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Published: November 25th 2008
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Picturesque
Looking up at the peak After a 2 hour journey in the back of a jeep we arrived at probably one of the nicest places we´ve been to so far. Our accommodation was officially called a hostel but as Vicki said, it felt more like we were invited into this family´s home for a few days. Called the Secret Garden Cotopaxi, it is owned by an Aussie guy and his Ecuadorian wife. They also own the hostel we stayed in in Quito and the advertisements for Cotopaxi were such a draw that we decided to give it a crack and in no way were we disappointed. Tarquin (I know!) started the Secret Garden in Quito and it went so well that himself and his wife were able to pursue their dream of opening and living in a place in such a beautiful surrounding
We got our own "Honeymoon Suite" (settle down!) and this consisted of a little cabin. On the bottom floor we had a sunken bath and our own fire stove that we could light whenever we wanted or in our case, whenever we were able to. Upstairs was our bedroom around which there were innumerable candles. There was no electricity and I loved
A room with a view
This was what we got to look out at every morning from our "honeymoon suite" it. Vicki on the other hand was concerned about her hair because hair dryers were non existant in this neck of the woods
We met a few more people the night we arrived and made plans for our stay. The next day we set off early to climb the active snow-capped Cotopaxi volcano. Unlike Pacaya in Guatemala, we didn´t see any lava so the cigars stayed in my pocket but it was certainly equally as enjoyable. At 5,897m this is Ecuador´s second highest peak but we didn´t manage to make it this high. Us mere mortals could only manage to get as far as the glacier which was a paltry 5,000 metres. It was some trek because when we got past the loose sand and gravel we then had to deal with the snow. We also had to come to terms with the altitude which really took it out of us. Even without the altitude this would be a seriously tiring hike but we managed it and we´re all a little better off for it. There was also the incentive of getting a mug of hot chocolate at the refuge, a little before the glacier and this proved to
And off we go
The start of our hike up Cotopaxi be a surprisingly good motivator to a certain young Maguire. When we reached the glacier we had a well earned rest and took in the views which were breath-taking. Before we knew it however, our guide was on his way back down. We were still pretty exhausted so we resorted to somewhat unvonventional methods for our descent. Vicki, ever the trend setter had a small running start and then slid down part of the snow side of the volcano on her rear. Soon everyone was at it. Not one to be outdone, I found a nice steep track and put on my rain coat. With a healthy running start I turned into my own snow board and I was off like a shot, darting down the side of Cotopaxi on my chest. It´s surprising how quickly you can gather speed when you do something stupid like that. Keep that in mind! In no time at all we were at the bottom and on our way back to the hostel to warm up by the fire and chill out for the evening. That night one of the guys at our hostel proposed to his lady friend. The following night was a
All smiles
Little did we know! heavy one, all in the name of celebration of course
The next day we tried our hand on the oul zip lines but before that I decided to get up a little early and try my hand at trout fishing in the river nearby. One of the local lads who worked there took me for an hour. As my mother always said, a bad work man blames his tools but let me tell you how crap these tools were...the fishing rod was a stick of bamboo with a hook on the end of a line. I must say I really enjoyed it and have a new found admiration for the locals who use little more than that to catch their dinner or what they sell for a living. Apparently there are some locals who can just bat the fish out of the water with their bare hands. Do we believe that?
We enjoyed another bumpy ride to the site with a number of heads bashing off the interior of the jeep but it was definitely well worth it. We geared up (as we say in the biz) and then made our way up a path to our first
Meeting one´s maker
Brad coming to terms with what´s ahead of 7 zip lines. It didn´t take long for us to get the hang of it and it was certainly a thrill but we were all pretty confident by the end of it and some of us, not to name names, were traversing gorges completely upside down and with no hands. Before we finished for the day we did a wall climb. I have to say, this was scary! The base of the climb was about 100 feet up and the climb itself was about 25 or 30 feet with steel markings to climb up and close to the top there was an over hang. Easy it was not! The safety line was attached wrapped around one of the guides and I´d give him about 2 stone less than me so if I fell he would´ve gone up as I went down a la Tom & Jerry or some other such. Also a rope falling down on one of the girl´s heads didn´t fill us with confidence on the safety standards of this crowd. It was another great time and something we´ll remember for years to come
That night we went on the lash!
For dinner we had
On her way!
There´s Vicki down there...somewhere some beautiful trout, fresh that morning and washed it down with some beer and rum then some more...beer and rum. After dinner we were talking with the owner about a number of topics from religion to language and he expressed some interesting ideas, none of which I would care to repeat in public. He seemed a nice guy and it´s one thing if you have certain radical views but you don´t openly offer them and especially not to your customers. As a side note we´ve actually already met some really interesting people so far on our travels. After some time a number of us found ourselves crammed into one of the cabins with a load of drink and a guitar. The results were both hilarious and painful
The next day was an early start with seriously sore heads and 6 of us, who were by now a crew, began our trek further afield...
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Colette
non-member comment
great pics
Hi travellers. Brilliant to talk to you this evening you sounder great. The pictures of the pair of you are very good. They will make a great 'scrap book' when you come home! You are having amazing experiences, the kind of stuff most people only dream about. Savour and enjoy. Love xxx