Travel Day:
The time has come for the Ecuador trip I had planned with my mom and if you follow my travels then you know that I made it back just in the knick of time from Turks and Caicos (thanks to Hurricane Erin extending my stay three days there). By the time I landed I had only six hours to go home eat, shower, unpack and re-pack so I did not sleep. Luckily my mom was already in town from Greensboro, NC and she had quite the day as well traveling up to DC and going to visit family and friends while I was in rounte.

We left the house around 3:30am and I drove to a hotel near Dulles to park and we caught the hotel shuttle to the airport. There I ran into my junior high school African American History teacher Mr. Ward who was returning from Ghana. There was no line for security that early and we were able to arrive at our gate around 5:20am (our flight was scheduled at 7am). We were flying via Avianca and had a layover in Bogota, Colombia before we headed to Quito, Ecuador. Our estimated arrival time in Quito was 5:25pm.

If you fly Avianca then you know when flight deals come around it’s typically for Basic Economy which in their case only includes a personal item (no carry-on bag). Over the years I’ve learned and have taught a few tricks to get other small bags on board without notice. We were upgraded as far as seats but were sitting back to pack. Everything went fine as far and boarding and we were off.

We both slept the majority of the way to Bogota and because of some sales malfunction Avianca gave us a free sandwich and drink onboard. Once in Bogota (landed around 11:25am), we made our way through the international connections and security to our gate. We had about 4 hours before we would board for Quito. Our flight scheduled to leave around 3:25pm got delayed a bit and had a gate change. Once onboard we were on our way.

When we landed in Quito we went through immigration and customs and seeing as though our Airbnb was about a 44 minute drive from the airport, we instead opted to take the bus making it an hour and 40 minute commute for much cheaper (it actually didn’t take that long maybe an hour and 20 minutes). Taking the bus was very easy (only $5 total for both of us) as we got on one at the airport and transferred to another one after an hour’s drive. When we got off the 2nd bus our Airbnb was just 3 blocks down the street.

Checking-in went smoothly and the place was exactly as described but it seemed smaller to me in realtime. We picked our rooms, dropped off our things, took a moment to search for food nearby and walked about 15 minutes to Pepitos Grill. We ordered our food to go and stopped at a local mini market on the way back. By now we were very hungry and our food was good so we were pleased. Tired and exhausted from the last 24 hours we both showered then went to bed. Luckily tomorrow (Saturday) would be a free day where we could sleep in and do whatever we want before our activities began on Sunday.

Day 1:
I woke up and was able to catch the sunrise from my bedroom and the view was stunning. You can see many buildings and homes stretched below and on the side of the mountain ahead. The streets were bustling with cars and voices and there’s a large soccer field right across the street along with a volleyball court, basketball court and park. I stayed up for a bit and watched the rest of Wednesday season 2 on Netflix and eventually went back to sleep.

We got up around 2pm and watched them play different games from the window out in the park below. We ate something lite and opted to go to a nearby mall around 5:15pm. The sun was out outside and it seemed like a nice day with a nice breeze. We walked about 10 minutes to the mall which was just down the street from us and browsed for a few hours. There were many name brand stores there and some unfamilar shops. One that we found interesting was a game hall which was quite big to be inside a mall and it reminded me a lot of Jeepers. I might convince my mom for us to go back and spend some time there on our free day before we leave just for fun.

We ended up buying a couple of things and picked up some food from the food court. On the way back to the Airbnb, we stopped at a small grocery store in passing to get a few things. At home we ate while watching tv and got meeting location plans for our Cotopaxi hike for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a full day so we relaxed a bit and then got ready for bed; we have to be ready to leave by 6:40am to get picked up at our designated location by 7am.

Day 2:
Today was the beginning of a full day and without my mom or I getting enough sleep last night due to the noise outside of our window from the city, we both agreed that a nap was happening later. We are scheduled to do a From Quito: Cotopaxi National Park Full-Day Tour with Hike (Get Your Guide) at 7am and we had to walk to the Sheraton Hotel a few blocks up the street to meet them. We were told to layer up as the weather at the volcano for the hike can be unpredictable and it’s a good thing we did.

It was cool out this morning but our walk was nice. There was hardly anyone out on this early Sunday morning. We arrived on time at 7am at the Sheraton Hotel and notified the guide that we would be inside the lobby sitting down. She, our guide Diana called me just as they pulled up in a white van and we met them outside. We spent about an hour riding around with Diana and Jimmy our driver picking people up at their locations. Before I knew it I looked up and the van was full of people from the United Kingdom, Canada, Michigan, Germany, Japan and Italy.

We knew our ride was going to be a long one and that there would be some stops along the way with the first one being a restaurant to get breakfast and a market to grab some snack and souvenirs. We rode through what’s considered the Old Town and then clearly out of the province of Pichincha as it began to look different being surrounded by mountains and fields. We placed our order in for breakfast and then browsed around. Everyone didn’t eat for some had breakfast already at their accomodations. Once done we all loaded into the van and headed to our next stop.

Next up was to see a woman about some coca tea and the coca tea is to help with altitude sickness as well as a few other things. The coca leaves were steamed into the water and as we drank the tea you chew the leaves and then spit them out (you could eat them if you want). I think we all chose to get some and the taste was a bit bitter but anything that could help avoid altitude sickness I was willing to take. Our next stop would be the Cotopaxi National Park where we would visit the museum first and have Diana share some information with us and then we could shop at the museum’s store.

At the museum we learned a few things such as:
• Ecuador has 99 volcanoes
• Ecuador has 27 potentially active volcanoes
• The two most active volcanoes in Ecuador is the Cotopaxi Volcano and Tungurahua Volcano located in Baños)
• There are 24 provinces in Ecuador
• Ecuador is one of the top 10 diverse countries in the world
• Tambillo town is considered an Inca city and every 100 km is an important city
• The Pan-American Highway is also known as the Avenue of Volcanoes and the Inca train goes through it
• 35% of bananas are from Ecuador
• Potatoes and rice are considered popular foods in Ecuador
• Chimborazo refers to a “big portion” of something and is also the name of a volcano in Ecuador
• Kichwa is a language spoken in Ecuador and Ecuador has 14 indigenous languages

There are two routes that you can take to get to the refugee point on the Cotopaxi Volcano and today we would take the easier route, Rompe Corazones. We would only be hiking to the refugee point because if you want to hike the summit it’s about $300, you must have a guide with you along with the necessary equipment to hike up and you stay overnight at the refugee point and hike up at midnight (it takes about 6 hours…no thank you). Our hike today would roughly take about 45 minutes-1 hour going up and about 20-30 minutes coming down. In the musuem we learned that we may have a chance to spot some plants and animals while on the hike today. We actually did end up seeing a fox and a Caracara bird.

After the museum many of us checked out the souvenir shop and made purchases (my mom and I did). We then boarded onto the van and were driven up to the parking area where we would begin our hike. There as soon as we stepped out the van we were hit with crazy wind and sleet. We began going up and I look back at my mom and she’s turning around telling me to go ahead. I tried my best to convince her but I think that wind made her opt out early and she said with that she was already having trouble with her breathing. I watched as she went back to the van and I continued on.

This hike was no joke, the winds were fierce pushing against you with sleet coming directly towards my face like rain. The terrain was like dirt/sand and soft so one wrong move or slip might throw you off balance and over this volcano. It’s definitely one of the more challenging hikes I’ve done due to the weather conditions. I try to pinpoint my next move as I hike so if I feel as though I’m stuck it’ll take me a moment to see if I can continue or not because one thing I won’t do when it comes to hiking is overdue it. If I think it’s too advanced or I could get hurt I will turn around.

I was able to figure out my way up to the refugee point but I took many breaks to catch my breath and get my breathing steady. Thankfully I didn’t need my inhaler and I didn’t have my water because my mom had it in her bag. I would say it took me about 50 minutes to get to the refugee point. I may have started in the back initially but alas I wasn’t the last one in our group to reach the refugee point. Of course I had to get my photos while I was up there and we all took a group photo. Inside the refugee point you could grab a hot drink or snack and you could also get a Cotopaxi passport stamp (I got two-someone said that probably isn’t really allowed but I will need a new passport in a year and a half anyway so I got it).

Around 1pm we began our hike back down and honestly going down is always the worst for me because I’m so afraid I’m going to fall. I did slip at one point going down but I was ok I just slid a bit and bop; I was able to thrust myself back on my feet. I may have started out in the back going back down to (because I’m very careful) but with Diana’s help I wasn’t the last one as she assisted me part of the way back down. I was freezing cold by the time I got back in the van (it was about 33°F on that volcano).

I got kudos from my mom for completing the hike and I told her it was probably best she didn’t do it after seeing all it entailed. We all then rode to see the lagoon that was nearby. We arrived over by Limpiopungo Lagoon which was situated not too far from Cotopaxi Volcano as you could see it in the background so much so that it will sometimes mirror in the lagoon. We took some photos and videos and Diana shared some of the plants that were in the area by telling us more about them. By now it looked as though it were sunnier out and it felt pretty good yet still cool weather wise.

It was now time to get lunch and we had already pre-ordered for the restaurant we would be going to. The restaurant was cute with a small farm attached and a souvenir shop inside. Lunch was good and afterwards was a little bit of shopping then going outside to feed the llamas. Well we couldn’t just feed the llamas even though they wanted it all so I also feed some ducks and llamas carrots. The llama close to the entrance on it’s own probably got the most treats because it went up to everyone looking for food.

We were now wrapping up our day and it was time to drop people back off and head home. One couple we dropped off at a different location not too far from the restaurant because they are going to Baños tomorrow where the Amazon is and they said it’s easier for their guide to pick them up there as that would be closer than going back to Quito and having to pass that way again. We rode through Old Town again dropping people off (I fell asleep a bit) and thankfully they took my mom and I right to the door of our Airbnb instead of the Sheraton where we were picked up at.

We were so tired but agreed that the day went well and that we did a lot. We showered and just took a moment to breathe before eating dinner and having a rose beer drink which was really good. We looked over pictures and videos of the day and checked out each other’s souvenirs. We also figured out what time we’ll need to leave in the morning for our Quito Old Town Highlights & Food Tour tomorrow.