The Quilotoa Loop

A couple hours south of Quito a string of indigenous villages make a loop off the Pan American Highway called the Quilotoa Loop. The loop is well known by backpackers but not often traveled due to the poor road and limited buses. It was a hair-raising four-hour bus ride to our destination which included but was not limited to: a drunk who sat opposite us and puked practically in Danielle's lap, a little boy facing us who also puked and then peed his pants, and a woman who held her bag of produce in Danielle's face for a good hour.

Luckily the hotel was well worth the ride (or at least in my opinion, I didn't have a drunk taking pictures of me with his camera phone over and over). The Black Sheep Inn has been recognized internationally for it's environmentally friendly design by a number of magazines and websites including National Geographic and Backpacker. They really don't let anything go to waste including human waste (it's used as fertilizer). Danielle was really really excited about the plethora of animals on the property: cats, dogs, llamas, pigs, donkeys, chickens, cows and of course sheep, including two black ones.

During our stay we went on multiple hikes in the mountains and nearby villages, went horseback riding to a cloud forest, and worked out in their unique gymnasium.

We also got to play disc golf on their nine hole self proclaimed 'Highest Course in the World' with one of the local boys.

Our great stay was made even better when we learned we would not have to take a bus back to the highway since another person staying at the Inn opted for a taxi and let us ride along.