Once in Chugchilan, our grand plan for the next few days was to go on a horsebackride as well as do a day-hike from the Quilotoa Crater back to the Black Sheep Inn (BSI). Our logic, however flawed, was that we´d get rid of the post-ride soreness by doing a long, gentle hike the next day. Little did we (or I) know...

After a delicious organic breakfast of homemade bread, homemade blackberry jam, eggs, fresh juice and coffee, our horseman picked us up at the BSI bus stop. It was to be an interesting 5 hours... The mules were not exactly trained to obey signals from the rider, but rather to walk in a line according to pecking order, responding mostly to whips and verbal cues (and guess whose cute little mule was last in the pecking order...). Used to being in charge of the horse I´m riding, it greatly annoyed me to have the horseman behind me at all times, whipping my mule every 10 seconds. I managed to keep my mouth shut, but the look on my face must have said it all...

The ride took us further up the hillside above the BSI, with beautiful views of the valley - bathed in sunshine (for a change). Little farms were scattered everywhere, each family growing the staples of their diet, mainly corn and potatoes, enough to feed themselves throughout the year. Dogs were barking at our heels everywhere, which stressed me out but didn´t phaze the mules at all.

After an hour or so we got to a little cheese factory where we were given a one minute tour of the two-room operation and the 30-odd pieces of cheese maturing on the shelves. In addition to Andino cheese, they produce Emmenthal, Mozzarella and Parmesan - kind of an odd combination to find in the high Andes! It was a cute one-man show owned by a local cooperative - started by the Swiss to boost the local economy a little. The dozen or so cheese factories in the area export to Quito and other cities in Ecuador, bringing in a little much-needed cash to supplement the mostly subsistence-level farming.

The Swiss also brought and planted pine trees which, together with the Eucalyptus trees planted by Americans, make up most of the "forest-activity" in the Ecuadorian Highlands. Most local trees have long since disappeared, used as fuel and building materials way back...

After the pungent cheese factory we headed to the musty cloud forest for a break and a walk. Our guide took us through the mossy, humid area pointing out different orchids, funghi, mosses, plants, indigenous trees and so on. It was an interesting walk through a very different micro-climate / ecosystem than the one we just came from. It was also good to stretch our legs a little... after 10 years of not riding I was beginning to feel the pain... ;-) The horses were happily grazing and, as we found out when returning from our walk, rolling around in the moss trying to get rid of the saddles.

A very nice trip, even though the rain was poring down the last hour - right on schedule. Once back at the BSI I dethawed for a while then washed my horse-smelling clothes before spending the rest of the night in front of the fire. Dinner was again delicious... I wish I could get my hands on some of the recipes! I don´t even really like tomato soup, but this one was a whole new culinary experience... Amazing! We sat up playing cards with the few other guests until we were "kicked out" by the place shutting down at 10pm. Probably a good thing, as we needed some good rest before the "light" hike the next day.