The Quilotoa loop is a hiking route starting at either the town of Quilotoa or Sigchos. If you start from Quilotoa you will be descending at altitude, if you start from Sigchos you will be ascending.
I left my bags at hostal Tiana in Latacunga and then caught a bus to Zumbahua followed by a collectivo four wheel drive to Quilotoa.
You can get paper maps along the route but I would highly recommend downloading the app maps for me, and then downloading a trail map from wikiloc.
Quilotoa - Chugchilan (Recommended time 4 - 6 hours, it took me 6 hours)
Accommodation in Quilotoa: Quilotoa Cabanas. They asked $25 a night but we bargained down to $20 including food. The rooms were good but the food was pretty average and served much later than we agreed. There is limited accommodation options in Quilotoa, I would recommend staying at Quilotoa Cabanas but do not get food included, either order of the a la carte menu or eat at a different restaurant.
From Quilotoa Cabanas you walk towards the crater lake and to the left of the mirador you will see a sign indicating Chugchilan. The first couple of hours you will trace around the crater lake, you need to keep an eye out for red or yellow spray painted arrows that indicate the correct route. Eventually you will reach a corner of the lake with a little bench and what looks like a shop, to the left of this is a sign indicating Chugchilan.
You follow this all the way down to the town of Guayam, be warned there is nowhere to get lunch here so ensure you take enough snacks. Walk through the town and turn left at the sign to Chugchilan, this will lead you down a path through some forest until you eventually get to another sign saying Chugchilan where you will have to begin descending a canyon. It gets a little tricky in parts here but the path is easy to follow. Eventually you reach the bottom of the canyon and have to cross a sketchy looking bridge and climb to the top. Once you reach the road you need to keep an eye on the map as there is a very easy to miss continuation of the walking path, if you miss it you will have to take the road which is longer. Eventually you rejoin with the road and you follow the map to find Chugchilan.
Chugchilan - Isinlivi (Recommended time 4 - 6 hours, it took me 6.5)
Accommodation Chugchilan: Cloud forest for $15 per night including food. Really good value and very comfortable beds with fires inside the room.
To start the walk to Isinlivi you turn left from the hostel and walk along a road before descending in to the valley. I missed the first turn off so had to take another turn further down the road, keep an eye on the GPS to see where you need start descending in to the valley. Once you have descended the valley you will come across a small village, you will need to find another trail to descend to the river bank where you will follow the river for about half an hour before starting your ascent. This part of the walk is quite difficult in parts but eventually you come out to the town of Isinlivi.
Isinlivi - Sigchos (Recommended time 2 - 3 hours, it took me 4)
Accommodation Isinlivi: Llullu Llama, easily the best accommodation I stayed at in Ecuador and a steal at only $18 a night including food.
From Llullu Llama you follow the map to the road leading to Sigchos. You will walk along the road for about 25 minutes before you see a small rock with a red arrow pointing to the path descending the mountain to the valley. Eventually you will come to a small village which you will need to go through to descend to the river. Crossing the river is where I got lost so make sure you keep an eye on the GPS and keep an eye out for the painted rocks. In general you should never go further than ten minutes without seeing a yellow or red marker on the whole trail. After walking along the river you have to cross two mountains until you eventually pull into the town of Sigchos where you can catch the bus back to Latacunga. Check with Llullu Llama about bus times.
I am a lady and did this hike with another lady without any local guide and felt very safe.
