We left Finca Sommerwind for the second and last time, heading for Mitad Del Mundo-the middle of the earth. Firstly, we visited the official middle of the earth site, where there is a monument and marked line to signify the equator line. We had the obligatory tourist photo with one leg on each side of the equator line, in each hemisphere. Then we headed to another site nearby where more modern methods using GPS have identified the correct equator line,240 metres north of the official one! Here is a small museum which covered all sorts of interesting topics such as head shrinking with examples of shrunken heads, chocolate making etc. We also had the chance to do some experiments on the equator line such as balancing an egg on a nail (Gav succeeded, I didn`t!) and trying to walk in a straight line (neither of us succeeded!)
Next we headed to the National Park Cotopaxi- Cotopaxi is an active volcano in the Andes mountains and is the second highest summit in Ecuador (5897 metres). With 87 known eruptions, Cotopaxi is one of Ecuador`s most active volcanoes and one of the world`s highest volcanoes. It is stunning-particularly when the clouds part so you can see it in its conical glory with a glacier covering the top. The last eruption was as recently as August 2015 to January 2016 and the park has only reopened in the last couple of weeks. There are also other volcanoes around the national park and it was a beautiful place to wild camp. We had the place to ourselves with Cotopaxi behind us and miles of national park around us. This was the first time that it had been really cold on our trip as we were camping at 3,800 metres. Gav made a great fire and we got into our thermals and kept warm! The place went completely dark-which meant that the stars were amazing. The following day-we drove Ruby up a dirt track to a car park at 4,600 metres and we hiked to the Jose F. Ribas refuge at 4,800 metres. There are two paths-one literally straight up a scree slope and the other a series of gentler switchbacks. We went for the switchbacks and were glad we did as the altitude made it harder to breathe. It was great little hike-and we stopped for a break and drink at the refuge. People who go on to summit Cotopaxi will stay here for the night, although the summit of the volcano is closed to climbers at the moment because of the recent activity.
After Cotopaxi, we headed to Quilotoa, the most western volcano in Ecuador-with a beautiful lake in its crater. We camped in a community run campsite called Shalala and were the only ones there for both nights! We were at altitude again (about 3.800metres)-so it got very chilly at night. We are always lovely and cosy however, in our roof tent and we have also bought an alpaca blanket from Otovalo which supplements our duvet. The view of the crater and lake is stunning and we did a long walk around the perimeter of the crater, stopping for a walk around the village of Quilotoa. The crater of the volcano is 3 miles wide and was formed by the collapse of the volcano after an eruption about 800 years ago. Near the highest point of the walk were a little boy and girl-aged 13 and 10 years-selling a few snacks, drinks and souvenirs. We spent about 45 minutes chatting with them and they were learning ........ their indigenous language, whilst they waited for customers. They both went to school which was 35 kilometres away and were on their summer holidays. What great kids they were and what a humble life they lead compared to kids in the UK.
We then had a really long driving day covering almost 290 miles to the city of Cuenca through the spectacular Andes foothills. Cuenca is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about 2,500 metres above sea level. The centre of the City is listed as UNESCO world heritage site due to many historical buildings and stunning architecture. We spent a few days here having a spring clean and doing some small jobs on the landy. We also did a load of laundry at a local launderette. The lady there told us to return to collect our laundry at 5pm so we went for a wander. We got back a bit early at 4pm, smiled at the lady, and sat ourselves down in the launderette seating area to wait. 5pm came. Then 5.30pm and still no sign of our washing! I approached the lady who looked astonished and told us our washing had been ready for us at 4pm but as we hadn`t asked and had sat straight down, she thought that we were very tired and resting before collecting our laundry! An hour and a half just sitting in the launderette when our washing was ready!
We had a lovely time wandering around the centre of Cuenca, admiring the colonial buildings and the lovely plazas. We caught a taxi into the city and he dropped us off at the main plaza. Gav suddenly said "I think I`ve left my mobile phone in the taxi"! " Run!" I shouted and off Gavin went like Usain Bolt in the 100 metres, as the taxi had stopped at lights a short distance away! Phew-he reached it and got his phone back! We had a tour of the wonderful cathedral of Cuenca-taking in both the crypt where prestigious people are buried and the terrace where we had a great view of the City.
Another highlight of our time in Cuenca, was a little dog where we were camping, that we named "Scruff". He was only a puppy and would come and sit on Gav`s knee at night for a fuss. On our last morning Scruff decided to bring us a present of a dead rat, and he ran towards me with it dangling in his mouth! I promptly climbed up the ladder of the roof tent shrieking loudly whilst Scruff looked very perplexed as to why his precious gift was getting such a reaction!
So we have another long driving day to the border of Ecuador, Macara,, where we will cross into Peru. We have spent just over 4 weeks in Ecuador, much less time than we had in Colombia, because we are aware that time is passing and we have to be in Buenos Aires by December for our flight to Ushuaia for our Antarctica expedition! This means that we have to cover both Peru, a big country and Bolivia, hence our decision to spend less time in Ecuador. We have only scraped the surface of this lovely country.
I have been before, 10 years ago and spent about 10 weeks here covering places we did not get the chance to visit on this trip.
Our highlight has got to be the amazing Galapagos islands (see last blog), followed by Cotopaxi and Quilotoa. We also had a lovely time relaxing with great people at Finca Sommerwind in Ibarra. We have met other overlanders mostly from Germany, Switzerland and the USA-but as yet no other Brits!
I have been before, 10 years ago and spent about 10 weeks here covering places we did not get the chance to visit on this trip.
Our highlight has got to be the amazing Galapagos islands (see last blog), followed by Cotopaxi and Quilotoa. We also had a lovely time relaxing with great people at Finca Sommerwind in Ibarra. We have met other overlanders mostly from Germany, Switzerland and the USA-but as yet no other Brits!
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