Ecuador - June 4, 2023
Cotopaxi National Park
Saturday was Richard's last day to hang out with us before he set off with his mountaineering group. We decided to make the most of it by organizing a private tour of Cotopaxi National Park. Interestingly, Richard was supposed to summit Cotopaxi as a part of his program; however, it has been erupting since October of 2022 so his group will be climbing Antisana instead.
Here we are at a lovely outlook on the south side of Quito, where the majority of people who live in Quito city reside. The views were lovely and we had beautiful skies, which we have really come to appreciate living at this elevation.
On our way up to the national park our guide, Erica, shared so much information about Quito, Cotopaxi, and Ecuador in general. We learned that she climbed Cotopaxi last summer and gave Richard some tips about keeping his mental game strong when he begins climbing. One thing that I found interesting was that coto means neck in Kichwa and paxi means moon. She also explained how in Ecuador all volcanoes are considered either male or female, which goes along with the indigenous stories about how the volcanoes were created. Many locals refer to Cotopaxi as father Cotopaxi since it is considered male.
After snapping an obligatory family picture at the park sign, we stopped to try some coco tea. While the coco plant is not grown in Ecuador, it is popular to drink at high altitudes like it is in Bolivia and Peru. Richard and I recalled the popularity of people chewing coco leaves when we were in Peru, so it was fun to enjoy the tea with Rick and David. They liked theirs with extra sugar!
We walked a short distance from the restaurant to the national park museum. Here we learned more about the flora and fauna to look for. We also learned about the last large eruption of Cotopaxi that happened back in 2015. Here we are at the "summit" of Cotopaxi:
As we drove towards Lago Limpiopung, we got a great view of the Curiquingue bird. This bird is unique because it hunts on the ground by overturning rocks with its claws instead of diving for its prey like the eagles in North America.
We made it to the lake and were so fortunate to have the clouds part for this picture. Can you spot Cotopaxi in the background?
All four of us started the hike in fairly good spirits. We even got to see the ash erupt from Cotopaxi as we were walking, which was nothing short of incredible to witness.
Shortly after this though the freezing rain started pelting us. At that point, Rick said he was done and I agreed. He and I headed back to the van to wait in comfort and eat the rest of the caramel popcorn while David skipped (… much to the frustration of all of the adults huffing and puffing their way up) up the switchbacks. Richard reported to me that every group he passed cheered him on, which gave him even more energy to reach the Refugio! Needless to say, Richard was proud to share that moment with David at nearly 16K feet.
After all the excitement at the volcano, we headed back down towards Quito. Our guide took us for a lovely lunch. I learned that the red salsa we have been enjoying here in Ecuador is called aji. It is spicy and so delicious. I also learned that fried corn is called tostadas, different from the tostadas we eat in the U.S. for sure! We also got to try tortillas, which, unlike the flour and corn tortillas we have at home, are actually pan-fried potato pancakes. Everything was so delicious!
After fueling up we headed back to our apartment. It was a perfect way to spend the day together before Richard left for his program!
