Our Mountain Adventure

We are at 3,380 meters nestled in a valley amongst five or six volcanoes, the most famous and I think the largest being Cotopaxi. We have found a fabulous hostel called Secret Garden Cotopaxi and have a room with two floors, fireplace and a bedroom window with a view that you can't imagine. Apparently, Cotopaxi is still considered an "active" volcano. Hmmm.... Anyhow, the scenery is lovely and even though it is raining this afternoon, as it does most afternoons, there is nothing to complain about with a fire going and a good book to read.

By the way, do you still call them mountains if they are volcanoes? There are about 15 of us at the hostel tonight. We are staying at Secret Garden Cotopaxi and our hosts are Remmy, Spike and Fletcher. The hostel uses volunteers for some of their staff so in exchange for working at one of their two hostels, they get meals and a room. This is a good deal for the backpackers who want to extend their stay in Ecuador. The facility in Cotopaxi has several buildings including an outdoor composting toilet and a stream fed jacuzzi. There is something for all price ranges when itmcomes to sleeping accommodations including a honeymoon cabin, a big dorm room and tents. In the main building we gather around a wood burning fireplace and we all eat at a long dining table. There was a lightening storm this afternoon and one lightning strike took out the power. Lucky for us dinner was cooked in the pizza oven outside. Calzones with mushrooms, cheese and pepperoni. It was really cozy with the candlelight. Just as we finished dinner the power came back on. It didn't matter much to us as we don't have electricity in the rooms, only candlelight and a fireplace to keep us warm. Such a romantic night we had snuggled under the duvet.

After an early breakfast we drove to the base of Cotopaxi. Cotopaxi is the second highest peak in Ecuador at 5,897 meters, is snow and glacier covered. They recommend to take the hike to the top in two days, for those who want to go to the top. We had just planned to get to the edge of the glaciers. Well, this volcano got the better of me. After an hour of hiking, I just couldn't go any further. Maybe it was the altitude (at that point I think we were at 4,600 meters) or maybe it was because I really haven't slept much since we got to Quito, or perhaps it was the sudden snow blizzard that put me off. Anyhow, I felt like I was going to vomit so we stopped and rested and hung out with some school kids before we continued up. Then we were a little behind the rest of the group so we didn't make it to the glacier. Cotopaxi will have to wait for us for another day. The nice thing was, the weather cleared up that evening and I got some brilliant photos of the magnificant Cotopaxi at sunset and sunrise.

Our activity today was horseback riding. Jens and I never thought we would be in the Andes mountains on horseback, enjoying the magnificent views, the gurgling mountain streams, and the pastures with cows, horses and llamas. We rode for four hours returning to the hostel in time for lunch and a lazy afternoon.

It is now our last day in Cotopaxi. We'll do a hike up to Pasochoa which is 4,299 meters before heading back to Quito for the night.

The hike was pretty intense. We started by climbing up through a couple of pastures, past grazing cows and through a couple of fences before reaching a temperate alpine forest where we followed a winding path through trees, vines, and bushes as we continued to gain altitude. Then the trail opened up to an alpine meadow. We saw wild horses grazing on the other side of the ridge. As we got higher, the view became so magnificent it made you breathless. Well, to be honest, the steep climb and the altitude also contributed to making me breathless. We reached the summit after about 3 and a half hours, took a look at the view all around us and then started the trek down.

What a great few days we have had at Cotopaxi. The hostel environment meant you made lots of new friends and heard about their experiences during the day and in fact during their travels around the country. What an interesting and diverse group of people we met.

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