Quilotoa
February 25, 2019
Can anyone think of a better way to ring in another year around the sun than visit a majestic lagoon? Me neither, so that's exactly how Rachel and I celebrated 24!
Quilotoa is a water filled volcano in the Andes, about four hours away from Quito. Near the lagoon there is also a crater left from when the volcano erupted about 600 years ago. I had heard lots of stories from my cohort about their trips to Quilotoa and in my class we even read a Greek myth called Kilotoa about the lagoon and a tragic love affair between a Greek god and an Andean princess who was betrothed to someone else. There is also a story about a condor and a shepherdess that fell in love at Quilotoa.
Because we are in the Andes, you cannot predict the river. It will most likely rain, and most likely be a little chilly. After Rachel and I made it to the crater we walked down to the lagoon as the hill quickly turned into a mudslide from the rain. Despite this, people continued to walk to and from the water and kayak in the lagoon.
The two legends about Quilotoa lagoon are love stories, and quite frankly, kinda sexist. The Greek myth is about Kilo, the son of Themis and Toa an Andean princess. Kilo was traveling the Andes and giving information about the world to the other Greek Gods, and Toa was betrothed to a Shyris to unite the people. Alas, this love affair did not last, nor add up to more than Toa being a tease. Themis ordered to have Kilos legs amputated, until he decided he did not need to physically hurt his son, just slay his dolphins that allowed him to travel. Kilo quickly moved his dolphins from the lagoon to the Amazon river, but Themis poisoned the lagoon.
Whereas the Ecuadorian legend, is a happy love story. The people believed that a condor was the messenger between people and the Gods, and this condor fell in love with a shepherdess and brought her back to his nest, within a few days she turned into a condor. It's said that they still fly together.
While walking around Quilotoa I thought about these stories. I reflected upon my time here and the people I have fallen in love with. I'm glad to be a woman in a time that my parents will not betroth me to someone, nor will I go missing and people create a story of a condor kidnapping me.
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