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Hey folks, so we left you in Santa Cruz in our last blog entry. After our 4 day trek in the beautiful mountains we were ready for some chill out time on the beach. Therefore Mancora, a little place on the North west coast of Peru, was our next port of call.
We’d initially booked into what was a highly recommended hostel. However, we were slightly horrified to see lots of teenyboppers everywhere and particularly horrified when they told us that it was a pirate theme that night and all you can drink for 20 soles!! The accommodation was also a complete mozzy fest. So we took a dander up the beach contemplating what we should do and bumped into a couple from our gap tour. They showed us their gaff and I’m not joking when I say 5 star luxury, Jacuzzi, swimming pool, massive rooms, restaurant, bar etc and all for 20 squid a night....bargain booze! To top it off the place was owned by a big Scots man who reminded us of Rab C Nesbitt, hilarious. Needless to say we swiftly moved our gear to this heavenly abode!
The beach was simply gorgeous and a complete surfing
mecca. Neil and I attempted to surf again one morning and I got told off by some woman for being in “her wave”. In fairness she was an awesome surfer but she looked like a man, so I had to laugh!
So we chilled there for 4 days and it was complete paradise, one of my fav places so far. Thereafter, we had to tear ourselves away and decided to travel to Puerto Lopez, on the coast of Ecuador.
Puerto Lopez itself is a dump, nothing compared to the lovely Mancora but it’s the place to go whale watching which of course we did. We saw 5 big hump back whales which was pretty spectacular to say the least. We then went to Isle de la Plata and saw Blue Footed Boobies and Fraggat birds, see pics, really cool.
Thereafter, we headed to Montanita, one hour south of Puerto Lopez and it was gringo central but ok for 2 nights. Here I rekindled my love for surfing and managed to stand up a good few times. Much more enjoyable without he/she assholes shouting at me!
From Puerto Lopez we took an overnight bus to Quito, the capital
of Ecuador. It was v reassuring to hear that this bus was a regular target for armed robberies but anyhoo on we hopped!
We spent the first two days deciding which tour operator to book our trek up Cotopaxi with. This is the world’s highest active volcano and at 5897m it’s 2m higher than Kilimanjaro! Neil was not at all enamoured with prospect of sleeping at a refugio at 4800m and getting up at midnight to start our 10 hour trek up the mountain! However, the crampons and ice axes won in the end.
The couple from the gap tour were still travelling with us at this point and they too were doing Cotopaxi. On Sat morning we were all picked up by these two golden oldies, veterans of the mountains so to speak. We soon realised that they were a pair of humourless buggers who barely spoke a word to us.
We parked in the car park and were told we had to carry all the food they’d bought up to the refugio, one hour’s walk away. We began the dander with all our gear and at this point Neil threw a paddy wack and shouted that
this was the last f’in mountain we were climbing, ha ha. This wasn’t even the beginning of the hike, clearly it did not bode well!
We eventually got a couple of hours sleep before waking up at midnight and putting every layer of clothing in our possession on - freezing.com! Around 1.30am we were off. About an hour in we put the crampons on and began walking on the ice. We were roped up, the guide in front, then me and Neil was last. I thought it was great fun, however, Neil was a different story. About 2 hours in he confessed he was having difficulties but after a wee pep talk and lots of mini breaks, he was fine.
Eventually the sun came up after what seemed like an eternity. This was probably worse however as you were then able to see the remainder of the climb which was hellish. It was vertical steep and at one point we actually had to climb. I was less than impressed with our guide who by this stage was being a complete arse. He kept tugging at the rope as if to say hurry up, I felt like putting my
axe through his skull...! However, at this proper climbing point he came into his own in terms of being the biggest arse ever! He simply said copy me! Well I’ve never thrown an ice axe into an ice wall and fecking well climbed up the thing so I yelled the whole way up, “what the hell am I supposed to do”, meanwhile Neil had my crampons practically in his face! But the joke of it was, that wasn’t even the summit, we’d another 40min climb left....aaahhh!!
The final ascent was equally emotional, and the 2 of us were absolutely destroyed by the time we reached the top. As luck would have it, 20 mins before our arrival at the summit, the beautiful sunrise was replaced by a blizzard from nowhere. Minus 15 degrees C, at 6000m, couldn’t see the hand in front of your face.... maybe Neil had a point after all... naaah, never!
Due to our emotional and physical state on the summit, which was probably at an all time low, we didn’t manage to take any photos, not that you could see anything anyway. However, the other couple took a few photies to prove presence at
the top of the mountain!
We had to start heading back immediately due to the bad weather. This entailed absailing down the vertical drop we previously climbed. Everyone else had been lowered individually but due to our guide’s impatience and utter ignorance he lowered Neil and I together at the same blasted time! He lowered me at such a velocity that I crashed into Neil’s head, my crampons literally in his face which he had to push away. Neil was shouting and meanwhile I was banging off these ice walls...I thought I was in my own version of ‘Touching the Void’! Neil then shouted at the guide, “this is our holiday so you go at our pace,” with a lot of f’in and jeffin in between! No tip for him.
Anyway, after all that we eventually made it back to the refuge, tired, sore and .....relieved. It was an accomplishment to say the least and we’re both very proud of ourselves. We think it is fair to say, we’re a pair of true mountaineers!
From Quito we headed 3 hours south to a little place called Banos. Here we did a variety of activities which mainly included
hiring buggies and almost losing our lives on the roads in these death traps, see pics. Neil and I also hired a jeep like contraption in order to drive to the base of an active volcano, the name of which escapes me right now. On our way there an old man waved us down and hopped in the back of the jeep. He told us where to park in order to get the best view of the volcano. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw what he was carrying, only a half-metre long machete, I thought we were gonners. It turned out he was only looking for a tip!!! Another activity included getting totally bluttered and singing karaoke till the cows came home.
Next stop Buenos Aires and the arrival of Neil’s mate, Neil....yeehaa!
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lush
hey lanne - i am majorly impressed with your tan, best ever?! sounds like a tough journey up that volcano, fair play to you 2, but the photos of the snow are gorge and i am impressed by your determination... dying for a holiday after seeing you lushing it up in the hammock!! me and justy are off to the coast (of england) this wknd, never ever been to the beach in this land... xxx