Quilotoa & Cotopaxi Independent in 5 days

Hi all,

I am planning to visit the Quilotoa loop and Cotopaxi for 5 days in 2 weeks and hoping for a bit of help on info I could not find on this forum.

Our rough plan is to overnight in Latacunga:

Day 1: Catch an early bus from Latacunga to Zumbahua. From Zumbahua catch a pick-up or similar to Quilotoa, and hike on the same day to Chugchilan, and spend the night in Chungchilan (maybe black sheep).

Day 2: Chill around Chugchilan, maybe short hikes, but just relax. Sleep at the same hostel.

Day 3: Back to Latacunga starting early. Late afternoon/evening catch a bus (or taxi) into Cotopaxi and stay at one of the guesthouse/hostals in Cotopaxi.

Day 4: Cotopaxi (not the climb, just easy hikes)

Day 5: Back to Quito for our flight at 5 pm.

My main questions are:

1) is my day 1 doable? How early and frequent are the buses to Zumbahua and then transport onto Quilotoa? I know the hike takes around 5 hours, so will we arrive in Quilotoa in time to start the hike? I suspect the direct bus service around midday will not get us in time to Quilota to do the hike onwards.

2) Arriving back to Latacunga evening time, are we likely to find transport onwards to Cotopaxi, or is doing this in the one day unrealistic?

Thanks in advance, I will be in the Galapagos for the next week, so if I don’t respond I’m not just being rude!
Tom