Had the most unbelievable weekend that I´m so excited to share with you all. Words can´t really adequately describe it all but I´ll do my best and add a few pictures (I´ve got a bunch more to put on the yahoo pictures site, please be patient with me). The weekend got off to a pretty hectic, jumbled start as we finished class and bought
a bunch of groceries to get us through the weekend in time to find out we only had 2.5 hours to get to the park, before it closed at 5pm (we later found it had closed at 3 anyway). We scrambled to find a taxi to get home from school quicker than the bus would get us there, and had plans to meet at the bus terminal at 2:30 in time to take the 2 hour ride to the Cotopaxi National Park. So, by 4:00 we had all managed to reconvene at the bus station, well aware we wouldn´t make it legally into the park yet hopeful, optimistic, and in good spirits as the six of us, including my bro Fernando whose ability to communicate well would prove very use
ful, set off for what would be an interesting and unforgettable journey.
First, there was a political rally of some sort that immediately set us back at least an hour, and before we had even made it out of Quito it was well past 5:00pm. Finally, we reached our stop at around 7:00, grateful to get off the cramped bus. However, our stop was nothing but a sign alongside the highway in the pitch black, somewhere in Ecuador. We got off the bus, searched frantically for a flashlight, and surveyed our options. We recognized some railroad tracks that we were told we had to cross at some point after getting off the bus and elected to head that way. At this point we knew we weren´t making it to the National Park and just hoped to find somewhere to set up camp. After walking a while with a ton, almost literally, of equipment, bags, food, etc... down some dirt road with only a flashlight guiding the way we made it to a few homes, happy to see signs of life. After Fernando talked to some of them, a family agreed to let us camp on their land. Grateful and eager to put all our stuff down, we crept through fields, around trees, and past snorting animals which we hoped were all enclosed to an open patch of grass where we finally pitched our tents and ate some food, my first peanutbutter and jelly in Ecuador. Somehow we managed to pitch both tents in the dark with only one flashlight and start a pretty decent fire with logs far smaller than we would have preferred. Although we weren't at the base of the world's largest active volcano yet, the sky was absolutely full of stars - an amazing sight I've never even seen in the many quiet nights of Wisconsin's northwoods. What's more, the constant snorting of the pigs, barking of the dogs, and chirping of the bugs created quite an unforgettable environment and memory that I'll cherish forever. There was also a younger man, Marcos, who lived on the farm who seized the unique opportunity to roast marshmallows, drink, and relate with visitors from a distant land and it was nice to spend the night with a local ecuadorian, although he did seem timid, reserved, and somewhat intimidated by our presence. We went to sleep, or at least tried, extremely content with the first adventure of our great weekend. Upon waking up we finally were able to see our surroundings, distant mountains, run down farms, and many more wooden cages of pigs, sheep, cows, and roosters than we had expected. Here´s kind of what it looked like:
We got an early start to the day, not too surprising as the roosters were pretty obnoxious the second the sun rose, and hired a ride from a local with a truck (this is actually common, not just another improvised part of our weekend) to drive us to Cotopaxi. On the ride to the volcano and park we passed a number of small villages where everyone within sight of the truck waved to us with big grins. As we realized with Marcos the previous night, visitors are rare and thus appreciated. We also passed a family whom our driver had ties to who was preparing for a giant feast and party by removing all the hair from an enormous pig, killed and sprawled out on a table, which they were preparing to cook by burying beneath a bed of hot coals, or something like that (quite a sight for a vegetarian of 7 or so years...).
Eventually we made it to the park where we were greeted by cold winds, a deer, a fox, and an unimaginably vast amount of cow poop which we eventually learned to deal with after only an hour or two. The cow poop was especially easy to ignore when you considered your surroundings - a huuuge park displaying infinite signs of geological developments that made me glad I had taken a class or two back in Madison that could help me appreciate a bit more the impact of mountainous formations, glaciers, the ice ages, etc... On our way to the volcano there were tons of big boulders scattered around the parks deposited here and there by the glaciers many, many years ago.
Finally we made it the spot where we would begin our climb up the volcano to the glacier. As we drove to higher and higher altitudes the beautiful views were overtaken by the thickest fog I've ever been in, to the point where you could only see for a bout a foot or two ahead of you. The second we opened the doors of the truck we were struck by ferocious and freezing winds and immediately took to our bags to add more layers of clothing. We made some final preparations and set off on our excursion up the volcano. The climb itself wasn't all that grueling but the altitude made it seem incredibly tough. For the majority of the climb, we would walk along for about 50m (sorry, everything's in meters here and I don't really know conversions for feet) before taking a breather. Within about an hour and a half we reached a refuge where we found out were 4800m above sea level (somewhere around 13,000 ft I'd guess, higher than any peak in the continental U.S.) and had emerged from the intense fog. After another little break and a few pieces of smushed bread, we trekked past a few signs warning us of the beginning of the avalanche zone, though it was probably a bit off thanks to our buddy, global warming. After another few hundred meters and about 45 min we finally reached the glacier (around 5,000m high, about 15,000ft) and I can honestly say it was one of the most amazing, gratifying, sobering, meaningful moments of my existence. As if setting foot on my first glacier wasn't enough, just as reached the end of our journey the sun came out in full force and the clouds seemed to disperse just for us. To be that high into the sky, staring at the most breathtaking dispaly of nature I'd ever seen and to be able to turn around and see an endless landscape that seemed infinately far away was almost too much to handle. We sat there for quite a while, rarely talking, mostly taking everything in and taking as many pictures as our cameras would allow before realizing we only had 20 mintues until our scheduled rendezvous with the truck driver some 1,000 meters away. Luckily, was a lot easier to get down the volcano than up it, and pretty fun to scurry down it, and we reached the truck with a few minutes to spare which we spent celebrating our feat with a little tequila. Some photos of the glacier:
Next our driver took us to the lagoon where we were set to camp. Supposedly there was a campground somewhere but we were unable to find one, so we finally just set up camp amidst the most beautiful landscape. The rest of our day consisted of cooking a delicious dinner of fire-roasted veggies, lots of potatoes, relaxing and staring back at the volcano we had just climbed, playing baseball and monkey in the middle with a hard apple, and collecting more firewood. It had been a long day, well two days, and after a bit more whiskey to both stay warm and pass the time, we fell asleep pretty early. Beautiful landscape where we set up camp with Cotopaxi off in the distance:
That night the wind was so strong we were convinced we'd have to spend the morning collecting our belongings or tent parts, but somehow everything was intact despite the collapse of the tent that housed our bags. We woke up bright and early once again to a hot sun and more magnificent views in every direction. Our truck driver friend showed up a bit early so we quickly packed up our stuff and put away the tents and said our goodbyes to Cotopaxi. We had planned to take a bus back to Quito but our driver mentioned a train to Quito that was leaving soon in which you could ride on the roof and of course we were not about to pass on yet another exciting adventure to add to our weekend. At the train station, we had arrived just in time to be the last people crammed aboard the roof of the train. After applying some sunscreen (which proved inadequate for the combo of the sun and wind) we were off and immediately it was evident to us that we were in for another wild experience, for as we passed the first bridge a bucket of water was poured onto the entire rooftop of passengers, to the surprise of many, including us. To fill you in, this upcoming weekend marks the celebration of Carnaval, a huge occasion in all of Latin America. However, in Ecuador they have the strange tradition of throwing water at everyone, from everywhere, all the time (apparently even a week before the actual holiday). As we chugged along we were treated to many awesome sights, friendly, waving families, and plenty of baths. The drivers seemed to get the biggest kick of this, for as we approached every village they would slow down and honk the horn, allowing all the kids time to grab their water and soak the defenseless passengers (though we did have an umbrella which would frustrate some of the aqua-terrorists). Finally, wet and tired, we made it back to Quito and treated ourselves to a feast at Pizza Hut after a weekend of PB & J's and potatoes.
In all, it was quite the weekend, one which will never be forgotten. Now there's just a few short days until what should be yet another great time: Carnaval. Some of my friends and I are takign advantage of the long weekend (no school on monday or tuesday) by travelling to the nearby towns of Ambato and Banos, both of which should prove to be very nice. That's it for now, I don't have time tonight but I'll add a bunch of pictures to this entry asap. Happy Valentine's Day.
Que les vayan bien,
Brett
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