We spent another few days in Banos taking in the countryside and friendly people, there was a independence festival in Quito (capital of Ecuador) starting on December 1st so we took the bus there, Quito was pretty expensive by South American standards, and not the nicest city we've ever been to it was meant to be dangerous after 10 in the evening and was a busy thriving town and rather disappointingly the festivities weren't properly kicking off for a few days! After 2 days (and visiting the important museums and churches) we decided we'd had enough and headed back to Banos [View Full Entry]

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Nous avons organisé notre séjour au parc national de Cotopaxi avec notre hotel, Secret Garden, qui a aussi quelques chambres á proposer lá bas. Le matin, aprés 1h30 de route, la jeep nous a déposé á l'auberge, et lá, c'était comme le paradis. Loin du bruit et de la pollution de Quito, nous étions dans les montagnes, entourés de 9 volcans, certains toujours actifs. A Quito, nous avions gagné un quizz et le premier prix était une nuit pour deux á Cotopaxi. Alors nous avons profité de l'aubaine et pris la "suite nuptiale", petite maison avec étage. Le rez de chaussé [View Full Entry]

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Once we left our hostel in Quito we arrived at their sister hostel in Cotopaxi. This hostel was like a paradise exceot for the temperature as it is 3500 meters in the mountains! On our arrival we were given our lunch and then brought for a short trip to a near by waterfall followed by the 4 dogs of the house. The house itself sits on two hecters of land and overlooks the giant volcano which is still active. That evening we played some Extreme Jenga, had a beer and went to bed. On Saturday morning (My Birthday), we were collected [View Full Entry]

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I've just had a brilliant (though very tiring) weekend in Cotopaxi National Park. It started with a very early morning on saturday. I left the house at 6am and made my way to the South American Explorers Clubhouse in Quito. After introductions and a run through of the plan for the weekend we set off for Cotapaxi National Park. We arrived at Languna de Limpiopunga (3,800m the highest I'd ever been though not for long!) with the sun shining and blue skies. We set off along the lake towards Ruimiñahui (Central peak, 4,631m). Mark (one of the guides) setted a slow [View Full Entry]

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Bonjour, comme derniers preparatifs avant l'ascencion de Cotopaxi (le plus haut volcan actif au monde, 5900m), nous avons decide de passer qques jours dans les sources thermales de Papallacta (3300m, il faut s'aclimater tout de meme!). On s'est bien repose! Donc, vendredi matin, nous sommes partis de Quito a 9h00 avec tout l'equipement necessaire pour l'ascension. Nous avons marche jusqu'au refuge (4800m), puis avons pratiquer comment marcher sur un glacier avec des crampons et un piolet. On s'est couche vers 18h, mais c'etait tout simplement impossible de dormir ( a cause du froid et du [View Full Entry]

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We have been having a wonderful time here a Secret Garden Cotopaxi, we had seen a leaflet about this place at another hostel and the setting looked great, and we haven´t been disappointed. We have decided to go over the budget a little here but has all been well worth it. Heading south from Quito to the hostel again we had a clear day and could see the brilliant volanoes. The hostel is set just outside the National Park Cotopaxi in the quiet countryside and set with the most amazing view of Cotopaxi which has you just mesmorised. We have spent [View Full Entry]

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We made the decision that we would not climb right to the top of Cotopaxi - a huge snow capped volcano near Quito that rises to almost 6000m. Instead, we booked a night at the Secret Garden Cotopaxi, which is an eco-hostel that has no electricity but fantastic views of a number of volcanoes. It´s a lovely, lovely place to stay and it is so peaceful and quiet, however it does cost $25 per night for a dorm bed although this does include meals and snacks. The hostel is really well organised so within minutes of arriving we were donning wellies [View Full Entry]

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What a fantastic day we had on Volcan Cotopaxi :-))))) We left Latacunga at 8am (Ecuador is great, things work here, people do what they say when they say) to drive up into the Parque Nacional. When we got to the first stop - the museum, we were a bit concerned, it was misty, cloudy, raining and overcast but by the time we got to Laguna de Limpiopungo at 3800m we were above at least some of the weather, but the volcano itself was still not visible. From the lake we drove up to the car park at 4500m from where [View Full Entry]

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JULY 13TH. SECRET GARDEN. COTOPAXI NARIONAL PARK. 3500M. GETTING COLD "No its not my kinda scene, footprints on the other side remind me of where i have been" -POWDERFINGER Any chance i get, i like to ride on top of a bus, truck or train. When our driver said that two of us had to ride in the back of the truck i jumped at the opportunity. Unfortuntately if i knew who i would be sharing the scenery with i may have thought twice. Not for the first time has some obnoxious yank spoiled the ambience. For some reason he felt [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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