Ecuador - Quito and Cotopaxi - Part II

Saturday 19th November – Rest Day

After all the excitement of the Galapagos today I did nothing at all.  Feeling completely wrecked I started to plan my time in Peru.  It was much needed rest.  The one mission I did go on today was to find somewhere to develop my underwater photos from Galapagos.  I cannot wait to see how and if they came out.  But the mission was a resounding failure.  Nowhere at all seems to develop photos.  How times have changed.  Damn you digital cameras.

So now I’ll take the chance to say how much I enjoy staying at The Secret Garden, both in Cotopaxi and Quito.  It’s a very sociable hostel and the staff, who are all volunteers and travellers themselves, are great to hang out with.  I know I’m going to forget someone off this list: Hannah, Laura, Martin, Leigh, Chris, Logan and Remi.  I have had some great in-depth discussions with Logan about music, especially with him being a fellow Trent Reznor admirer.  Someday when I make it to SXSW in Austin, Texas, where Logan is from, I’m sure the conversations will continue.

Sunday 20th November – So Much For Dry Sundays

Another day of basically nothing.  Again spend most of the day planning and slowly but surely getting there.  One of the down sides of travelling is the actually travelling part.  This continent is so vast that just getting from one place to another can be a multiple bus and many hour journey.

Somehow in The Secret Garden today the dry Sunday rule in Ecuador seemed to be thrown out the window.  Everyone was very well oiled (apart from me and a few others).  It was one of the liveliest nights in the hostel (good and bad – tempers frayed at some stages!) and all this on a day when alcohol is not allowed to be sold.  I spent most of the night on the fringes watching the mayhem unfold chatting to Elisha, Helen and Jemima.  Tomorrow a few of us are going to explore Quito.  I have now been in and out of this city three times and never actually spent any time seeing it.  Time to fix that.

Monday 21st November – The Cathedral Climb

Up until now I had not given Quito the time it deserved.  Today Helen and I spent the day walking around the old town and it has some beautiful plazas and buildings.  The little side street are full of knick-knack shops that sell everything.  One type of shop that I have noticed in the city has a bizarre combination of goods – it sells refrigerators and motorbikes.  When I say one type of shop I don’t mean there was only one like this, there were many.  I have gone through all logical reasoning as to why a shop would pick these two goods as its main products and have failed to come up with one. I know motorbikes are cool, but this is taking it a bit too far.

After lazily wandering around the streets we stumbled across a place to develop my Galapagos underwater photos.  Using our very best Spanglish and two visits to the shop we worked out that they can develop them and put them on a CD.  Fantastic.  Now while waiting for them to be processed it’s time to climb the basilica.

During my time in Quito several people have mentioned that it is possible to climb the towers and spires of the basilica.  It’s something I was hoping to do at some stage, even with the warning that the climb is only facilitated by rickety ladders in places.  So with our courage plucked up, Helen and I head for the climb.  The start of the climb is easy – just a lot of steps until we reach the fourth floor.  At this point it does become a little more tricky.  To get to the next level we have to climb steep metal ladders which lead onto platforms that don’t exactly feel secure underfoot and each time we think we have reached the last ladder, another one appears.  Eventually we reach the top and find ourselves standing behind the faces of the clock tower – each face telling a different time.  With both me and Helen not being too keen on heights, we are pretty pleased with ourselves.  Little did we know what was to come.  After making our way back down to the third floor, we cross a very flimsy bridge which runs along the inside of the basilica’s roof. After venturing across this we reach the spire.  At the end of the bridge is an even steeper ladder and it’s not in good condition – some of the uprights are no longer connected where they should be.  Undeterred we scramble up and reach the outside of the basilica’s roof.  After a brief look down and with not really wanting to know how high we are up, we walk around the outside of the spire and discover the final two ladders.  Up until this point all the ladders at least had the good fortune to be inside the building.  Not these.  The final ladders are on the outside of the building, almost vertical and with spectacularly scary views straight down to the ground.  It takes a massive amount of determination, but I decide that I’ve come this far, I can’t go back now.  Helen decides that it’s too much for her and she won’t venture further.  As I grip the ladder, I go up as quick as I can with only one thought repeating in my head: ‘The quicker I’m up, the quicker it’s over.  The quicker I’m up, the quicker it’s over’.  And I make it.  The views are amazing across the whole city.  But it’s a relatively small platform and the barriers aren’t very high which causes too many butterflies in my stomach.  But just as I’m thinking it’s time to head back down, I turn around to see Helen’s head pop up over the top of the ladder.  She did it.  It’s high-fives all round!  The climb back down is equally as scary.

After that we headed for a much deserved drink and then to collect the photos.  Well that was the plan.  After the drink, we get to the photo shop only to be handed two rolls of negatives.  The guy tells us that his computer is broken and he couldn’t put them on a CD.  But that’s only the beginning.  The negatives aren’t looking good at all.  A lot are totally blank.  A few have what look like fish on them, but not many.  If I get five good photos out of this I’ll be happy.  We then found a different shop that put the photos onto a CD from the negatives.  But I’m still left not knowing if the photos came out or not as my laptop has no CD drive and no one in the hostel seems to have one either.  This wait is starting to kill me.  Or maybe I’m better not knowing.  Something I’ll worry about after climbing Pichincha for a second time tomorrow.

Tuesday 22nd November – Pichincha – Part II

Today I climbed Pichincha again, this time along with Helen.  The last time I made the school boy error of not taking any food and nowhere near enough water.  So the first stop was for snacks.  I definitely did not want to feel the way I felt after doing it the first time.  The climb again was excellent, but towards the summit I decided to take a different and what seemed more direct and easier route than the last time.  I think the lesson to be learned here is never follow a blind man – sorry Helen.  It was more direct but certainly wasn’t easier.  There was so much loose sand that it was two steps forwards-one step back (at this altitude every step forward is precious) and when we came across rocks they were almost vertical, having to turn back on one occasion.  But undeterred, we scrambled on and hit the summit in two hours and 28 minutes – 15 minutes quicker than the first time which I was very impressed with.  After taking a well-deserved rest and lunch break at the top, going down was a repeat of the first time – bombing down through the sand like skiing, losing control and whacking my knee against a rock as I fell to the ground trying to stop myself.  Helen wasn’t too sure about this tactic to get down quicker, but after gentle persuasion and seeing how much fun it was, she soon followed – with a little bit more dexterity than me and less injuries.

After making our way back to the hostel, we chilled out on the roof top terrace for a few drinks, and soon it was time to say goodbye to Elisha.  She’s off on a trek to the jungle while I’ve decided to delay my Peru plans and head to Cotopaxi and Banos again with Helen.  I’ll make it to Peru at some stage.  I’m really going to miss Elisha.  She’s been an awesome and fun  travel buddy for the last few weeks.

Wednesday 23rd November – Cotopaxi – Waterfall Jump – Part II

Off to Cotopaxi again for the second time.  I think this is definitely my favourite place so far on my trip.  The view of Cotopaxi volcano, the hostel, the isolation. 

When we arrive we get a bite to eat and it’s straight off to do the waterfall jump.  This time instead of being apprehensive about it, I’m really excited about it.  Once we all trekked along the river, clambered onto the ledge and prepared ourselves for the jump my memories came flooding back about how cold it actually is.  My excitement starts to wane pretty fast.  As we are standing there Helen gets a bit apprehensive too saying that she doesn’t really like jumping into water.  But nevertheless, she steps forward and leaps down – just a little bit too much to the right of the target spot for comfort.  Myself and Remi, who led us up, gasp a little as that’s where the rocks are.  But thankfully Helen is fine and swims out.  My leap is just as before and one of the best ways ever to get your blood pumping.  Once I manage to get my breathe back and struggle out of the pool Helen is standing there with a huge grin on her face.  She’s so proud of herself and rightly so.

When we arrived back at the hostel I spotted a PC in the corner – with a CD drive.  Finally I could check my Galapagos photos.  It was with some trepidation that I put the CD in expecting the worst but WOW.  I had no need to worry at all – the photos were amazing.  Thank god.

Unfortunately this time at Cotopaxi the weather is poor - too cloudy to see the volcano.  I really hope it clears tomorrow.  Not only for the amazing view but also because we are going horse riding.  From what I have been told these horses will be nothing like the ones on Galapagos – these horses gallop.  This I am very excited about, but also very worries about.  Fingers crossed this won’t be my last blog entry.

Thursday 24th November – Cotopaxi – I Found Shergar!

The horse riding today was so much fun.  It was an early start at 7 am to get breakfast, but not long after we were getting mounted onto our horses.  I instantly thought my horse did not like me at all.  He keep making lots of noise, grunting and shaking his head.  But then again, if someone decided to jump on my back at 8.30 am I’m sure I would do the same if not a lot worse.  Once we started though I knew I was on a good horse.  He was very responsive and did exactly as I wanted.  Stopping, speeding up, slowing down.  The start of the route was a dirt track and all of us were bunched together, but we soon moved into a field and at this point I decided to see how he really performed.  Having got up a little speed along the dirt track, it was time to see if he (and more importantly I) could get up to a gallop.  After a few heel kicks we started flying across the field.  We were galloping.  I had never done this before so was equally excited and scared in case I would lose control and fall off.  But after a few minutes I got the hang of it.  I’m really beginning to like this horse riding carry on. 

Now, when I say gallop, I have no idea about all the different technical terms for the speed that a horse goes at: gallop, canter, trot, standing in the one spot.  But to me it was fast so it was a gallop.  I don’t care what the other ‘experienced ‘ horse riders who were there said.  I galloped on a horse.  End of discussion.

Helen was not so lucky, her horse seemed to be behaving like mine on the Galapagos Islands and doing what it wanted, not what Helen wanted.  But our guide was good enough to swap horses with her about halfway round and soon she was flying along with the rest of us.  The whole way along the route we were followed by two dogs from the hostel.  Both these and our horses seemed to provoke the anger of all other dogs along the route.  But never have I felt more in control.  Dogs coming tearing along the road: growling, teeth bared, vicious.  Hey I don’t care, I’m on a horse.  Take your best shot.

As much fun as the horse riding was, I paid for it when we finally arrived back at the hostel.  Towards the end the horses knew they were nearly home and just wanted to get there as quick as possible, so going slow wasn’t an option, the horses did what they wanted - galloped.  A very sore experience.  My legs were killing me.  Only towards the end did I realise that my saddle cushion was not on correctly and my calf had been banging against the horse the whole time.  So to end the evening I relaxed in the jacuzzi before dinner and an early night.

The Galapagos Islands

Friday 11th November –Galapagos – Day 1

Today I flew to The Galapagos Islands.  A lifelong dream come true. Elisha and I made our way to the airport in Quito and the first thing I needed to do was get money at the airport but the ATM machine was broken.  I’ll sort that when land.  Or so I thought.  I thought that finally a flight had gone smoothly.  Upon landing in the Galapagos you have to pay a $100 entry fee which, due to the broken ATM at Quito, I did not have and they didn’t have any machines at the Galapagos airport nor did they accept card.  Another flight mess up.  Asked to step aside I’m now wondering if they’ll let me in.  They did, but only after confiscating my passport.  While traveling my most important item is my passport and now I’m going to be without it for a few days until I can make my way to some office somewhere on these islands to pay my fee and be reunited with it.  This is not a comfortable situation, but I have no choice.  I’ll have to sort it later.

After meeting William and finally being allowed on the islands we get transported to our boat, the Valkiria.  We get a brief welcome from our guide Pato, a quick bite to eat and off on our first activity – snorkeling in a deep water-filled fissure.  After getting back on land and walking for less than 100m we meet our first Galapagos creatures, sea iguanas  It’s hard to believe that we see something so quickly.  They look like prehistoric creatures bathing in the sun and completely unfazed by humans so we can get as close as we want. So close I almost step on one before someone warns me to watch my step.  After this we continue onto the fissure where I have my first go at snorkeling.  I have no idea how to do this so Elisha, who at this stage is fast becoming my own personal outdoor instructor, shows me.  It’s very strange because normally I don’t feel very comfortable in deep water, but with the snorkel mask on it all feels very natural.  Which is a good thing because going by our itinerary over the next seven days there will be a lot of it happening.  Unfortunately we don’t see very much in the water, but at least now I’m ready for what’s going to be happening in the coming days.  After an hour or so we make our way back to the pier to get the dingy to the boat and while standing looking into the water a sea lion swims by.  This is my first day and I already feel like I’m in the middle of a David Attenborough documentary.

My only real worry about this trip is sea sickness.  I’ve never been on a boat for any length of time before so have no idea if it will affect me.  After getting back onboard and having dinner, we prepare ourselves for an overnight trip to the next Island, Isla Isabela. While I’m falling off to sleep, the engine starts and we begin to move.  This is not what I expect – it’s like a rollercoaster – and I hate rollercoasters.  But I’m surprised as it actually rocks me off to sleep.  Hopefully I’ll avoid the sea sickness over the next week.

Saturday 12th November –Galapagos – Day 2

The overnight travelling is great.  I went to sleep in one place and have now awoken to a completely different sight, Isla Isabela.  The first thing we do today is horse riding, another new treat for me.  The horses are pretty placid which is good as I’m a bit apprehensive about it.  The horses take us to Sierra Negra, the second biggest caldera in the world.  It’s an amazing sight – 11km in diameter.  Well those were the facts told to us by our guide.  Personally, I don’t believe it is the second biggest, or even in the top 10 for that matter.  But I may be wrong.  There have been a few eruptions in recent years which has made the surface and sides unstable, so we are not allowed to go into the caldera.  On the way back on the horses, I’ve picked up a little bit of bravery and want my horse to pick up a little bit of speed.  The horse has totally different ideas about this.  No matter what I do he just doesn’t move.  At one point I was going to get off and walk to get back quicker at which point one of the other horses decides he’s the boss.  Every time mine gets close to him he runs my horse into the bushes.  My horse, obviously not liking this, decides that instead of using the path to get passed, he’ll just charge through the bushes, seemingly forgetting that I was on his back.  Ducking and failing to avoid getting whacked by trees I try and fail to get him back on track.  I find the best policy is to just give up and let him do what he wants until we eventually arrive back.

In the afternoon, we went to a bay for more snorkeling.  On the way we stopped and saw flamingos feeding in a lagoon.  It just seems that no matter where go we will see something new and exciting.  Once we got to the bay, we went snorkeling.  There was a chance to see turtles but none were about, but we managed to see plenty of tropical fish and it’s yet more practice for me.  I think I might be becoming a bit of a water baby as I love the snorkeling.  As we were making our way back to the boat and about to board, we spotted turtles in the water close by and were able to get the dingy to go very close to them.  There were three of them, mating. 

Tomorrow we have been promised that we will be swimming with turtles. 

Sunday 13th November –Galapagos – Day 3

Our first stop today was to The Wall Of Tears.  Part of the island used to be a prison camp.  While the prisoners were on the island they were made to build a wall from stones – just to pass the time.  The wall is huge in height and obviously pointless due to its location on the island.  Many prisoners died as a result of building the wall, the rest eventually made a break for freedom and some of them made it, with one still surviving on the island to this day.  But most importantly, we saw a tortoise there.

Next it was off to see white-tip sharks.  We made our way onto another part of the island and after walking through some jagged lava formed landscapes, we came to a channel where sometimes the sharks come to rest.  We were very lucky as today as there were 60 to 70 sharks there - all just relaxing.  In the past it was possible to swim in the channel, but as a result of this the sharks stopped coming there, so we couldn't.

But next it was time to swim with turtles.  After going out into the sea a bit and close to a rocky island, we dawned our wetsuits and snorkel masks and jumped in.  Within a few minutes I was swimming beside a turtle.  I was so amazing I forgot to breath properly and almost drowned.  They are so graceful and majestic.  Then Elisha calls me over as she has spotted an eagle ray.  I just about get over on time to see it swimming off in the distance.  Swimming for the next 30 minutes I see about another four or five turtles all feeding on the rocks under the water.  Thinking I won’t see any more I jump back on the boat.  But just as I’m changed a group that stayed in a bit longer spot a turtle, sea lion and white tip shark all swimming together.  I’m a bit gutted, but hopefully in the next few days I’ll be swimming with sea lions and sharks as well or at least that’s what I have been promised by our guide.

Before dinner in the evening we sailed around Turtle Shell island to see a few native bird species, before sailing overnight back to Isla Santa Cruz.

Monday 14th November –Galapagos – Day 4

On our way to Tortuga Bay we stopped off at some lava tunnels.  These were huge tunnels created underground by ancient lava flows and in areas where the roof has collapsed we were able to walk along them.  Then we hit Tortuga Bay.  After kayaking out to deeper water (another first for me) we jumped in to snorkel again and immediately came across white tip sharks.  We had been informed by our guide that they were not dangerous at all and only ate small fish, so I had no fears of featuring in a news bulletin back home.  When I first saw one though I had the same reaction as when I was swimming with my first turtle and swallowed a mouthful of water and almost drowned.  But they were very placid and just rested at the bottom of the sea bed, giving plenty of time for photographs.  After about 20 minutes we made our way back to the shore and Elisha and I spotted lots of turtles swimming in the bay.  When we finally reached the shore again, the rest of the group were out in the water, so we went to investigate what they were looking at.  As we waded out we came across a bunch of more white tip sharks resting in shallow water and swimming at our feet.  One seemed to be constantly swimming around the others, and each time he came straight at me (regardless of what our guide said) I was getting out of the way!

In the afternoon, it was time to go and see our first Giant Tortoises in the wild.  We went into the centre of the island by bus and then jumped onto mountain bikes to reach the area where they feed.  Me on a bike quite often ends in tears.  I tend to lose all self-control and decide that the best way to go is as fast as possible.  Not a good idea on the Galapagos Islands.  While hurtling down a dirt track I have to slam on the brakes and with some very quick reactions jump to the other side to avoid a major collision with a giant Giant Tortoise.  Now let’s face it here, it’s not like the tortoise all of a sudden dashed out on to the road in front of me, I just didn’t see the thing until much too late.  I dread to think what would have happened if I had hit it.  First I don’t pay the entry fee, next I kill a Giant Tortoise.  I think I would have been sent to continue building that Wall of Tears.  And the tortoise wasn’t happy about the whole situation either.  He made a very loud hissing-threatening noise before retiring into his shell.  After this near miss, we all continued on to see more of the Giant Tortoise, and they were massive.  They are very bizarre creatures to see in the flesh.  Like the iguanas, they look very prehistoric and mostly unfazed my humans.  Everything they do is slow – move, eat, hiss.  Definitely the strangest creatures I have ever seen.

Today two new people joined our tour group, Madeline and Stefan from Norway.  After discovering a guitar on board and that Stefan could play, we had a great guitar session in the evening over a few drinks.

Tuesday 15th November –Galapagos – Day 5

Today was a pretty relaxed day.  In the morning we visited the Charles Darwin Center where breeding programs are happening to help bring back a few species of animal on the islands from the brink of extinction.  Some species were down to as low as 12 individuals, but they have now been brought up to over 1000 due to the success of the programs.  The highlight was seeing Lonesome George – the very last reaming species of Giant Tortoise from Pinta Island in the Galapagos.  They have attempted to mate George with tortoises from other islands, but the offspring are born infertile (as is the case when they have tried to cross breed most tortoises from different islands).  So once George goes, so does his species.  Very unsurprisingly, the demise of most of the species on the islands is down to the past behaviour of humans – killing the animals for food, introducing new species that affect the indigenous species, trophy hunting.  But it is now good to see that humans are finally realizing their past mistakes and helping the species get back on their feet.

On leaving the Charles Darwin Center I was reunited with my passport after paying the entry fee at the main National Park Office.  What a relief.

In the afternoon we went kayaking in a bay.  Although it was fun, it got boring and just seemed a bit pointless.  I want to go swim with sharks again!

During the night we sailed to out next island - San Cristóbal.

Wednesday 16th November –Galapagos – Day 6

Today is a day I will never forget.  We wake up at San Cristóbal and after an early shout, we get on a speedboat and make our way to Sea Lion Island.  It’s an experience that defies explanation – but I’ll try.  After getting in the water and thinking I’m not going to see any sea lions, Elisha swims passed and tells me she has just been swimming with them.  I head towards a beach and in the distance in the water I see a young sea lion swimming towards me.  It glides passed, closely followed by what must be its parents.  The mother is always close by making sure the cub is ok, the father is always close by letting me know who is boss.  Every time he swims passed he blows bubbles – I’m taking this as a warning to be careful.  Then the three sea lions do what I can only describe as a dance, swimming around each other, standing vertical in the water, blowing bubbles.  After a few minutes they all swim away.  But very soon the cub comes back on its own.  It’s directly in front of me, swims straight at me, keeping eye contact the whole time.  Just as it gets within about one metre of my face, he turns upside down and glides underneath me, almost touching me.  Then it comes back and swims in circles around me.  I had goosebumps.  Finally he swims off into the distance after Elisha. A few minutes later the father appears again, making his presence felt.  Time to leave them to their own business – I have heard that the fathers can get aggressive and very protective and have been known to bite so I head back to the boat.  I don’t think anything will top this experience during my time in the Galapagos Islands.

After this we sail to Kicker Rock, where there is a chance to see Galapagos Sharks and Hammerheads, but only occasionally does this happen and we don’t see any, only a few more white-tip sharks.  Kicker Rock is out in the middle of the ocean and the water is freezing, so we don’t stay in too long.  But it was good to be snorkeling in the deep ocean and we do see a few turtles.  The highlight of this part of the day was a school of dolphins swimming alongside the speedboat on the way back.

After dinner back on the boat and a few drinks in the local port with a couple of guys we meet during the day, Ben and Andi, we set sail during the night for out final island, Floreana.

Thursday 17th November –Galapagos – Day 7

Today was kind of a strange day.  We went on to Floreana Island and went to a place where a German family own a lot of land that they acquired when they arrived many years ago.  I can’t remember the full details of the story, but there seems to have been some sort of feud between some woman and some man and then lots of people (and pet chickens) died in mysterious circumstances, including (I think) someone’s disabled son who’s dead body washed up on a beach in the Galapagos, but he was last seen in Germany.  It was all really bizarre.  After this we went to see some tortoises which had been introduced to the island as the native species had become extinct.  I found this a very odd thing to do as all the tortoises here are mixed species offspring so cannot breed as they are infertile.  It just seems to have been done for tourist purposes.  Disappointing.

Then it was time for our final snorkel.  This would have been very straight forward except for the aggressive sea lion that patrolled a beach nearby.  While doing my best to avoid this area I got totally disorientated having to constantly pop up out of the water to try and find the beach we started the snorkeling from.  At one point I popped my head up, realized where I was, popped my head under the water again and got the shock of my life.  The biggest turtle I had seen during the whole last six days was about one metre from my face - swimming directly at me.  Knowing that these things can bite, hard and to the bone, I scrambled, spitting out my snorkel, swallowing water, floundering in the water until I was sure I was out of its way.  In the commotion I tried to get a photo, but failed.  But I did manage to get one of it swimming away.  After that episode I decided it was time to head back on shore – in the process swimming amongst large shoals of tropical fish and managing to get one final swim with another turtle.

The end of our final full day in the islands was spent sailing back to Santa Cruz with the hope that we would see dolphins on the way, but they didn’t appear.

Friday 18th November –Galapagos – Day 8

Time to leave the Galapagos.  On the way to the airport we stopped off at what I can only describe as a massive hole in the ground filled with a mini forest.  Our guide said that no one knows what formed the hole.  This is something I will have to investigate as I’m sure there is some reason or explanation behind it. Then it was off to get the flight. 

NEWSFLASH: Mark experiences a completely incident free flight. 

I left the Galapagos Islands and got to The Secret Garden Hostel in Quito without one incident!  Long may it continue.

What a fantastic eight days.  It is at this point the second best experience I’ve had, only beaten in top spot by Iceland.  It will take something very special to beat Iceland.

To bring myself back to reality, I spend the evening out with a few of the volunteers from The Secret Garden in the La Ronda area of Quito.  A cool area with a lot of local bars.  Somehow the locals thought that an Australian guy along with us was famous.  From that point onwards he got free drinks, food, had to sign a painting belonging to the bar, and many requests for photographs and dances.

Ecuador - Cotopaxi To Banos

Friday 4th November –Volcán Pasochoa

I must be acclimatizing a bit because I managed to get a much better sleep last night.  Mind you that was probably more to do with the fact that I was completely exhausted after all the climbing, jumping and mountain biking.  And today it was time for another six hour trek to Volcán Pasochoa.  Again the altitude affects us all, and we need loads of stops to get to the top.  But the walk is spectacular.  At times when we stop and sit down for a much needed rest, I think to myself, ‘Ok, I’m trekking through The Andes.  How did this happen?’  It really is a pinch yourself moment.  There are mountains all around with amazing views into the valleys.  At times the trail under our feet is made from volcanic ash and in the areas cut for the road you can see the layers which I assume are from the different eruptions, but I could be wrong. The closer we get to the crater, the steeper it gets.  But as we are approaching, it is pretty clear that it’s not clear.  There’s a bit cloud overflowing from the crater and sure enough when we get to the top and peer in we can see nothing.  Apparently inside the crater is a forest and the crater is huge.  But I’m not too disappointed that this time the weather has not worked in our favour as the walk was great.  As we begin our trek back, Chris, our guide asks if want to take a detour and attempt to find a large waterfall.  Being an adventurous bunch we all say yes, not quite expecting what happens.

Once we leave the trail it starts easy enough but soon we are in amongst trees and only following the noise of the cascading water and creating the trail as we go.  Eventually we find a stream and start to follow that down, which leads us to the base of the waterfall. Exhausted I sit while the others venture more.  I wish I had gone with them.  I though there wouldn’t be much more to see, but apparently they found caves and walks under the waterfall.  Ah well, I’ll know for next time not to miss out.  Then to get back to the hostel all we need to do is follow the river.  Which works pretty well for about 20 metres until we come across a large waterfall that there is no hope of descending.  Time to start creating our own trail again.  But with more difficulty.  David trail blazes.  We aren’t even on solid ground anymore.  We are literally climbing through trees, using tangled branches and moss as foot holds.  Too many times when I grabbed a branch to haul myself up it crumbled in my hand.  Daylight can’t even be seen anymore.  But finally a shout from David means we can escape.  It was getting a bit hairy, but the relief at the sunlight was worth it.  Then we found ourselves at the waterfall we did the jump from yesterday.  No jumping today though.  Once was enough.

After getting back to the hostel, Lauren, David, Elisha and I get fed and jump in a taxi/jeep to Machachi to get on a bus to Banos.  The taxi stops, changes driver and we pick up a guy and some woman with a baby.  Not uncommon in Ecuador it seems as this has happened before.  After setting off again, all is going well until the driver begins to get agitated as there’s a police checkpoint ahead.  What’s going to happen here?  After showing ID the driver is taken from our jeep and photographed.  The jeep is photographed.  He spends a lot of time discussing matters with the police before handing over a bribe so we can get on our way.  The guy that jumped in the back earlier has disappeared.  Apparently he legged it across a field as soon as he spotted the police too.  Just another day travelling in South America.  We finally reach Machachi and have to flag a bus as we stand on the side of the Pan-American Highway.

After a three hour bus ride, we reach Banos.  I like it immediately.  It seems really chilled and we have arrived on a weekend when all the locals are on holiday too.  There is a great atmosphere about the town with bands playing in the square and lots of kids riding on a road train around the town.  After checking into Plantas y Blanco we head out for a bite to eat and at really nice Italian place.

Canyoning – abseiling down waterfalls - booked for early tomorrow.  Going be yet another challenge for my fear of heights.  Maybe it won’t exist any more?

Saturday 5th November – Canyoning

Another new activity ticked off the list.  It was both a little scarier than I expected but also a bit easier.  After getting kitted up in our wet suits and canyoning trainers we were taken to the first waterfall where we had to get our harnesses put on.  My fear started to kick in at that point and when I noticed that one of my straps was broken and would not click in properly, I asked for it to be changed.  They laughed and said it was fine.  I panicked and said it was not fine.  Thankfully Elisha was on hand to help out.  She trains abseiling, so we found another harness and she helped me get it on right.  Now feeling a little more confident we head to the first waterfall.  It’s about 8 m high.  There are about 15 people in the group and the instructor starts explaining in Spanish how we do it.  At this point I’m starting to feel very under prepared and in big trouble.  But Lauren, who claimed to only have a little bit of Spanish, starts to translate for me.  Thank god!  Being a little apprehensive about it all I hang back as long as possible, but eventually it’s my turn.  Lauren was as afraid as me and went before me.  So once I saw her at the bottom and happy my panic eased.  David gave me loads of instructions - he used to do abseiling too.  I’m definitely the novice in our travelling group.  Everyone has something to offer.  All I have is panic and too many questions.  But I did it!  It was much easier than I expected - except for whacking my knee at the very end after swinging out too far and losing all my coordination.  The next waterfall was just going down like a slide while attached to a rope.  Then the final one was a different experience altogether.  After abseiling down about two metres, we were then attached to a rope and no more abseiling.  We had to clamber off the side of a ledge and get dropped 30 m.  This brought back memories of the Tarzan Swing when doing the zip lining in Costa Rica.  And the same absolute terror kicked in.  But it was brilliant.  I think the instructor dropped me down a little slower than the others as he knew I was terrified.  So my fear of heights is still there, but now not stopping me.  A big improvement.

After strolling around Banos, we went out that evening to the Swiss Bistro.  Amazing food.  And then hit the bars of Banos for an evening with the partying locals.  It’s hard to choose a bar, but not in a good way.  It’s a lot of loud, bad music.  But eventually find a rock bar closely followed by The Leprechaun Bar.  The least Irish looking Irish bar I have ever been in.  But it had a big fire out the back so we could chill and get ready for some dancing – at which point all music stops and we are ushered out.  That plan didn’t go too well.  But a lot of fun was had after another adrenalin rush day.

Sunday 6th November – Decision Made

Sadly Lauren and David left today for Lima.  But if plans work out right, I’ll hopefully see them at some stage again in South America.  There’s talk of Christmas/New Year in Buenos Aires! 

Another Sunday in Ecuador – but thankfully Banos didn’t shut down as much as Quito.  Today after doing a few calculations and being convinced by a few people, including Elisha, that not going to the Galapagos would be something I’d regret forever, I have decided that it’s a must-do trip.  Now it’s time to get back to Quito and book a boat.  It’s going to be some experience.  A place I have wanted to visit all my life and it’s finally going to happen – I hope.

Monday 7th November – Back To Quito

On the bus back to Quito Elisha and I decide that to improve our Spanish we are only allowed to speak to each other in Spanish on the bus – a three hour journey.  This doesn’t work so good.  Elisha - being very dedicated and determined - insists I recount a story from Bogotá completely in Spanish.  After taking 15 minutes to say one sentence my brain begins to implode.  The two Ecuadorian guys sitting opposite us can’t stop laughing.  I tried, that’s a start.  I may have failed but at least I tried.

After an interesting music selection on the bus which ranged from local traditional music to Ace of Base, 2Unlimited and Vanilla Ice, we eventually get back to The Secret Garden hostel.  Right away I bump into Richie who I met in Panama City.  Himself and Dee are here to get to the Galapagos too but will be leaving before myself and Elisha can.  Then bump into Rich who we trekked with in Cotopaxi.  He’s getting his Cotopaxi climb sorted.  I’m jealous, but still think I can’t make it up.  It’s something I’m putting on my list of things to do on my next trip to South America – whenever that may be.

Tuesday 8th November – Galapagos Booked

Today, Elisha and I headed into the centre of Quito to get a last minute deal on a boat for the Galapagos – and we got it on a boat called the Valkiria.  It looks like we are also going to be joined by William who we have been bumping into in Quito and Cotopaxi hostels. 

Wednesday 9th November – Leigh’s Birthday Drinks

Although I’m very excited about the Galapagos trip, it’s really started to frustrate me about how I have to pay.  After several trips to ATMs and then being told I could pay by card with a 10% charge (no thank you!) I’m now being told I have to transfer money from my account.  This is all starting to sound a little bit dodgy and right now if I get on the boat at all I’ll be amazed.  But I’ve bitten the bullet and transferred the money.  Now it’s time to cross every extremity and hope I have a place on the boat.

It was Leigh’s birthday today, one of the guys working at The Secret Garden, so after a few birthday drinks at the hostel, we all headed over to the Mariscal area for a night out.  The first bar we hit was full of Gringos, so we quickly ditched that to try to find a salsa bar.  But for some reason as soon as we walked into each bar they would change the music from local salsa to rubbish Gringo music.  Once we managed to convince a bar to keep to the local music, we ended up having a great night.  Some of the guys we were out with could salsa to a level that was amazing to watch.  Obviously I stood away from this as all I could do was step on people’s toes.  Elisha attempted to give me a quick lesson.  It was a disaster and the teacher wasn’t to blame.

Hostel life always throws up its little surprises.  After we got back from the bar at 3 a.m. I was met by Elisha and Ellen coming out of our dorm laughing.  It was pretty clear why when I went in.  Someone was sleeping in my bed.  Feeling like of the Three Bears and being a little bit the worse for wear and confused I had to investigate why this was and asked the girl why she had decided to use my bed.  She seemed as perplexed as me.  But it turned out the security guard had let her in and pointed her in the direction of the nearest free bed.  He obviously failed miserably in his mission as my bed was quite clearly not free.  I was able to jump into a spare bed in the dorm.  Will sort this mix up out in the morning.

Thursday 10th November – Finally – Galapagos Tickets

After getting a haircut (trust me this was a more scary experience than it sounds as I had to ask in Spanish for what I wanted – and so far I have pretty much never got what I asked for on my first ask), Elisha and I went to our tour agent and finally got our tickets for our Galapagos trip in our hands.  A huge relief.

In the evening Rich came back from his Cotopaxi climb.  He made it to the top but said it was a very tough climb.  But he made it which was amazing.  Still really jealous of all these people doing it.  There are volcanoes in Peru that I’ll definitely will have to attempt now.  I need to be able to say I achieved one of the major climbs by the time my trip is over.

Now – time to pack for the Galapagos Islands.  Cannot believe I’m actually saying that.  The excitement just keeps growing.

Cotopaxi

Tuesday 1^st November – Galapagos?

This was a day of planning.  It’s time to get out of Quito.  Spent the day in the Mariscal area of Quito along with Elisha, Chris and William.  Chris was planning his climb of Chimbarazo after having completed Cotopaxi.  That’ll be me some day.  While in a few travels agents myself and Elisha investigated the prices for our Galapagos trip.  It’s going to be a lot more than I should spend but it is a once in a lifetime chance.  Will have to check out my finances.  But that can wait until after The Secret Garden at Cotopaxi.  It sounds amazing.  In the middle of nowhere with great views of the volcano and good trekking options.  Going to be leaving for there tomorrow.

After getting back to the hostel a crew of us head out for a bite to eat.  It’s a nightmare as we have to wait two hours for our food to arrive and a crowd of 12 gringos walking around Quito after dark draws far too much attention.  The highlight is the soup.  Julie has order her meal and it comes with a starter of soup.  One of the guys along with us, James, has just travelled 36 hours and is starving, so Julie very kindly hands the soup to him.  After a few mouthfuls, the groan and look of horror on his face is priceless.  A chicken foot has just floated to the top.  And he was once a vegetarian.  It looks vile, like a deformed baby’s hand.  Too good to leave behind so we wrap it up to bring back and photograph.  But I have to say, I tasted the soup and it was really good.

Wednesday 2nd November – The Secret Garden at Cotopaxi

I leave Quito after being there for too many days and head to The Secret Garden at Cotopaxi.  Finally getting into the wilds again.  I get the taxi along with David and Lauren, both from England.  Great guys.  We arrive at the hostel after a very bumpy two hour journey  The rain is pouring from the sky, but that doesn’t matter.  It looks fantastic.  We race from the taxi into the main living room to avoid the rain.  Inside there is a huge open fire blazing, a few sofas with guys relaxing to some chilled out music   It has the feel of an old farmhouse.  We get a bowl of homemade soup which tastes exactly like what my mum used to make every winter.  I could not have arrived in a better place.

The rain continues, accompanied by a thunderstorm, for a few hours.  When it clears Volcán Cotopaxi slowly comes into view.  It’s stunning.  Straight across from the hostel it dominates the skyline with its snow covered slopes.  There are a few smaller peaks on either side, but without snow.  I stand and stare at it for a long time, mesmerized.

Before dinner we chill out in the Jacuzzi with Rich and Rupert, our dorm mates, which has views straight at Cotopaxi. Then after dinner, it’s an easy night.  The dorm is a little house detached from the main building.  It has no electricity – only candle light and for heat there is a wood burner in the middle of the room.  Tomorrow we have an early shout at 6 a.m. to start our action packed days of activities.

Thursday 3rd November – Waterfall Jumping and Mountain Biking

Last night I got two hours sleep.  I think it must be the altitude as we are now are 3450m.  I was bright awake until about 4 a.m. and with a wakeup call at 6 a.m. I struggled out of bed.  But the first trek today knocked all tiredness out of me and woke me up for the day with a jolt. 

At 7.30 a.m. we all headed off for a 45 minute trek to a waterfall.  The altitude made the first part of the walk through forest and rivers pretty tough but we soon acclimatized.  We then arrived at two waterfalls.  The one closest we had to jump off - into freezing cold water.  The jump is about 4m high.  After getting changed and precariously walking barefoot across a rock and mud wall, we arrive at the top of the waterfall.  There were four of us brave (or foolish) enough to do this: me, Lauren, David and Rich.  After mentally preparing myself, when I got to the ledge I decided this is not a good idea.  I held back while the other three stepped forward and leaped off.  Their reaction to the cold was not encouraging, but they all looked like they loved doing it.  Maybe I should just go for it.  then it entered my head that jumping would be much more preferable than attempting the climb back across the rocks.  Plus, I’d be raging at myself for not doing it.  After all this trip is all about challenging myself.  Heights and being suddenly underwater are two things I’m not keen on – this will cover both those fears.  After a few encouraging words from our guide Peter,  I gingerly step forward, look down and jump.  As I hit the water the shock of the cold is instant.  I’m submerged for a few seconds and when I get my head above water I can’t even breath – my whole body has ceased to know how to function.  All I can describe it as is instant hypothermia.  The feeling in all of the toes in my right foot has disappeared..  I swim out of the water and can not stop shaking.  What a rush.  It was amazing.  I am now most certainly wide awake and ready to take on the rest of the day - a trip to the Cotopaxi Refuge.  David and Rich are brave enough to do the jump again, but I’m more than happy to get dressed and warm again. 

After trekking back to the hostel, we almost immediately jump into a van and head off to the Cotopaxi Refuge which is a cabin close to the base camp of Cotopaxi where climbers ready themselves for the hike to the top.  We are dropped off in a car park and have to clamber up a steep path for 45 minutes to reach the Refuge.  After many stops to try to get our next breath we reach the Refuge at a height of 4810m.  After stopping for some tea and cake we head back to the van and it’s time for the mountain biking. 

It’s just over 20 km back to the hostel and the first 10 km are down the side of Cotopaxi – a very steep and winding road (if you can call it a road, bumpy-dirt track would be a more appropriate term).  On the bike, I have to keep my hands on the brakes all the time and that’s not even enough.  The speed that you pick up without even peddling is scary at times.  I love every minute of this.  It’s been so long since I’ve been on a bike.  Towards the end it starts to rain, then pour, then thunder.  There’s mud sparking up everywhere and I get covered from head to toe.  Eventually we approach the hostel and now there are hills to get over.  I’m exhausted and have to get off and push.  Then reach a hill top jump back on, speed down and very quickly fall off after hitting the verge and losing control of the bike.  No damage down.  Get up and finally get back to the hostel.  I need to do more mountain biking.  I almost forgot how much I loved it.

Elisha has now arrived at the hostel too.  After dinner everyone in the hostel sits around the open fire having a few drinks and telling stories of their travels.  Chris, one of the volunteers, tells us how he walked from Georgia to Seattle in the USA.  Not hitchhiking, but walked.  Great stories to tell.  A very interesting guy.

Another volcano hike planned for tomorrow – Pasochoa.