Hosteria San Mateo Cotopaxi

... Having driven to the Cotopaxi National Park we climbed from 4500 metres to a refuge at 4800 metres. This was hard work through the volcanic ash but I didn´t suffer the altitude sickness of others in my group – I´m only unfit. After an hour at the refuge we did the easier climb to 5000 metres at the base of the glacier on the volcano, 100 metres from the summit. Certainly the highest none airline based ...

... the base of Cotopaxi. He told us that there were no hostels on the park.<br><br>He helped us flag down a bus and we got on for another $3 trip to Muchachi. We finally arrived at Muchachi about 2 hours later than we should have and $6 poorer as a result of our mistakes. We flagged down a UTE taxi who knew where the secret garden was and we paid the obligatory $15. So we ended up paying $31.60. Well it was still cheaper than $40, but more importantly we had ...

... clothes made a reappearance in Cotopaxi - one last cold snap before the beaches!<br><br>Most useless item: Sleeping bags. All the hostels had the best beds and awesome duvets!<br><br>Most useful Spanish phrase: 'Quisiera esta cuy para cena, por favor' (I would like that guinea pig for dinner, please) Used when selecting our guinea pig from the childrens pet collection!<br><br>Tan Status (0-10): 3.5 The colour we got from Peru is hanging in ...

... volcano, but both of us were pretty lazy and pretty tired so we only rode about 2/3rds of the way there. The volcano was clouded over of course, and to further **** me, as we got back towards the farm the clouds blew away and we got a pretty good view! Always the way!<br>Not much else to report for the day, had dinner and was in bed by like 9pm. Think my body will thank me for this one!<br><br>Thursday 24th September<br>Up early for breakfast and then its off ...

... and there was the inevitable Mama Negra herself, which I think was a man dressed in costume with a black mask, on horseback, squirting some liquid onto the fearing onlookers. I believe it is supposed to be flour mixed with water but I could not be sure. Mama Negra rode up and down the fringes of the carnival intimidating people as she or rather he desired. <br><br>Also along the fringes of the carnival were ladies carrying bottles of a pink liquid and small ...

... was winded within the first two minutes. The remaining 118 were less than pleasant, but I managed to haul my wheezing **** all the way. At that point, the nature of our climb changed; although I´d imagined a hike entailing nothing more than steep hills at most, I now found myself climbing (climbing, not walking) up rocks. Rocks that were incresingly steep in incline, leading to increasingly clearer views of the increasingly high falls that would lead to my ...

... t really control them... And the one kept wanting to trot, I´m like to the horse - 'its a 45minute climb, straight up a hill, you sure you don't want to save your energy for later???'. However I soon worked out its all about position, it was a hierarchy thing - mine was the #2 in line and always had to maintain this position... :) It also had the job of hurrying up the #1 horse who was conserving its energy by stopping every 2 minutes... In ...

... felt lucid enough for a conversation. The climb from there to the glacier had a few traverses rather than all uphill so I think this also helped, although the air was noticeably thinner again.<br><br>We finally made it about 2 hours after we started and though I was glad to rest for a bit it was all definitely and totally worth it. I´ve never seen a glacier up close before. Or climbed that high before in my life... and the glacier was breathtakingly ...

... disappointing when it happens. Even worse, was that the young man who served us was being 'coached' by the adults as to what to charge. We could have argued, but, if you're going to spend the rest of the day and night in a very small town ......... <br><br>So we will try and find an internet place later, but in any case, we think it's going to be another hard day tomorrow and the likelihood of us camping out is high.<br><br>roll on the coast, we need it!<br><br>laters

... pas de mal daltitude, on essuie dans la nuit je sais plus au bout de 2-3 heures une vieille tempete de vent et de pluie, Willie pense que ce sera meilleur plus haut on continue. effectivement le temps sameliore mais la temperature diminue! en fait au bout de 4h-4h30 le jour se leve jai pas vu passer les heures de marche de nuit on a fait 1 ou 2 pauses pour boire, mais on a un bon rythme selon Willie, Rodriguo-Fray-et Raphael sont derriere nous. le plus dure arrive! le ...