The next day with my girlfriend, we decided to go down to the volcano lagoon, a descent of approximately 35min inside the volcano where you can kayak or if you have all the equipment, you can camp and take photos of this beautiful lagoon. Our descent was the funniest, we were accompanied by a little dog who was indicating all the way until we reached the dock of the lagoon, he was still next to us.
On our tour of the crater of the lagoon, the guide told us the legends regarding the origin of the Quilotoa volcano. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Quilotoa which comes from Quichua, Quilo which means tooth, and Toa in honor of a princess’ name. Which in Spanish means Toa’s tooth.
There are going to be two legends about how its lagoon was formed. The first tells us that the lagoon was dry and there was no water anywhere, so its inhabitants decided to live in this place and as they needed water for their crops, they made an offering of honey and salt and the water began to emerge, while more offerings were made. the water rose more until the water rose and covered everything up to where it is currently, from this the population began to live where they are today.
Another legend that exists is that the Toa princess who was always in the field with the sheep, one day the condor sees the Toa princess who was in trouble with a sheep and it goes to her aid after this they become friends. The condor was always looking out for Princess Toa until one day he invited her to fly with him and she gladly accepted. The condor had fallen in love with Princess Toa and he takes her to his nest. It is here where he transforms her into a condor and from that moment, they both cross the skies of the Ecuadorian Andes.
Beautiful stories that make our trip one of the most exciting and imagining the legends of Ecuadorian folklore.
The ascent from the lagoon to the town is one of the strongest things and it lasts 1h35 min on foot if we are in good physical condition, but if you are very tired instead, we can rent horses at a cost of $ 10 and they go up in about 25 minutes. You can ask for them from the people who are near the entrance to the lagoon and they immediately bring the horses.
Talking with Quilotoa’s people, something that caught my attention is that its residents told me that no one had COVID-19 in Quilotoa but that in the other towns around them there were people who suffered from this disease.
Unfortunately, the number of tourists is still very low and tourism cannot be reactivated in a community where one of its main incomes is tourism. I hope that all this problem with Coronavirus is resolved and that tourism is reactivated.
It is always good to travel and I hope to come back for more very soon.
If you want to watch the video of this adventure follow me on YouTube
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr_PMCSS4p4[/embedyt]
