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Living on the Volcano edge - Ecuador
by Roger | Date >
2004-08-20 | Country : Ecuador | City : Quito
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| So, you find yourself in Quito, and you ask yourself where the hell am I? You’re actually in the capital city of Equador in South America, and at quite a high altitude too. It’s got loads of old Spanish colonial architecture but you don’t want to be bothered by this – there’s a huge volcano dominating the skyline.
Get a taxi, and if you feel you’ve got the stamina and strength, ask the driver to take you to Cotapaxi (volcano) in Cotapaxi National Park. Climbing slowly out of Quito, through shanty townships, mad Equadorian drivers, and cattle herders, you realise just how high up you’re travelling.
Maybe 2 hours later, and much higher, you arrive at the gated entrance to the Park; let the taxi driver do the talking unless you’re fluent in Castillian Spanish. Once through the gate, after travelling higher still through the clouds and pine forests, the view in front and both sides is staggering; a vast plain is set out and its backdrop has huge mountains whose tops are hidden in cloud.
Then you arrive on the slopes of Cotapaxi, get out of the taxi and start climbing ( you start climbing at 4500 metres). So you think you’re fit – well, climb, stop, climb, stop, don’t try and smoke. Through the clouds, ever upwards, every muscle aching, breath coming shorter and faster, until you reach the summit, 19,388 feet up, in clear sunshine, and you wonder at the sight of beauty all around you. |
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