Climbing Cotopaxi and experiencing the joys of high altitude sickness...

What a last couple of days!!!
We went around town to check out different travel agents and decided to skip our plans to go to the jungle for now and climb Cotopaxi instead, the second highest volcano in Ecuador (5897 m):

We started Wednesday in the morning, a driver took us from Quito to Cotopaxi National Park where we met our guide Jamie (pronounced 'Chaime'). We threw our stuff in his jeep and started an extremely bumpy but fun journey trough the park towards the volcano. The area is amazing and it was a nice change to being in Quito and breathing polluted air all the time.

We left the Jeep at a parking area and sorted out the equipment-situation. Each one of us got mountaineering-boots, snowpants, gators, crampons and ice-pick. It was extremly strenuous to put on the xtra clothes and store the rest in our packs since it was windy like hell and we constantly got sand and little rocks blown right into our face.

From there we started hiking uphill for about an hour until we got to the basecamp at 4800m. Then made it up to the area where the glacier starts (5100m) and did some training on how to use our equipment properly and how not to get into dangerous situations.

Then went back down to the basecamp, had some dinner and went to bed at about 6.30 p.m. since we were supposed to start climbing up to the summit at midnight (it takes 7 to 8 hours to get to the top so we would have been up there to see the sunrise)

Unfortunately we didn't get to go. A bit after we went to bed Nigel got a really bad headache. I gave him some aspirin and we thought it would just go by after a while. Guess what??? It didn't get better. it actually got a lot worse. He started throwing up after about 6 or 7 times we decided to take him down the mountain and drive him to the hospital since those are symptoms of really bad altitude sickness. It was pitch dark outside and the wind was a lot stronger than during the daytime. I partly walked down the slope to the car by myself since the guides had to take care of Nigel. It was one of the scariest things I've ever done. I didn't know where I was going and couldn't see where the path was and where the freefall would start.... CREEPY!!! We made it down somehow and reached the hospital by car after another 1 1/2 hours. There Nigel got provided with some oxygen and the doctors checked him for Pulmonary Edema which is a pretty serious symptom of high altitude sickness. Luckily it turned out fine and after a while he was starting to feel better.

Since it was around 11 at night when we got out of the hospital we had to take a taxi back to Quito. On the way back we had 2 (!!!) flat tires. By the time that happened we could just laugh it off. It was such a weird and adventurous day. And I guess we both stretched our limits quite a bit. In one way it was a valuable lesson about how much your body can take and in another way about how it feels to be in a pretty damn dangerous situation and being worried about someone else but not really being able to do anthing to help.

I'm still glad we did the trip and I would have loved to get up to the summit (especially since I was doing completly fine up there) but I guess this wasn't the last chance to do something like that. It was definitely an experience!!!

We're heading down south towards Cuenca on Saturday. I'll probably write more once we get there.

Bienvenidos en Quito!

Yeah! We finally arrived in Quito, Ecuador. There I had to realize that Iberia has lost parts of my luggage! Now they refuse to deliver it to our hostel and want me to come pick it up at the airport but that's not gonna happen - NO WAY! I'll just try and keep bugging them until they give up.

Great!!! After that I found out that Nigel's flight from Miami got cancelled. I took a taxi to get to our hostel which as one big adventure. Holy shit! It seems like you're pretty much screwed without a horn and lanes don't seem to exist. Crazyyyy!!!

Nigel arrived at the Secret Garden (name of the hostel) a couple hours later. The place is absolutely awesome (thanks to Helena for recommending it). The people are really nice and laid-back. There's a big terrace on the roof where you can chill out, talk to other cool people or just relax in a hammock. The view from up there over the old part of Quito is amazing (pictures will be coming soon).

We spent the last couple of days walking around Quito and realized pretty soon that it's tough to get around without at least a basic knowledge of Spanish. 'No entiendo' is one of our most used phrases! The people are really friendly and willing to help tough. We climbed up the towers of the Basilica (about 75 meters high) and it was a pretty scary experience. People here don't really seem to be worried about security... in Europe sth. like that just wouldn't be possible!

We went to Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world - Equator) yesterday. It's a really touristy place about 20 kms north of Quito but still worth checking out. The busrides are ridiculously cheap here (25 cents for an hour drive), and usually really crowded and BUMPY!

Today we were signed up to climb the volcano Guagua Pichincha. Unfortunately we had to drop out and postpone it to next week since I got sick (damn, shouldn't have eaten those unwashed blackberries on the market yesterday). My stomach still feels kinda funny but after throwing up and being careful with what I put in my mouth I feel much better already. Guess this was a lesson!

We're planing on doing a 4 day trip to the Rainforest/Jungle next week before making our way down south to Cuenca. Julie recommended this awesome trainride where you get to sit on the roof of the train and enjoy the scenery :)

It's only been a couple of days here in SA but I already love it!!!

View from the terrace of the Secret Garden, our hostel in Quito, Ecuador