Quilotoa Part II: A less typical visit to a gorgeous lake

No doubt, you are all wondering what the furry thing is in Kaia's arms down at the lake.  Stray dogs are hardly a novelty and few of them compel you to approach, let alone snuggle them. Not that this little guy couldn’t carry his own set of nasty diseases, but romping on the ridge of the crater with him that first evening made just as big an impression on the kids as the lake itself.

That travel size hand sanitizer has really come in handy and I'm not
 sure how many more times we can say "hands away from your face!!!"

He followed us everywhere for two days, around town, waited in front of the hostel. He even caught up to us half way down the crater the morning he went AWOL. Needless to say, we were all attached to varying degrees.  After inquiring around town, the consensus seemed to be that he wandered in from some other town. Nope, he wasn't one of their strays. Our minds started cranking:  Could we even keep him?  That’s just nuts. (the kids were naturally less divided on the issue). Clearly people expected to see him with us: "Where's the perdito?" if he wasn't in sight.


As we were waiting for the bus and struggling with our decision, the abuelo (grandpa) stopped by and we asked one final time if he was sure the dog didn't belong to anyone. "Oh, this dog?  Yes, my friend dropped him here but you can have him for $50". The look on the kid's faces was indescribable.They tried hard to hide it, but the sobs just wouldn't stop. Our first reaction was to say, "Hmmm, sorry, but yeah right". Instead, we declined the "offer" and Yvonne managed to ask him in her broken Spanish how his friend would like it if he came back from his trip to find his dog had been stolen.  "No problem", he said as he walked down the hill. ­­­

We (the parents) were pretty irritated and considered taking the dog anyway, but by now an earnest crowd had gathered around the bus.  The kids had tears streaking their faces, still dust encrusted from the two hour hike up from the lake.

The bus pulled up at the corner, and the dog didn’t help matters by following us as we loaded our packs. In the last minutes before the bus left, Yvonne's temper got the better of her and she hunted down abuelo. After some stern bargaining, agreed to $28.  The bus doors closed behind her as Yvonne boarded holding a little black dog and a tattered rope for a leash. Smiles and even a few cheers from the passengers greeted her as Niko and Kaia squealed with total delight and disbelief. 

The dictionary was completely useless.
Oh, and Stefan FYI Spanish for worm=Lombriz

Except for vomiting once on the bus…, “Quilo” settled right into the kids’ laps for the ride into Latacunga. We found a vet immediately upon arriving at the bus station and left with $9 in prescriptions for doggie bronchitis and worms.  He still needs vaccinations once he's healthy but otherwise was pronounced in very good shape for a 1.5 year old dog.

The staff and owners at Hostel Tiana had been warned of our arrival with a new family member and have been very kind to let our new family member stay with us.  And Quilo?  He’s great. Convalescing nicely, doesn’t bark, hates his medicine, sweet, loves mirrors, does everything he needs to outside, and seems generally happy adjusting to his new leash and life with his loco gringos.  He still follows the kids so close that they step on him.  Although it must be a change for him, we're feeling less guilty about the leash since it's so clearly unnecessary . 

In front of Hostal Tiana