Cotopaxi Volcano

We weren't planning on blogging today, but we have 6 hours to kill until our night bus to Lago Agrio, so why not! Our hostel was kind enough to let us hang out here until the bus, so we had our last hot shower for week, and now we are just chilling/recovering. Ironically about 5 hours after our last blog post (where we bragged about being stomach-trouble free), Lisa got pretty sick with some unknown stomach bug. A rough night for sure; unable to keep food or water (or pills) down... but thankfully it appears to be pretty much over. Today we had arranged to climb up to El Refugio - the "base camp" of sorts of the Cotopaxi Volcano, so stomach troubles aside we went for it anyways (since we'd already paid for a guide). It was a rough go for Lisa, who'd had all of about 50 calories, 2 hours of sleep and 1/2 bottle of gatorade. At the starting point hut we had some Coca Tea, which is supposed to help with the altitude, and with nausea. The drive up to the volcano took us past some high-altitude lagunas and wild horses. Our guide told us that one lone [obviously lost] pink flamingo lived in the laguna for a couple months a while back.

The trek took us up to 4810 meters above sea level (15,750 feet); our first real high-altitude experience. Neither of us had ever been this high before, and it's a bizarre feeling. The trek itself wasn't particularly steep, but we took baby steps the whole way, and had to stop about every 10 steps to let our heart rates settle down somewhat. We were very thankful for our guide, Santiago, who paced us. The weather wasn't fantastic, but we were lucky to see the summit from the North side of the volcano for about an hour. It was a pretty spectacular climb, and the landscape was very unusual; something between tundra and a big sand dune, with glaciers. It's pretty much impossible to describe, so here's some pictures instead.

We made it to El Refugio, but opted out on going further, since (for lack of better words) we both felt like crap.  Still worth it though!  We also opted out of the tempting hot chocolate as it was made with glacial water and our guide warned us that it even made him sick.  We made it down safe and sound.  Slept the entire nauseating car ride back to Quito (decided we need more Gravol!) and haven't moved much since.

We are about to embark on our first real Ecuadorian bus ride to Lago Agrio, in the Amazon. We've been exchanging stories with other travellers in our hostel, and from what we've heard this could be quite the adventure! We're going to stock up on more Gravol & some earplugs from a pharmacy on the way to the bus station.

Quito, Old Town

The city of Quito is divided roughly in two halves; the Old Town and the New Town (the touristy part). On Friday, we decided to stick to the Old Town, and spent most of today exploring it. It's unlike any city we've every been to, and we are still trying to get a sense of safety/security here. We've been cautioned about carrying around the Nikon SLR but can't imagine not doing so, so Lisa spent most of Friday wearing her fleece and rain jacket (in 22 degree weather) in order to keep it concealed under layers. The weather was supposed to be chilly and rainy here all week, but has been suprisingly hot and sunny!

On Friday, we climbed to the top of "La Basilica" for some views of the city, which involved crossing some rickety wooden make-shift "bridges" and ascending some ladders; no big deal. Alex was a trooper (since she is afraid of heights, and ladders for that matter). The views from the top were definitely worth the effort. For reasons we still cannot figure out, our feet attracted way too much attention; whether it was the flip-flops, bright toe-nail polish, or big "white" feet, we will never know, but it was certainly bizarre. Very few people speak any english here, so our Spanish will improve rapidly.

We have definitely been feeling the altitude here, and have been blaming most inconveniences on it (memory lapses, lazyness, fatigue...). The entire city seems to be built on a hill, so climbing 10 flights of stairs at a time is not unusual, but we feel more out of breath than [we'd like to think] we would be in Calgary.

Friday evening we went out to "La Ronda" - the oldest street in Quito and where the authentic nightlife is. We were definitely the only tourists around, but it was fantastic. We find it interesting that all generations go out to party at night. There was this adorable 4 year old boy on the dance floor showing his moves off ALL NIGHT. Something you would not see in Calgary. After going out we didn't really feel like making plans for the next day so we decided to "figure it out in the morning" - something we learned doesn't work all that well. 

 

Saturday, we attempted (and failed) to arrange several day trips, and instead settled on exploring the New Town and setting up our Amazon adventure for next week. It ended up being an interesting day; we went to a local market and bought super soft alpaca blankets, which we will happily exchange for our American Airlines fleece blankets. They had the most adorable alpaca sweaters, hats and bags as well, but we resisted the urge. The Llama sweaters will come later, in Peru. We also discovered that papaya is NOT our favorite fruit, after purchasing a huge cup of it in the park, and struggling to eat it.  So far (knock on wood) we haven't had any stomach troubles.

 

 

This will likely be the last blog post until next weekend, since we are off on some adventures starting tomorrow. Sunday we will climb Cotopaxi Volcano up to El Refugio, and then up to the glaciers. Following our trek we will take a night bus to Lago Agrio, where we will spend 5 days (4 nights) at a jungle lodge deep in the Amazon (near the Colombian border).  We are looking forward to some Pirhana fishing, Amazon tubing, river canoeing and alligator sighting. (Dear parents: we promise this is safe!) It also means we are starting out anti-malarial drugs tonight :( This will be the only point on our trip where we will be in the Northern Hemisphere! 

Calgary > Dallas > Miami > Quito

Day 2/108

Thirty six hours after leaving home we are safe and sound at Hostel Revolution, in downtown Quito. Let's start with dinner tonight... quite the experience. We weren't really hungry, but thought we should eat something, so we walked around the block and found an unnamed hole-in-the-wall (literally) around the block. We poked our heads inside out of curiosity, but the owner interpreted this as us asking for two "pollo" (chicken) dinners, and seated us in the corner of the 10" x 10" "space". We went with it. First came a suprisingly tasty mystery-meatball and vegetable soup.  We thought this was all, and were satisfied, but then out came a plate with rice, chopped iceberg lettuce and some unidentifyable "meat" with potatoes in gravy. Our best guess was fat, or rind of some sort. As Alex appropriately put it "which part was the chicken"? Alex tried burrying her "fat" with her rice, but got guilted into eating it after I polished off my plate. The price tag on all this? $1.35US each. Following the meal we realized that we are probably in for a suprise tomorrow, since not only did we eat lettuce, but we (not thinking) drank juice made with tap water; two things we agreed were probably sure ways to get sick. Oh well! Dive right in, right?

Backtracking a few steps, the trip here was eventful, but nothing next to what is coming, I'm sure. The usual; delayed flights, terminal changes, stomach-in-your-mouth kind of turbulence.  We had an overnight layover in Dallas, and Alex's father and step-mother kindly treated us to a stay in the DFW Grand Hyatt - right in the airport terminal - a wonderfully luxurious experience, and almost certainly the nicest beds we will see for the next 4 months. We got some interesting stares as we checked in wearing leggings, sweaters and two packs (one of the front, one of the back) since everyone else in the lobby was in suits! We decided to dress up a bit for dinner... but avoided the $48 entrees on the menu, and opted for some suprisingly large (and delicious) appetizers instead (everything is larger in Texas, right?).