Blogs from Cotopaxi, Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 3

It is a fact universally acknowledged that every visitor to Ecuador is in want of that perfect cloud-free shot of Cotopaxi. Unfortunately Cotopaxi herself also seems to know this and so, according to every Ecuadorian you ask, hides from tourists. Only nationals it seems are permitted to see her. I initially though this to be another joke at the expense of foreigners cleverly doubling as a get-out-of-jail-free card for tour guides when irate tourists berate him over the fact that their countless photos of their trip to Parque Nacional Cotopaxi are of the black base of a mountain completely shrouded in clouds. Still, we set out on beautifully clear and sunny Sunday at the crack of dawn in order to get a photo of this rather elusive Ecuadorian icon. The most amazing sight of all was ... read more

We set out in the clear morning making a few stops along the way to get used to the altitude and to have some coca tea, buy gloves and see the Cotopaxi National Park displays. Arriving at the carpark we set off up the side of the volcano toward the refugio. The landscape is beautiful, snow capped peaks and all that but Wayne is not enjoying the altitude and then it begins to snow. Beautiful little balls of snow. The refugio appears and then disappears in the clouds as we climb. Hot chocolate, a glorious view (when it can be seen through the snow or clouds) and great conversation whilst Tasha and Nic braved the cold some more to reach the glacier. After lunch and a much quicker and easier walk back down to the car ... read more

En arrivant à Banos et alors que je suis à la recherche d'un guide pour faire du canyoning, je décide de partir grimper le volcan Cotopaxi ! C'était une idée un peu folle, moi qui n'ai jamais fait de haute montagne... Mais il faut bien un début à tout. Mercredi matin, je pars donc pour le parc naturel de Cotopaxi. Avec moi, un couple de hollandais et Milton, notre guide équatorien. La première journée est une journée d'acclimatation à l'altitude, à 3800m. On part faire une rando dans le parc, dans les lagunes où on peut observer des chevaux sauvages. A part un léger mal de tête, je ne ressens pas encore les effets de l'altitude, ce qui est plutôt bon signe. Le lendemain matin, on part en direction du second refuge, à 4800m d'altitude. On ... read more

O dnesku sme vedeli, ze bude velmi narocny a preto sme sa skusili vyzpat co najlepsie, bohuzial, vdaka netesniacemu oknu sme boli hore uz o siestej. Cakal nas vystup na Cotopaxi, co najvyssie az po ladovec, lebo dalej uz trepa specialnu vybavu na lad. Auto ktore nas tam viezlo bolo velmi typicke pre Ekvador- 600.000 km, ziadne pasy, nefungujuce perovanie, ale aj tak to auticko zvladlo bez problemov. Prva zastavka bola laguna Limpiopungo, ktora vznikla a je zasobovana z topiaceho sa snehu. Celu sme si ju obisli a naozaj to stalo za to, dokonca sme videli aj nejake miestne vtaky. A potom prisiel hlavny ciel dnesneho dna, vystupili sme na parkovisku, lebo dalej to uz autom nejde a zacali slapat. Na zaciatku to celkom islo, ale postupne sme museli zastavovat stale castejsie a castejsie, aby sme ... read more

Not only were we tired from horse riding the day before, we were also both pretty saddle sore. My giggling when Rocillo finally decided to run had turned into a wince of pain when we sat down for breakfast! We had an early-ish start driving off into the Cotopaxi National Park. Our guide Luis explained about the nature of Cotopaxi volcano before giving us a tour of the park's museum. Cotopaxi erupts every 100 years and is currently 6 years overdue for its next eruption. Worryingly, in its last eruption it destroyed part of Quito and Latacunga in just 5 minutes, hence the new town in Quito. Add to this the fact its cone shape concentrates the pressure to give a stronger eruption... good job Sophie and I were about to climb this volcano, the highest ... read more