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Published: October 4th 2006
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I first had the idea of trying to reach the summit of Cotopaxi after hearing about a friend, Rachel's, adventures. Two years later, having made my attempt, I have to admit that she is a far more determined girl than I am! Imagine climbing up a very steep ice-covered slope in crampons in the dark. The closest thing I can liken it to is climbing back up a ski slope with skis on inching slowly up sideways. It was much like that, for 6 hours, at 5000m+ altitude. If that is sounding less like fun and more like torture then I have probably described it fairly accurately! After 4 and a half hours going up we decided that we weren't really having that much fun anymore and with the slow pace we were going wouldn't have made it to the summit before the cut-off time when you have to turn back, so at 5500m decided to head back down.
Going down was actually really scary and I didn't enjoy it at all; pointing your feet down the slope and trusting that the crampons will prevent you from falling forward and sliding all the way to the bottom was not nice!
Glacier Training on Cotopaxi
Check out the ice axe-serious stuff! I am really glad I tried it though as it was a great adventure anyway. We had a really clear night so the stars were amazing and being above the clouds as the sun rose and seeing all the surrounding peaks emerge from the clouds was a truly unforgettable sight. I also felt better when I heard that bad weather at the summit prevented those who made it from even seeing the crater. It would have been a bit gutting to slog all that way and then only see the inside of a cloud!
Climbing Cotopaxi was also a fitting way to end my time in Quito as I have had a little love affair with this volcano since arriving and check its condition every morning from my bathroom window! Now the love affair is over and its time to move on! I've had a busy week trying to fit in other trips before I leave. I spent three days trekking round Papallacta which was like spending time in an enchanted forest. The first day however was marred by driving rain, which may not have been so much of a problem if the clothing we had hired had actually
been waterproof as alleged (same company as the previously redundant sleeping bag, should have guessed really). We were drenched through and the 'hostal' we stayed at had no heating other than a very inefficient wood burner which we spent the night huddled round, not even venturing 50 cm away to a table to play cards as it was too damned cold!
The next day was much better as the rain held off and the scenery was very unusual. We did have to traipse through gallons of mud however which was great fun (luckily the wellies did do their job). It was also very entertaining as the walk was punctuated with squeals as person after person unexpectantly sank knee deep into thick mud and had to be dragged free. On Thursday my persistence with hot springs finally paid off as the ones at Papallacta were beautiful, clear and empty. It was the perfect way to soothe our aching muscles and warm up. We also had a beautiful day for it and the views of Antisana, another volcano, were amazing. I'm definitely going to leave it as third time lucky as I don't think any other hot springs could possibly surpass
those.
I also finally made it to Mindo this week which I have been meaning to do since I arrived. Its only 2 hours from Quito but is lush cloud forest and famous for its abundance of humming birds, butterflies and orchids. I love humming birds and was made up to find a perfect spot to watch them, darting from feeder to feeder, wings whirring away. We spent hours there and my camera practically overheated as I tried to capture these fabulous creatures in action. I have now managed to edit the photos down to a mere thirty!
So that brings me to the end of my time here in Quito. Leaving the family was sad after two months together. I cooked a farewell English roast (roast beef, yorkshire pudding and apple crumble) which all turned out surprisingly well. I think I even managed to get away with convincing everybody that carbonised roast potatoes are traditional in England! In return Guadelupe cooked a traditional meal of beer and crabs and we spent a fine evening merrily smashing crabs with wooden hammers and covering each other with bits of shell and crab juice. A perfect introduction to Ecuador for
Meg! The goodbyes all got a bit too emotional though, amazing me at how settled I felt here. It's been great and I will have nothing but happy memories from this part of my trip. However, new adventures await; Fiona arrives this evening and then the three of us are off to explore more of Ecuador for two weeks before Fi and I head to Brazil. I'm anticipating that these blogs will become less frequent now as I won't be surrounded by internet cafes as in Quito anymore, but I'll try and keep you all posted. Lots of love xx
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Sian
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Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained
Always lovely to hear what you're up to Marielle. I'm trying to think of some ways we can introduce some mountains into the London landscape and the odd hummingbird or two ready for your return!!