Blogs from Cotopaxi, Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 9

For three nights I stayed at Tambopaxi, an acclimatization center at the foot of Cotopaxi. There I met Henry, a friend of Fredy’s and also mountain guide. He was very friendly and gave me lots of information about the mountains I was planning to climb in the next few days, and also about other treks that could be useful for my book. So the first day I hiked up to Rumiñahui, which is a beautiful and easy hike; easy, as long as one goes up only the central peak, as the south and north peaks apparently require some technical equipment and experience. First, I had to walk for about an hour from Tambopaxi to Laguna Limpiopungo. It is just along the road through the plain, but it was wonderful in the very early morning hours, as ... read more

I had been on Sincholagua with a group from Quito already a few months ago, however, from the other side. So this time I wanted to approach it from the Cotopaxi National Park. I had been told that I only had to find the bridge to cross the river, and that from there a path would lead up the mountain. So I walked to the Eastern gate of the National Park, and took the road to the left as I had been told. It was amazingly remote landscape, with wild horses running everywhere, the snow covered peak of Cotopaxi to the right, Sincholagua to the left, a vast plain in front of me and strangely shaped peaks in the far distance. There wasn’t a soul anywhere, the only noise came from the black and white seagulls ... read more

Hey Das wuchenänd bini ufem cotopaxi gsi! isch en aktive vulkan ond de gröscht freistehend ide wält. wennmer es bild vo ecuador gseht, ischer sicherlich au debii, zumindescht uf jedem reiseführer als titelbild. d daphne hetmer am mittwuch im uusgang vo ihrere idee verzellt, ond ich han mi halt churz dezue entschlosse mitzgo;-) Am donnschtig hets no es chliises erdbebe geh, womer anschienend gspührt het, aber i has voll verpennt: trotzdem, isch scho chli strange ufen aktive vulkan z stiege, wenn vorher grad azeiche vomene uusbruch vorhande sind( ond de wird au bald mal erwartet..) schlussändlich simmer z vierte am samschtig morge früeh (am sächsi, scho so lang nüm so früeh uufgstande..shit isch das en qual gsi;-) mit em jeep los richtig cotopaxi national park. i han natürlich voll nüt debii zum ufene knapp 6000 meter ... read more

Today we left Quito and drove about two hours south west to visit the famous Cotopaxi Volcano National Park. At 5,897 metres Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in Ecuador and as such, is permanently capped in snow. It is instantly recognizable by it´s completely symmetrical cone shape and is the epitmoe of what one thinks of as a Volcano. However, when we arrived we were disappointed as there was a thick layer of cloud blanketing the entire mountain and we couldn't see a thing. After a brief stop to photograph some Llamas and Alpacas, we got back in the van and headed up the mountain to the car park. Once there we decided that we would hike up to the refuge stop situated at an altitude of 4,800 metres (for our American friends that´s 15,748 ... read more

Hola ! just got back from Cotopaxi national park , we spent the last five days Hiking , biking and horse riding Donna s not so chirpy when she s on a horse or bike !!! we took the bus from Quito to Machachi then pick up truck up the cobbled rd for half an hour to the secret garden where we stayed in our cosy bunk house for 5 days with 6 other room mates . Woke up to a fantastic veiw of cotopaxi volcanoe and the other surrounding volcanoes, of to breakfast then to saddle up the horses , a nice steady trot for 3 hrs then a picnic lunch , we had to shelter for 20 mins to avoid getting wet , Then the charge of the not so light brigade on the ... read more