Snakes & Mountains

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Hi from Quito again,

We just finished our volunteer time at La Hesperia. We really enjoyed the time we spent there, but are excited to move on to new and different things! Such as going to the Galapagos Islands on Monday for three more weeks of volunteering! We heard from some volunteers at La Hesperia who knew people who had volunteered there who said it was absolutely amazing. I´m really excited, but am enjoying the few days we have off from work.

At La Hesperia we met another couple from Canada (Kelsey and Matt) who are traveling Ecuador and Peru. They left La Hesperia at the same time we did. Zack and Matt left Quito this morning to hike up the second highest mountain in Ecuador, Cotopaxi. It´s elevation is around 19,000 feet! They hired a guide and rented equipment and will get to the basecamp today. They will get used to the elevation, get a bit of sleep, and start hiking at 12:30am to be at the summit by sunrise. They need to descend soon after sunrise because the snow will start to melt. Kelsey and I are relaxing until they get back tomorrow at 2...except for this morning when we decided to go to a ¨vivarium¨that houses 87 live snakes, but only found it after walking forever and after we gave up searching. It was really cool though...we spent a while watching a huge snake shed its skin. Really gross. Tonight the plan is to lounge around Kelsey´s homestay, make rice krispie treats, and watch movies. And drink cervezas of course.

I´m sure Zack will have more to say about his hike tomorrow or Sunday! We´ll try to post some pictures!

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