Trip to Tungurahua and Cotapaxi

---

Early Friday morning my brother, sister, and I caught a bus to Baños. I had a class trip there scheduled for the Saturday and Sunday, so we just left ahead of them. Our first day, I chose to stay on level ground and write postcards home while Jason and Chey hiked. Their hike ended up being an almost vertical crawl. Later we has some dinner in which my brother and I continued our taste testing of lasagna everywhere we went.

Saturday morning we were supposed to meet the two buses of students at Las Parajos just outside Baños. Once there, which was a dusty construction site, the professor changed his mind and they were going somewhere else first. So we hopped on the first bus that came by. It was full full, so we wedged ourselves in between the seats. After several more phone calls to my friends on the bus and the prof (who really wasn’t certain where they were going), the three of us just jumped off the bus in Pelileo - a random dirt town. Then the prof called and said he would pick us up there “on the main road by the jeans shops… jeans… like the pants”. Now, I’ve met people that gave bad directions, but we were in a town that was big enough to have several “main roads” and about 100 “jeans shops” on every block. It apparently was a market town that specialized in jeans. Somehow, after running around the town and giving up, I turned around and there was the Civil Defense truck followed by two buses of gringos driving by. Luck was on our side.

We headed to high point across from Tungurahua and the professor gave a TV interview for the journalists that were tagging along. Then we drove to Catalo - a refugee camp city for refugees of the volcano. There we handed out supplies that were donated.

Our next stop was at the mighty, erupting Tungurahua itself. We were in the Red Zone - the area where the majority of lava and debris will go if there was a large explosion. From that point, we could see the volcano erupting and we could feel it rumble. Talk about exciting!

After a few more stops we got dropped off in Baños for the night. The room I was sharing with Jason and Chey had queensize bunkbeds! Flashbacks… We got some dinner (my brother and I had Volcano Lasagna) and than found a quiet, outside area that had a bar and little area with seats, couches, a hammock, and a fire. Perfect for a few hours. Then came the fun part. We went to the Cubano nightclub and danced all night. A few more girls from our class showed up to. Around 1am we went to another place that was sketchy, but less crowded. It was fun until I was the only gringo guy and the natives were getting restless. I had the women and they had nothing. So once the ploys of me being a husband didn’t work anymore, it was time to go.

I woke up at 5:30am and said goodbye to my brother and sister. They had to catch a 6am bus back to Quito for their flight. I missed them instantly. Then I was off my class to the volcano Cotapaxi, one of the most dangerous in Ecuador - it’s big, ornery, and does more damage than usual. We worked our way up to 18,000ft to the location where a large section of the volcano collapsed inward, just below the beginning of the glacier. (You know a volcano is big when it has its own glacier) It was cold, very cold. As the prof spoke it began to snow to the point that I couldn’t see him. Then we raced/slipped/surfed down the side of the hole several hundred feet. It was fun until we had to get back up! Untrained bodies at 18,000ft do not do very well climbing a vertical sand dune. The entire area surrounding the volcano for miles was desolate. It was like a desert with black sand. It really put into perspective the power of the volcano.

All of us, wet and tired, filed back into the buses and headed back to Quito. The weather reminded me of home.

---

Photos

Tungurahua
View of Banos which is at the base of Tungurahua.

Tungurahua
We are standing at the base of the volcano.

Tungurahua
We can feel it rumble.

Red Zone
This is where the lava flowed in 2006. And where it will flow soon.

Tungurahua
maybe not all man

Tungurahua
maybe not all man

Comments

[Mark Schroder]

You're Still ALIVE!!
Dude you're still alive. AWESOME!!