Tuesday 1st 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.
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