It's hard to believe I have been in Ecuador now for 14 days. Time does certainly fly. I arrived in Quito around 12, my expected time, and met Antonio who was waiting for me at the door. He dropped me off at the hostel where I am working now and after climbing 5 flights of stairs with my book bag on I met Thomas my fellow volunteer. Thomas showed me to my room across the street at the hotel where the volunteers live. I immediately met Paul my other roommate and before I could put my bags down he asked me if I wanted to go out on a pub crawl with him and others that were staying at the hostel. There was no time wasted before I was in the taxi off to an area of abundant bars called the Mariscal. The first stop was a popular tourist bar called Fins. I had my first sip of their national beer by the name of pilsner. Before I had finished my beer the girl who had arranged the pub crawl was pouring shots for everyone. I wasn't into ecuador for more than an hour before I won snorkeling for two in Montanita by luck of the draw. Before I knew it we were off to the next disco called Bungalow 6 . This bar is by far more exciting than the last and I now know that it is one of the most popular in Quito after being there 3 times now. We danced the night away until about 4:00 when they kicked us out.
The hostel where I am staying has a sister hostel near the Cotopaxi National Park. As a part of my job I have to try and sell trips, transportation and accommodations to their hostel. In order to do this they send their volunteers on a complimentary "holiday" to their establishment. So here goes my quick blurb... The owners have carefully picked a piece of property set in a beautiful countryside overlooking the Cotopaxi volcano. Cotopaxi is the 2nd largest active volcano in the world so you can imagine the breathtaking sight of it. The volcano erupted about 100 years ago and because of this, the soil of the surrounding land has created perfect conditions for farming. There are many activities to be had that the hostel can arrange for you. The first day I got there we immediately went rock jumping through a stream for about 21/2 hours ultimately to see a waterfall. The owners have 4 dogs, two dalmatians and 2 wiener dogs. The obviously more fit wiener dog (Mash) and Basil the dalmatian guided us happily though the mountains and streams. The dogs had obviously done this before because they knew exactly which path to take and which rocks were safe for stepping. When we returned to the hostel there was a snack of tortillas, guacamole and sour cream waiting for us. Two German girls and I played a game of scrabble by candle light while we waited for our dinner. Going hungry is not an option here. They are constantly feeding you delicious international creations. For dinner we had Indian beef and vegetable curry with white rice and bread followed by dessert. We all sat around the fire for a few hours drinking red wine and beer before I crashed in my very cozy dorm room. I rose about 7:00a.m. to set off into the mountains by horseback. Plenty of scenic photos later and a sore behind we returned to the hostel in time for a snack of rice and beans and bread. The next morning we headed off to The Cotopaxi National Park. The windy bumpy drive up the side of the volcano made me wonder how in the world I was going to climb 1 hour without calling for help. After parking at the parking lot we slowly started the journey towards the refuge. Unfortunately we picked the one of the worse days to climb. With the wind in our face and the rain blinding me I wondered if I would make it to the the refuge and I knew I definitely wasn't going all the way to the glacier! After struggling and stopping a few times my new German friends and I made it. We arrived soaking wet and freezing and headed straight for the hot chocolate. One guy who was with our group made it to the glacier and back to the refuge before we even made it to the refuge! Had the weather been a little more tolerant and there were a view I may have attempted the glacier but I was ready for a hot bath at this point. Back to the hostel and nevertheless more food awaiting us. Still wet, I warmed up with some piping hot potato and cheese soup with bread. It was the perfect remedy after a tough morning of volcano climbing. After a hot shower I hopped into Arturo's taxi and headed back to the city. It was going to be tough to enter the madness of the city after a peaceful 3 days secluded in the mountains.
More about the city later. Staying busy.
No comments:
Post a Comment