Equador

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Our first stop in Equador was Quito, despite being the capital the city felt really small. The main reason we stopped here was so I could climb Cotapaxi, a snow capped volcano which is 5879m above sea level. Due to its high altitude only 50% of people make it to the top. As there was only me and one other guy in the group we only had one guide which meant if someone didn’t make it we would both have to go back. This put Cassie off, so she decided to stay in Quito with a couple of friends. It took 2 days to get from Quito to the summit and back, we left at midday and drove for 4 hours through the national park to the base of Cotapaxi. From there we trekked to the base camp at just over 4000 meters. We went to sleep early that evening and awoke at midnight to leave for the summit. It took an hour to reach the snow line where we put on crampons and roped ourselves together. The climb to the summit took 6 hours which was made difficult due to the blizzard. It was a fairly difficult climb although there were only a few sections that we had to climb with ice axes. By the time we reached the top we were exhausted, but we didn’t rest there for long as it was -15 degrees. It was an amazing experience, something I will definaltly do again.

After recovering in Quito for a couple of days we headed South with some friends and set off on the Quilotoa loop. This is a highroad winding through the Andes linking many small villages around the Quilotoa crater lake. For the first part of the journey we hitched a lift on the back of a timber wagon as the driver made deliveries around the villages. The next day we took a local bus to Quilotoa crater then hiked back to the hostel where we were staying. The journey was made more interesting by the locals who had ripped down all the signs showing the way back. This along with them giving false directions was done in hope that they would be hired as guide by lost travelers. Despite this the four of us managed to follow the river out of the valley and found our way back to the hostel without any help.

After a freezing few days in the Andes we headed to Montanita, a surf town on the Pacific coast. Our days here mainly consisted of chilling out in our hammocks, surfing, body boarding and swimming. The town is famous for its seafood and as it was so cheap we decided to become experts. This was the last stop on our short trip through Equador on our way to Peru.

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Photos

Cotapaxi
Blizzard

Quilotoa loop
Quilotoa Crater lake

Cotapaxi
Start of the climb

Cotapaxi
Summit

Quilotoa loop
Cooking in old ladies kitchen

Quilotoa loop
Back of the timber wagon

Quilotoa loop
Chris and Krissy holding on

Quilotoa loop
Quilotoa Crater lake

Quilotoa loop
Quilotoa lake again

Quilotoa loop
Lost puppies

Quilotoa loop
Unwanted guide

Quilotoa loop
Walk down the valley

Montanita
Dave surfing

Montanita
Dave finishing a days surf

Montanita
Fresh Octopus