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Blogs from Cotopaxi, Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 4
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October 19th 2009
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 place, due to the altitude, as we meandered through the paramo and then headed up to the top of a grassy ridge. Here we had a rest taking in the views and eating some of ... read more
October 11th 2009
An early departure from our house had us in the back of a truck with mountain bikes on the roof, heading straight towards Cotopaxi National Park. This park is Ecuador's premier Andean sanctuary, housing the country's second highest peak, which is also the highest active volcano in the world. It's summit is 5897m above sea level, and demands dedication, adjustment to altitude, and excellent physical condition. "The first refuge", located at 4800m, is reserved for the more laid back Cotopaxi experience... AKA me! A bumpy drive brought us to the base of the volcano, where we were promised a "short" hike to the cabin. This "short" hike yet again proves my point of the special "Ecuadorian time zone". Two hours later I stumbled into the cabin, completely drained and out of breath from the drastic change ... read more
October 8th 2009
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 bruit de nos 30 autres colocs). A minuit, nous avons dejeuner et nous avons debute l'ascension a 1h am au clair de la lune. Comme c'etait difficile!!! Pour les 2, nous n'avions jamais fait de montagne plus difficile, a cause de ... read more
September 9th 2009
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 three days here and really enjoyed and savoured, the food has been brilliant. Set at 3500m it wasn´t as cold as we had been expecting, our room was nice and the fire kept it warm ... read more
Cotopaxi - Up Above the Clouds!
Published: August 28th 2009South America » Ecuador » Centre » Cotopaxi
August 17th 2009
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 and clambering up and down a river to a waterfall. The next day we headed to Cotopaxi to climb up to 5000m where the glacier begins. The weather was horrendous and as we walked cold ... read more
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August 7th 2009
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 we had to hike about 1km in distance and up 300m in altitude to the refugio at 4800m. This is tough, at this altitude it's difficult to breathe, the path is volcanic sand and pebbles ... read more
August 5th 2009
Cotopaxi Summit Avenue of volcanoes 5823 metres High (2 days) I stayed at the Secret Garden hostel in the Cotopaxi national park 2 hours south of Quito, Cotopaxi Mountain is 5823 metres high, it is even a few metres higher than Kilimanjaro, So our climb started on a Tuesday afternoon in August with my friend from England Richard a journalist working in Asia, We was driven by 4by4 to 4500 metres to where we would stay in the refuge for one night, The first day all we would do is walk from the car park to our accommodation 600metres in heavy windy conditions with all our equipment good practice for the next day, Then unpack have lunch and prepare for the night climb to the summit which would involve our guide teaching us different techniques when ... read more
July 17th 2009
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 the need to knock back a sixpack of the local pilsner along the way and proceeded to belch (not burp) uncontrollably the entire trip, his empty bottles left to rattle at the bottom of the ... read more
Mancora to Quito, including a rather big mountain
Published: July 9th 2009South America » Ecuador » Centre » Cotopaxi
July 9th 2009
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 ... read more
June 22nd 2009
Having enjoyed the climbing and acclimatizing on Volcan Carihuyrazo, I was ready and in need of another challenge. So it didn’t take a lot of arm twisting for me to sign up for the mountain that most people come to Ecuador for - the perfectly coned Volcan Cotopaxi. With the mountain’s peak at 5897m and even steeper than Carihuyrazo, the challenge was certainly a tall one. After a couple of days rest I set off, armed with a guide, for some 3 hrs by car to Parque Nacional Cotopaxi. We drove to the refugio at 4800m and spent the afternoon trekking around that and to the snowline for acclimatization. After an early dinner, it was early to bed in the freezing cold refugio... we were scheduled to start the climb at midnight. As the climb should ... read more
