs that were freely roaming around the floor. Now they are not kept as pets. If you remember my previous blog about it, guinea pigs are an animal that Ecuadorians will herd and eat. The older woman of the House handed me a baby guinea pig and I felt awful about my decision to eat one. Also in the house they had one bed, that was the size of a twin, and four to five of them will sleep on it at once. The children will often sleep on a loft above the mattress if they do not sleep on the bed. The house also did not have windows which made the inside dark inside but not dark enough that you couldn’t see. The gentleman informed the group that the use of electricity has been lightly adapted so there was one single light bulb hanging from the ceiling to give some light. He also showed the group five different types of potatoes that he grows on the land but told us that he farms a total of twenty-five species. It was truly an eye opening experience to see the way their lives and way of living are completely different than ours. They have very little yet they are very happy and content with their lives. If the roles were reversed and Americans were forced to live this way, I don’t think many people would be able to survive it. Our society is too obsessed with material things and an expensive way of living.
Their house
Canyon Del Rio Toachip
Next, we stopped shortly at the Canyon Del Rio Toachip, a canyon that was formed by an eruption of Quilotoa and erosion of the surrounding area. The canyon was very beautiful. After our short visit, we were on the road once again but only for a short drive more. We finally arrived and quickly ate lunch before our hike. Dr. Theofilios informed the group that Quilotoa has not erupted in several years but but is considered to be the third most active volcano in Ecuador. As I explained above, Quilotoa was a volcano that once erupted, turned into a form of a “crater” and has since filled with water. The water has since formed a lake but it is very unsafe to swim in due to the gases. Although, they did allow tourists to kayak in the water which did not make a lot of sense to me since there is still a possibility of the kayak tipping. In 1797, there was a gas outburst that was not large enough to create damages. However, these gases are so dangerous that if a large enough gas bubble were to emerge from the lake, the surrounding area would be severely affected by the toxic gases. This would be very detrimental to the indigenous tribes who make up almost 100% of the surrounding region’s population. Because they live so freely and without any telecommunication, they are at a high disadvantage due to the lack of receiving any warnings issued.
Quilotoa
After learning a little more about the caldera we were able to hike down it. Many people were weary of hiking down, mainly for the fact that several people say it’s very steep down hill and even more difficult hiking back up. Some of the group stayed behind but the rest of us pushed on. Like people said, the hike down was very steep but it was a quick hike down. Since it was very steep and sandy, you basically just power walked, slid or ran down the whole time. Haley, Maddie, Taylor, Moira and I finally made it down and had a quick photoshoot before it was time to hike back up. To make the hike up easier for tourists, you could rent mules and horses to walk you back up. Haley and I decided to rent horses but we cut our ride very short due to the horses experiencing animal cruelty. While riding them we could tell they were extremely tired, they constantly kept stopping for a break and they seemed very lethargic. I kept pushing my horse on because the worker would whip the horse and force him to walk and I didn’t want him to be hit. After maybe 5 minutes of riding, Haley and I decided that we would much rather suffer the pain of hiking this difficult caldera than put our horses through it. Let me tell you, it was extremely difficult and very tiring but I don’t regret our decision to hike it at all. After what seemed like forever, Hales and I finally made it back to the top.
During our mini photoshoot
Hales and I extremely happy that we finally made it to the top alive
After a long drive back to the hotel, we had 20 minutes of down time before it was time for our next presentation. Dr. Toulkeridis gave a presentation about geodynamics, volcanology, and the evolution of life in Ecuador and The Galapagos. He started his presentation by discussing with the group the 3 types of plate boundaries, diversion, conversion, and transformation boundaries; which Ecuador has all 3 types of plate boundaries. Reventador volcano is the second most active in Ecuador (on the mainland) and in 2002 there was a very large explosion, so large that the ash reached the Galapagos Islands. He continued to inform the group that Quito typically has one of the largest earthquakes at least every 100 years due to the mega fault line under the city (although this is quite unpredictable). Unfortunately, scientists can never be 100% sure about volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because we still don’t have the exact qualifications to make such predictions. For example, it has been about 161 years since the last mega-earthquake occurrence, bypassing their 100 year prediction. As of now the best methods of monitoring and studying eruptions and seismic activity involve the use of historical data of previous eruptions. Once his presentation was over, we had to option to go out on the town for dinner or stay in and get food at the hotel. The majority of us were way too tired to go out so we decided to eat in. Bad idea. It took 45 minutes to receive our drinks and an hour to receive our entrees. Mind you, many of us only ordered salads or soup. The server even charge some of us for things we didn’t even order. It was a very bad way to end the night. Once we finished our dinner it was about 11:30pm and we were way past our bed times so we paid and went to bed.