Cotopaxi

After Quito we needed open space. We decided to visit the Secret Garden branch near Cotopaxi, a volcano which many claim is the point on earth closest to the sun. When it was clear you could see the volcano from the patio, but it was cloudy most of the time we were there. It was still a nice view, you'd just have to imagine the peak hiding in the clouds.

The hostel had one dorm, three private rooms, and no electricity. They raised rabbits and guinea pigs and grew much of their own produce, and all meals were included in the price of the room. They had four dogs who would follow you around and loved to go hiking. There was even a sheep, which Stan quickly became friends with.






There was so much space and it was all so lush, so it was nice just to hike around the property. The first day we decided to do the waterfall hike with Sarah and Louise, the two British girls we'd shared a ride with to get there. The staff gave us boots and pointed us to the creek bed and we began splashing our way forward. It involved a lot of wading and clambering over slippery rocks, so Stan went up to the field above to see if he could find an easier way. I stayed below and tried to ignore the girls drawn out conversation about life back home.


The dogs went with us and at first it seemed like they knew the best way to go. We were sort of following them until one tried to jump onto a rock and totally missed. They weren't the best tour guides, but they were funny. They kept running ahead and then looking back at us like we were slowing them down.

It was kind of a strange hike, but I thought it was fun. We saw a pretty cool rainbow on our way back.




The Secret Garden offered a lot of optional activities. They had trips to Cotopaxi, canopy zipline tours, mountain biking adventures, and trail rides. We opted for the horses. I was thrilled that Stan wanted to go because I'd never been riding with him before. Sarah and Louise went with us. We took the horses down the road and ran past the field full of bulls, then we headed up the mountain. We stopped for a snack just as we rode into the clouds, then we headed back down. It was a really nice way to spend a morning. There were some really cool views of the valley, too.














Looking back on it now, I think one of the best things about Cotopaxi was the people we met there. We heard a lot of crazy travel stories, got a lot of tips on the best places to visit on our way down to Cuzco, and met a lot of people we would end up traveling with later. We got a group photo, but there were so many more people at the hostel who later ended up playing a part in our trip.

Quito

Finally, I write. I've been back from this year's month of travel for just over a week now, but I haven't felt settled enough to write on the trip until now. It's been a busy week. I actually just got back from an overnight camping trip which I had hoped would include surfing, but the ocean did not cooperate. It was still a good trip, though, since I got to spend time with my friend Emily who moved here from Austin over a year ago. I also discovered how beautiful Tillamook State Forest is.

On to the travels. My plan is to write the trip in single city installments, which means I have to start with Quito. We booked a hostel in advance and, since our flight arrived in the middle of the night, we arranged for someone to pick us up at the airport. When we got there no one was waiting for us, but the airport had a booth specifically for hotel transportation and the ladies that worked there were able to help us get a cab. Stan chatted with the cab driver on the way there. He enthusiastically recommended that we visit Isla de la Plata, the poor man's Galapagos. I put it on my list of cool things, but we never made it to the Ecuadorian coast. It's impossible to travel in a straight line between many places in Ecuador. The roads go to the bigger cities, so you usually have to go through Quito or Guayaquil, and that adds up to a lot of hours on a bus so we had to cut out a lot of places that sounded really cool because we just didn't have the time to see it all.

We stayed at a hostel called the Secret Garden, which Stan picked and I was happy with. It was in old town Quito, away from the backpacker district, but it had a really great rooftop which served breakfast, dinner, and beer. We met a lot of people in those first few days that we would end up traveling with later.

The best thing we did in Quito was take a cab up to Panecillo to check out the statue that overlooks the city. We went with two Canadians who had been on our flight from Houston, and we played frisbee on top of the hill. Then we hiked down and had (crappy) vegetarian food for lunch. It was a good morning, and a good start to the trip, but the rest of our time in Quito was not really worth writing about. We found it to be an unpleasant city, and we moved on as quickly as we could. Our hostel had another branch near Cotopaxi and, after ruling out visiting Tena, we decided to go there.

Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of Quito. I lost my camera the first day and we were kind of uncomfortable carrying Stan's camera around after that. The photos will have to wait until I write about Cotopaxi.

Travels in South America

I'm in Lima right now, writing away to pass time until I have to head to the airport. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to book my flight for the middle of the night. I thought it would give me a little more time to explore with Stan before heading out. We had to go our separate ways yesterday, though, since we were in Cusco and I wasn't comfortable scheduling a flight from Cusco to Lima on the same day I was going to fly home.

I stayed in a nice but not very social hostel last night, and will be catching a cab from here to the airport at 8:30... 5 hours away. I had lunch on the Plaza, then went to visit the catacombs, but I don't have any pictures to show for it because I didn't want to walk around central lima with a camera, even a disposable one. I did pick up hats for Emma and Seth, though.

I fully intend to blog about the trip when I get back to Houston. Complete with photos and everything. I'll have a week before I go to Portland & Phoenix. Hopefully that will be good enough.