Black Sheep Inn - EcoLodge

One of the little missions I was given before I left for South America was from both my parents. They challenged me to stay at the Black Sheep Inn in Chugchilan, Ecuador which is located in the Andes.

I hope, through my previous posts, I have proven how much I like a mission so, here you go Mammacita and Daddy-O!

One 40min taxi ride, two buses (only one of which had another tourist aboard) for a total of 6hrs and I HAD ARRIVED at 3,300m on the doorstep of one of the world's 50 BEST EcoLodges (According to National Geographic).   

             Yeah Baby!

 

Not only did I get to up to some amazing adventures, here in the Cotopaxi Region of Ecuador'so Andes (see future posts) but when I wasn't hiking around yet another crater/lake or riding horses in the clouds for the day... This is where I was staying.

To the right here is the three storey thatched roof, A-frame "dorm" where I stayed as the only guest. So from now on I will refer to it as the EcoCottage I rented for MYSELF in the Andes.

I considered staying on the top floor but remembering I am still plagued with the nucence of late night trips to the bathroom I thought better of it. How will I ever survive pregnancy one day?!

To the left of my EcoCottage is the solar heated shower and compost toilet area.



The deal with the toilet is you throw a scoop of wood chips in after any "visit" and then wash your hands in a basin fed with rain water caught on the roof (combined with the use of biodegradable handsoap of course) and that then feeds into the garden in the same little room.

Here, on the right, is a view of the little garden you look onto when you "use the facilities".

Seriously, this is taken from the "throne" and while I wouldn't normally take a camera with me into such a locale and then publish it to the world, in this instance I thought you'd be interested. (Shoot me a comment if I am wrong... so I can reconsider our friendship :) )


Anyways, I'm 92% sure it is why my mother thought I should make the trip. Well, that & the showers.

So, now let me tell you about these classy duchas.

The shower is designed with wine and liquor bottles cemented into the wall to wash the stall in a glow of circular rainbow colors.

- Left is a view from outside.
- Right are of the inside.



The Black Sheep Inn also specializes in vegetarian fair which they grow on the premises and serve as part of the cost to lodge here. The new managed Eduardo was terrific, planning and coordinating excursions around the area, keeping the fire going (being at 3,300m makes for chilly nights), playing some great tunes and even getting me a hot water bottle nightly.


On my last morning here I ventured down to the yoga room (panoramic image below) and spent a quiet hour stretching and absorbing the last moments I had in this oasis. Below the yoga room photo is the view from inside. Stunning.

More posts will probably need to come from Colombia because so far I haven´t found a good place to hunker down and load photos that doesn´t take a full 30 seconds to register each click.

Ahhh the things I have done to keep you all informed. Home in about a month!  Looking forward to catching up on what I´ve missed! 
xox b