Mighty Cotopaxi

The following day, Christian, Emma, Andy and I decided to head to Cotopaxi to hike to the refuge. Cotopaxi is one of the world´s highest active volcanoes and visually stunning. As we drove up to the car park the distance to the refuge looked incredibly short. I was the first to say ¨That´s it? I feel like a wuss!!¨ But I was quickly eating my words as this is by far the highest altitude that I have ever been at. The refuge is at 4800 meters or 15,748 feet. The highest I had ever been before this was Breckenridge Colorado at 10,000 feet so I definitely felt the altitude. The hike up the refuge was straight up and through volcanic ash so I was taking small steps all the way up. We were being passed by some people who did the summit to the top and about half said they had made it. One guy was with his girlfriend and was visibly exhausted. He said he made it but his girlfriend made it 100 ft from the top and couldn´t move any further. This is a serious climb.


The hike up from the car park.


Me and the mountain.


Andy & Emma.


Victory! This was the top for us. After the
snowline the serious trekking begins.


Enjoying some soup & hot chocolate for lunch.


We lucked out with the weather. It was a
great day.


Back to the bottom.



Our friendly guide Carlos.


Headed home!

After Cotopaxi, I headed back to work in Quito and was pretty beat. Though it was a short trip we did a lot in 2 days and I enjoyed seeing the beautiful countryside of Equador.

Down On The Farm

Last Monday I decided to take advantage of my day off, which is every Tuesday and head into the rural countryside of Equador. I was ready to get out of the city and Secret Garden just built a new hostel in the town of Pedregal which I was excited to check out. The ride to the hostel was up a windy cobblestone road but I finally arrived and was in heaven! Katherine & Tarquin, the owners of Secret Garden have been building their dream hostel for the past year and let me tell you, The Secret Garden Cotopaxi is amazing. The hostel sits atop a hill looking out over fields full of horses, alpacas and dairy cows. They also have multiple animals including rabbits, horses, cows, dogs, cats, guinea pigs and one fat pig named Seymour who was adorable and appreciated all my table scraps.


The Secret Garden Cotopaxi.


The skylight above is made from
Ron Del Rio rum bottles of which
many are consumed at The
Secret Garden.


The ¨loo with a view¨!


The view when I opened the door
to my dorm......


The perfect place to chill out.


Cuba and Libre. Named after the South
American rum and coke.


Mooooooo!


Unfortunately, some of these bunnies will be
made into bunny stew. :(


I think Seymour liked me.


Emma and I relaxing in the hammocks.

On the first day my friend Christian and I went horseback riding. The scenery was fantastic but my horse would not gallop or trot, just walk...very slowly. Despite all my kicking and kissing noises, it reminded me that it was in control. It refused to walk on the road and insisted to walk just along the edge which meant I was being dragged through every pricker bush and tree branch on the trail. Christian´s horse wasn´t much better and preferred to eat every 2 minutes. 6 hours was a long time on these horses, but it was beautiful, offering some great views of the mighty Cotopaxi volcano.


You can see in her eyes that she hates me.



Headed off on the trail.



The mighty Cotopaxi is in the distance.


Our guide visiting one of the local families.


Adorable Equadorian boy.

After our horse ride I was beat and spent the rest of the day relaxing in the hammock, enjoying a delicious meal of ricotta and spinach pasta and chatting by the fire with friends. It was the perfect place to relax for a couple days.

Life in Quito

Since I started working here in Quito I hadn´t really gotten out of the city and was eager to do some hiking. So a group of us headed to Guagua Pichincha which is the active volcano located just outside of the city of Quito. Unfortunately, it just wasn´t in the cards for us because it had rained the past 2 days and the windy, dirt (now mud) road was blocked by a bus that got stuck. The entire group was really bummed and our guide felt awful and said that in his 17 years of guiding, he has never had to cancel a trip to Guagua Pinchincha. It figures!!! So we decided to go up on the Teleferico which is the cable car that takes you high above the city. This usually offers great views of the city but it was so misty you could barely see 50 meters in front of you. We had some lunch in town and called it a day. I took a few photos (which included some great shots of numerous Equadorians trying to pull the bus out of the mud!) but unfortunately I didn´t have a memory card in and I don´t have the original cable for my camera so they are stuck inside my camera. But my friends Emma and Andy will be sending me pics so I will post a few then.

Since then, I have been working 6 days a week here and really enjoying it. Every night the guests sit at the long communal table and eat, chat and drink. The atmosphere at the hostel is very warm and inviting and encourages conversation, of which I have had many interesting ones with people from all over the world. The computer on the terrace also has close to 17,000 songs so I am enjoying my stint as DJ Teen!! ;) Staff faves include Superstylin by Groove Armada, Dashboard by Modest Mouse, Staring at the Sun by TV On The Radio and Ghostwriter by RJD2.


Working hard.

The hostel is also very eco-conscious which I love. All soda and liquor bottles are saved and reused in Equador but they don´t have a formal recycling system so the hostel does it´s best and reuses cardboard & newspaper for the fire. They also have energy efficient lightbulbs and they have water bottles with purified water all over the hostel to cut down on the usage of disposable plastic water bottles. All of the produce is bought from a local farmer and sodas are served from large bottles in glasses to reduce the use of plastic. It is nice to be working for a hostel that cares about the environment and is trying to make a difference.


Bottles are reused as windows here
at the hostel.


The hostel grows most of it´s own
herbs and there are lots of plants.


A view of the ground floor. Mosaics
are used all over the hostel and most
are made from remnants from the
renovation of the building.

One day I decided to check out the Basilica del Voto Nacional located in the Old Towne of Quito. The basilica was built in 1873 and is a major landmark in the city. It´s structure and style is compared with two of the great cathedrals worldwide: Saint Patrick's Cathedral, New York, and the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris. It is distinguished for the substitution of the classic gargoyles by reptiles and native amphibians of Equador. This church is really spectacular and you can climb up in the clock tower which offers great views of the city. Here are a few shots.


Basilica del Voto National.


Behind me you can see the Cerro El Panecillo
which is the figure of Virgin Mary that looms
over the city.


A game of football in the courtyard.


A cool view of the city.


Alex and Sebastien enjoying the view.

So, life is good here in Quito. My friend Julie Campbell arrives tonight and I cannot wait to show her around the city and take some trips. She will be traveling with us in Equador until I am done work and then we are headed up to Colombia along with my new friend Liz & Jules. I am eagerly awaiting her arrival!

Working in the Garden

Since I arrived in Quito on the 3rd, time has flown by. I am working at The Secret Garden hostel as a volunteer for the month. It is a pretty sweet deal. I work 48 hours a week and in return I get a free apartment, free food, free alcohol, free internet, 20 hours of free spanish lessons and discounts on trips in the area. You may be wondering why I would want to work on my vacation. But let me just say that working is in the loosest sense of the word here. Don't get me wrong, I have to check people in, check people out, serve dinner and breakfast and do dishes, but it is on the 5th floor terrace of the hostel with a beautiful view of the city. Half the time I am playing Cuarenta, an Equadorian card game that I will definitely be bringing back home. I also work with a cool group of people and get to chat with lots of interesting people from all over the world. It's pretty much the best job.


Sure beats the view from my old cubicle.


An overhead view of a nearby school.


First night on the job was BBQ night so we got
creative with the coal.


My fellow American Liz (Seattle) and
I working hard!


Breakfast and dinner are served everyday on
the terrace.


My new address - Calle Jose Antepara.


My apartment for the month.


Cuarenta!! Hours of our days are spent playing
this game. It's seriously addicting.


Every Wednesday night is Equadorian Night
with live music and traditional food.


Maria, Me, Sandra and Liz. These ladies sure
can cook and are so funny.


Natalie and I. Nat and I are roomies in the apt.

So yea, things here in Quito are great. Getting used to the altitude took a couple days but now I can run up and down the stairs without much effort. Quito is the second highest capital in the world at 9,350 feet so you definitely feel it. Everyday when I get up to the terrace to start work I look out at the stunning view and I am in awe of the beauty of this city. I am living in the Old Historic part of Quito and spend afternoons just walking down the cobblestone streets and through Quito's many parks. The people here are so friendly and genuine and are always asking me where I am from, how I like Quito, where I am going in Equador...I am headed to Guagua Pichincha tomorrow which is the volcano located in Quito. I am excited to get out of the city and do some serious hiking. Should be great!

Lima Layover

The quest to get to Quito was not as easy as we had originally planned. We arrived in Lima late Friday night of the 28th and were eager to make our way up to Equador. Unfortunately, we were trying to get a bus during the holiday season and it just wasn´t gonna happen until Tuesday. Which meant we were stuck in Lima for 4 days. Neither Julie or I was thrilled about this at first. Our hostel was on a noisy street corner across from a McDonalds that took up a full city block. We had spent a lot of time in Rio sightseeing and being a tourist and I was kind of over it by the time we got to Lima. I was ready to be in Quito and be in a place for awhile. But we made the best of it and explored the city. We went to an open air market where they sold fresh fruit, meat, spices and ate lunch at a local joint, elbow to elbow with Peruvians, Jules and I were the only gringas in the place. It was damn good and damn cheap. We also visited Museo Larco which had an impressive collection of Inca artwork and an Erotic Gallery full of pottery of Incans in compromising positions. All jokes aside, it was really interesting and great to go with an art teacher who educated me on many of the techniques used.


A nice repousse piece.


Interpret this how you will.

New Years in Lima was a good time. We went to a club which was decent and then tried to bargain our way into the most expensive club in Lima. They weren´t having it so we called it a night with a little late night KFC. On New Years in Peru, everyone wears yellow and it is custom that the women wear yellow underwear. We didn´t find this out until later but we did have some festive yellow sunglasses.


New Years 2008.

We finally got on our bus to Quito, of which the final destination was Caracas! Our bus ride took 38 hours but the trip to Caracas was 5 days long. I cannot imagine. By day two I had read my book, written every thought in my journal and was going a bit stir crazy. However, an adorable little Peruvian man made the trip much more enjoyable. I had dozed off on the bus and when I awoke I had a piece of chocolate next to my head, courtesy of our little friend. And I do mean little! He had to have been no more than 4´8¨ and was so kind. He owned a store in Lima and had all kinds of little candies and trinkets that he insisted on sharing with us and everyone else on the bus. He told us he was 75 and was going to visit his son in Caracas.


How adorable is he? It´s hard to
make Jules look tall, but he does!


Enjoying a coconut at the Equadorian border.

The bus ride out of Lima was incredibly eye opening for me. Having spent the past two months in two of the more developed countries in South America, I haven´t felt much of a culture shock. But the poverty was very apparent as we drove out of Lima. Piles of trash were on every street corner and the hills were scattered with multi-colored slums as far as the eye could see. I suddenly felt very far from home and for the first time saw poverty with my own eyes. The 38 hour drive was also extremely beautiful, winding along the coast past massive sand dunes and deserted beaches, small towns and lush jungle. I find that the long hours I spend on buses here is when I really feel connected and aware of this journey that I am on. Winding through different countries, through the window of the bus, vignettes of people´s lives zip by. And though we may have different cultures, different languages, different religions, these simple images remind me of how similar we all really are. Men sitting around a table sharing a laugh, an impromptu soccer match, a boy sitting in his windowsill playing a guitar, women carrying their food from the market, vendors selling their goods, dogs chasing each other in a flurry of dust..these images are what stay with me and remind me why I love to travel.