Climbing Cotopaxi, for me it’s more than the top of a mountain

We started on this mammoth trip of ours with a whole bunch of dreams and ambitions, some of which we knew we would complete, some that we hoped we would, and some that at the time I think were pure pipedreams. One of the goals that falls into the last category for me was, climb a mountain. This meant climbing a real mountain and making it to the top! In my physical and mental condition back in may 2009, this was a complete fantasy; there was no way that I was going to the top of anything. However over the time we have travelled, my physical stamina has improved and more importantly my mental toughness has increased. So much so that when we visited Cotopaxi and trekked up to the base camp Refugio at 4800m, I knew that I wanted to climb this mountain and touch the summit.



The view of the top was just mouth watering, Cotopaxi is pretty much a perfect mountain shape, and looks just like you would imagine a volcano. The snow cap undulates like the ice cream dripping over a cone and the snow itself is brilliant white in the sun. It’s made even more startling when the rich blue sky is cloudless behind. It was truly awesome, and I knew I wanted to mark my achievement on this mountain.



All keen and raring to go, I took the guides advice and undertook some acclimatisation workouts. These included the Quilotoa loop and also climbing up to the 4800m Refugio of the mountain. I had also spent some time in Bolivia at altitude so I was pretty confident about dealing with the thinner air. What I was worried about was the pure challenge of the climb itself. Did I have the guts to do it? did I have the will power to keep trudging when things were tough? I guess this was really a question I can ask myself about life in general. My life has been pretty straightforward so far and I have been pretty fortunate in all aspects, but when the challenges have come my way I have been adept at dodging them. What I don’t have to do doesn’t usually get done. This mountain was a test for me of doing something that I had a choice to do but that was also tough. Would I chicken out, would I walk away from the challenge?



We climbed up to 4800m during the afternoon of day 1. There we had lunch and practised the use of ice crampons, and the ice pick. The level of safety briefing by our experienced guide was really good, and it certainly made me feel a bit better. Nonetheless, the first steps in the crampons really gave me a wake up call for what I could expect only a few hours later! It was tough, but at the time of the real thing we would be cold and in the dark…

When climbing like this, all climbers are roped together, this is to allow the guide leader to assess if anyone has fallen, and of course to ensure they don’t tumble through the ice or down the mountain. This is all good, but the flip side of the safety rope is that you all have to essentially climb at the same rate, and without stopping. This can be really tough, especially for me! (I would want a break all the time). It also added a new layer of tension to the whole thing, as I was now not only responsible for my own achieving of the summit, but also the other climber who I was with. In this case the other climber was Andres, from Belgium. Andres was a fit and likable 23yr old, who like me really wanted to get to the top. We got on well form our first meeting, and as we sat outside in the late afternoon staring out at the beautiful sight of the Cotopaxi summit, we both talked about if we would make it. I assured him that we would, and the words of the guide also helped… ‘Climbing a mountain is not a race, it’s about being a team and working for each other’. With these words ringing comfortingly in my ears, I finished up my dinner at 6pm, and went to sleep in the freezing dorm, ready to be awoken at 11pm for breakfast and to start climbing at 12am.



The moon was out and the sky seemed clear, unfortunately that meant cold cold conditions for climbing, and what we didn’t see for the fog rolling in above the snow layer of the mountain. The first 2 hours were the climb up to the glacier face. This was slow going and tough in the dark. I was struggling a little with the cold but spirits were fine. The moment we hit the snow layer it became apparent that things would get frosty and colder – the snow started to fall and the wind whipped up. Amelio, our guide basically said that the snow and fog would be with us from here on in. We would not likely see the crater, or the beautiful blue white scenes we had dreamt of.

We all agreed that go on we must, for us all getting to the top was the most important goal. We walked, climbed, clambered trudged. The going was tough and the pace determined. By the 4th hour, both Andres and I wanted to stop after 10 steps it seemed, but we kept going. All I could thing about was the feeling of failure, and how I did not want to go back to Urvi with the story of nearly making. How I didn’t want to add this to my list of compromised targets, my list of second bests. I wanted this climb, on that day, to be the start of my list of achievements. We kept going.

Breathing become tough and the snow was sticking everywhere making it hard for me to see in my glasses, but as the weak sun rose and peered through the think fog, the snow capped peaks and cuts became evident. On 6hrs we reached the final climb, one of the steepest of the whole endeavour, and one of the toughest to push ourselves for. We huffed and puffed our way over the top and just over 6.5hrs after setting out we reached the summit. Despite the grey underwhelming physical sight that greeted us, I was beaming with pride. The mental sight was that I had made it to the top pf a mountain. I had set myself a tough challenge and completed it. This felt good, it felt great. I sank into the snow, said a little prayer, thanked a few people and just sucked in the cold summit air. There was total and deafening silence. Not a sound, even the wind seemed to make no noise. I will remember this silence for ever.

Cotopaxi hid itself from our eyes, but for me I saw more than I thought I would, I saw what effort can achieve, I saw what taking the right path, the tough path can get you, and as I stumbled and slid and struggled down due to pure exhaustion I kept smiling and knew that this was more than a mountain for me. Cotopaxi showed me that I can achieve things if I tried and made the effort. It was a special feeling that I pray I can hold on to and replicate over again.

Ps we were the first of the climbing groups to make it to the summit that day…

Keep Left In Quilatoa

One of the most popular and beautiful treks in Ecuador is a trek called the Quilotoa loop. This is a 3 day trek that takes you between some pretty villages and through some of the most awesome green vistas you can imagine. There are rolling hills, small farms and patchwork fields all around you and you really feel totally in old world Ecuador, its just lovely. The highlight of this trek is a loop within a loop – this is the 14km walk around the crater of the Quilotoa volcano. This is a really stunning walk where you traverse the crater rim; it’s pretty up and down and is actually suggested as a prep hike for climbing Cotopaxi. We had originally decided to undertake the full 3 day loop but since the time I decided to climb Cotopaxi, we cut the plans short and decided only to trek the crater rim.



So full enthusiasm to hand we jumped on a bus and then a pickup truck to take the 2 hour trip to the village of Quilotoa. The pan was to do the crater rim, stay overnight at the local hotel and then return to Latacunga the next morning, all good! Unfortunately Urvi twisted her ankle again, and was not in shape to do the whole walk, so Claire and I decided to tramp the crater together and meet Urvi back at the hostel. At this point I should introduce Claire. We met in Latacunga and travelled to Cotopaxi together. Claire is a Pharmacist from Ireland. It seems that Ireland is full of really nice Claires! As our friend from Antarctica is also called Claire from Ireland!! Anyways Claire and I embarked anticlockwise around the trek that should really have taken only 4 hours. However we hadn’t account for the sudden descent of some pretty dangerous freezing fog. We had seen the fog on the other side of the crater, but were not too worried about it. But when the whole crater and the surrounding village were covered I a mist that brought the visibility down to 5m we started to get seriously worried. The path was precarious in any case, but when you couldn’t see either side of the gravel things started to get tough. We also got seriously lost at least 4 times. When I mean seriously, I mean that we had no bearing of where we were and where we were heading. A few times we lost the path totally and could have walked into nothingness!



This was a trek where we both had to help each other, keep each other going and concentrate. Funnily (now that we were safe and sound!) we coined the term ‘when in doubt, keep left!’ this was because I kept trying to follow the path and often lost it! So the rule on Quilotoa is KEEP LEFT!! (When doing the trek anticlockwise!)



The trek was a real test of our resolve and was a lesson in trying to keep your spirits high. As the sun was slowly setting and we were seriously facing the prospect of maybe having to sleep out in the open for the night, we had 3 major bits of good fortune that surely showed that someone was looking out for us. The 1st was when we seriously seriously lost the trail once. At that time I stopped and tried to relocate our steps, it was only after ½ hour of scrambling that we finally found the trial. The 2nd bit of good luck was that we crossed a farmer, who had come from the village of Quilotoa; this perked our spirits up a lot. The final and biggest bit of luck was right at the end, when we had done what seemed like major circles circles circles, the fog lifted a bit and we saw the lake below! We saw the path and most importantly we saw how far we had to go! It was a real thank God moment.



We arrived back to the hostel completely soaking wet, and freezing. It took us 5.5hrs, which in the grand scheme of the nightmare, wasn’t too bad. However I reckon for at least 4.5hrs Urvi was panicking and really worried. She had got to the stage where some guys from the hostel were going to start out and search for us. I think she was much more nervous than even we were!

The day ended well, with a great meal and a lovely log fire in the hostel. Claire and I were able to recount the drama of the day and Urvi was finally able to relax. This experience just goes to show that you should never take nature for granted, or it can take you.

Cuenca Vs Quito – Cuenca wins hands down

On returning to the mainland from the Galapagos, we headed to Cuenca. Cuenca is a pretty colonial town in the southern area of Ecuador, with wonderful examples of colonial architecture - picture perfect churches, squares and streets. Interestingly there is a competition between Cuenca and Quito’s old town, as to which is most pretty and more authentic. My vote would undoubtedly be Cuenca. The whole city has a friendly feel to it, and there is just so much character all over. Quito was a city that actually became less attractive to us as time went on. This is unusual for most places that we have been to, but with Ecuador’s capital city we came in with major expectations and as time went on the expectations were dashed!! Cuenca was the opposite, it really grew on us. The main square was a lovely mix of people walking about, flower sellers, the church in the background and beautiful green trees swaying in the wind. I would go as far as to say that if other people were to come to Ecuador, minimise the time you want to spend in Quito. Just fly in and get out!



Cuenca you have 2 solid votes for prettiest city in Ecuador…

How we visited the Galapagos

I wanted to write a short post about how we went about enjoying the Galapagos Islands. Simply put, at this time of year there seemed to be plenty of last minute deals available, so we DIDN’T book ahead of time. Urvi booked our flight tickets to the Islands from Quito (Tame, Aerogal are the main airlines to get out to the Galapagos). We flew to Baltra Airport, which is on Santa Cruz Island. Santa Cruz was the base point for most cruises, or at least the half way stopping point for the 8 day cruises. This means that it was easy to get last minute deals of boats leaving from the island.

The first thing to decide is whether you want to do a cruise at all!! I mean that you could do a land based tour, from Santa Cruz, combined with day trips to a few islands (not all are accessible on day trips) and an overnight to Isabella. We decided to do a cruise, because it would enable us to get to islands early, see them late in the day and also not have to ‘commute’ all the time.

The islands are broadly split up into a North, South and Western cluster, and the second thing we had to decide was how long we wanted to cruise for. The options were essentially 4, 5 or 8 days. With the 4 or 5 days you would not be able to all 3 of the clusters and essentially you would need to decide one of the clusters. The 8 day cruises would enable you to pretty much get to all the islands. We chose a 4 day cruise, simply because of budget and time availability. This worked for us.

The third thing to decide is the area you wanted to cruise, so of course if on 8 days, then you can get everywhere, but if on a shorter tour then you would need to decide. We opted for the north sector tour. This would enable us to get Genovese, which is a distant island that is rarely reached and that we wanted to get to. In hindsight we might have wanted to do the south sector, and this would have included Espanola. Espanola is absolutely one of the big hitters of the Galapagos. The bird life is outstanding and the island is jut beautiful.

Once these ponderables were resolved, the final thing to decide was the boat to go on. We were not too bothered about getting on a boat akin to the QM2, but we did want to be safe and have a good guide. It is tough tough tough to find out about the boats at the time of booking. The boats are in generally 4 broad categories - Tourist, Superior, First Class and Executive. Let’s ignore the last one because these boats are well above the budget of most backpackers. We went for the Eden which was a first class boat, but to be honest, the route, the duration and then the guide were more important to us. The boat was awesome though, so we lucked out in any case!!

The Galapagos Islands are not tough to visit, the budget traveller will still need to budget $150 per person per day for a cruise (excluding park entry fee, and flights), but deals are to be had. More important to this is the fact that visiting the Galapagos is truly an amazing experience and for most most is once in a lifetime, spend the money and enjoy it!

The Galapagos Islands, where the animals are wild and the skies filled with birds

When you think of nature and the best places in the world to witness the awe of nature there are many locations that come to mind. It could be a safari in Africa or rain forests of Borneo, or the Great Barrier Reef. However there is no place better than the Galapagos Islands for witnessing nature at its most untouched. For believers of evolution (the theory that all organisms have developed from common ancestors, over millions of years, through a process called natural selection – where natures best survive and pass on successful traits to their offspring) the Galapagos Islands are where the English biologist Charles Darwin came and studied birds called finches, and developed his theories of evolution. It’s a pretty special place!




The islands are about 600 miles west of Ecuador and are famous for the variety of marine, land and bird life, not to mention the many many species of plants. The isolated nature of each island meant that they have developed totally unique populations of plants and in some cases animals, and despite the potential for rampant exploitation over the years many of the islands in the archipelago are untouched and uninhabited.



The basic approach to visiting the Galapagos is to arrive and jump on one of the many expedition cruises for a few days or week of amazing wildlife watching. I don’t want talk too much about that in this post because I want to address this in a separate more detailed post about how we organised our trip. However it is enough to say that we combined an island hopping cruise with some time on the main inhabited island, and some dives also.



The highlights of our trip were the animals and more notably the birds. Because the Galapagos Islands were untouched for so long, the wildlife is totally unaffected by humans, and the birds (many of whom nest on the ground) are literally all around you. The stars of the show were undoubtedly the Frigate Birds. I remember first seeing these amazing birds on the living planet documentaries with David Attenborough, which my dad recorded from the BBC in the mid 1980s. They are amazing birds that look very regal with a long pointed beak and swooping wings. However their most striking features are the huge inflatable red pouches on the chest of the males, that they inflate like a balloon when trying to attract females. The spectacle was amazing on the TV but in real life it is so awesome! Its crazy, when the living planet was on I don’t think that I would have ever dreamt of being 2 feet away from performing Frigate Birds on one of the Galapagos Islands! Now they were everywhere…



Even more amazing than the performance of the males however was the display of synchronised flying that we were treated to by 7-10 birds for about 1hr! Our guide told us that it is pretty common to see these birds following a boat and ‘riding’ on the wind currents it creates, but we had these birds fly literally 1 metre above our sun deck on the top of the boat. They were so so majestic and silent, and in perfect tune with the ship and us it seemed!! The birds would take it in turns to ride directly above us, in order to get the best drafts, and then they would fall back and let a few of the others take the prime location. They were so close that at times I could literally look into their eyes. I don’t know why but the hour that these birds spent with our boat as we travelled between two islands was totally dream like and the most amazing interaction I have ever had with any living animal. It was totally sublime.



Another once in a lifetime experience of nature we had was also a tale of the amazing and also tough side of life on the wild side. We had just finished an afternoons snorkelling (which in its self was amazing! Loads of fish and beautiful corals etc) off Bartolome Island, and as we were drying off and chilling out on the beach someone shouted out turtles!! There was some confusion for a moment as everyone looked out to the water and saw nothing, then we realised the turtles were hundreds of baby turtles that had just hatched up on the beach and were now going to make the dash for the water and potential safety. It was just a totally amazing sight of the babies, not more than 4cm long looking so cute flip flopping there way to the water. There were literally hundreds and the amazing thing was that normally the turtle hatch under the cover of night thus reducing the risk of predators catching them. Unfortunately for the turtles but fortunately for us, these guys woke up during the day. It was also very fortunate for the Frigate Birds who could spot the tiny babes from their cruising altitude a few hundred feet up in the air. The moment the hatchlings were out on the beach the sky was full of hungry birds, and they really tucked in. There was literally a turtle massacre right in front of us. It was just an awesome sight of the birds feasting on the newborns. It was tough to watch but a great display of nature at its wildest. Not more than 2 or 3% of the hatched turtles made it to the water and even then they weren’t safe, there would be fish, sharks and others all ready to welcome them. Maybe only 1% of all the turtles that hatched would survive. What a story! It made every fully grown turtle we saw a total miracle.



The final amazing experience that I wanted to talk about was the diving of North Seymour. In short it was just outstanding! We saw sharks, multiple types of fish, beautiful forms of coral and much more. Urvi wasn’t going to dive here, but I am glad that she decided to do so. She was really lucky and actually saw Hammerhead sharks on her first dive! So that’s pretty amazing. The Galapagos Islands are really special for diving because of the currents that flow around the islands, this make the area full of nutrients and therefore the seas full of animal life. The sharks were really special and on the second dive, although we really struggled with the currents (that were super strong), we saw plenty of black tipped and white tipped reef sharks. The fully grown sharks looked menacing, and it was so exciting for us to see these animals in the wild. Hurrah!!!



We travelled to the Galapagos, like most people, with a vision of natural history paradise, and in short we got exactly that. It was an amazing experience being this close to a range of wildlife. Again it was a privilege to be here in person and for me was another one of these childhood dreams accomplished.

I survived the worst border ever - But this time no t-shirt!!

I have been comfortable with any of the travelling experiences we have had in the near 365 days we have been travelling, indeed I don recall having a horrendous travelling experience, but on the border of Peru an Ecuador I finally had my shock moment.

My plan was to travel pretty non stop from Cusco via Lima up over the Peru/Ecuador border and then on to Quito. If I could get the international bus in Lima then this would take me non stop to Quito, if not then I would DIY the crossing continue to the capital.

The first 48hours of the trip were fine, I got to Lima and then on to the border town of Tumbes in Peru. So far so good. It was a long trip but no problems or issues, then the border loomed!!!

The context is that this area of north Peru was previously disputed territory and was fought over in recent wars. It is still a rogue area full of contraband loads passing over the border. In particular the border is the focus of the drug run from Columbia. In addition to these problems the border is full of petty criminals and bizarrely dodgy people trying to offer 'help' to travellers crossing.

I am really kicking myself as I should have known things were suspect from the moment I got of the overnight bus and was besieged by taxi touts trying to assist me across the border. In the mêlée I opted for the wrong guys who told me he would get me to the direct bus on the Ecuador side. The other tell tale sing was that there were no other tourists anywhere to be seen in the town!

From the moment I got into his tuk tuk and someone else got in I knew things were not right. 10 minutes from the border we got stopped by the police, who wanted to check I was a smuggler! They looked official but I was not sure, and when they took my passport and disappeared into the police van I got a bit twitched. Things were worse when they started asking me what I was doing in Peru, if I had been working, if I had drugs etc etc. They checked all my bags for anything they could fix me for. Of course other than smelly t-shirts there was noting!! Finally they let us go and we carried on. I was sooo relieved to have my passport that I barely noticed the second police guy who stopped us 2 minutes later. This time he was doubtful I was the same person as in he passport. I had the stubble right but looked to be too thin!!! Finally I had found a bad point to losing weight!!

Again after much umming and questioning the second guy let us go.

When we go to the Peru side of the border I was told to get my exit stamp and then the tuk tuk was going to arrange a security escort (can you believe it!!) to take me to Ecuador. At this point he asked/demanded his fee. A cool $20!! The ride should have been $2, but by this time I wasn't in a position to argue and furthermore I got the distinct feeling that everyone was in cahoots to make things tough and therefore charge more and more. I gave in and gave him the 20 bucks and he gave me a security escort, who turned out to simply be a porter.

I have to say that the porter guy was actually of some use as by this time I had missed my bus connection to Quito and Guayaquil (the town where I could get a faster bus to Quito). He took me to a minibus rank where there were minivans that would speed me to Guayaquil. This seemed like the best idea, so after fighting with the porter over his fee (he wanted 20 too)!!! And also having 2 further police officers extort more dollars for tea I booked the transport.

The final twist was that I was told to go ahead of the minivan to the order post and get my Ecuador visa sorted. The van would meet me there. Not knowing where things were I was again lost. Finally seeing my plight a wonderful Ecuadorian lady offered to come with me to the border and we would catch the van together. If it was not for Roxana I am sure I would have paid more and more to sort things out.

Finally after 50+ hours I arrived Guayaquil airport (I had decoded to fly the last 10 hour bus ride!!!) I tell you I was literally smiling and laughing when I walked into the cool clean brand new airport and the LAN check in lady upgraded me on hearing my story!!! I sank into the comfy chair in the lounge and savoured my coffee!!!!

The journey is one for the memory banks and reminds me that things have been real smooth so far on this trip! Every so often a bump in the road helps to bring me down to earth!
I was also mighty glad that Urvi wasn't there. I struggled and at a few points I felt pretty uncomfortable, but I think that Urvi would have freaked out!!! It was a real lesson in trying to stay focused and keep your wits about you.