Cotopaxi

At our second day in Quito, we decided to become active again. We made a tour with „CARPEdm“ and climb the second highest volcano in Ecuador: Cotopaxi.
Starting early in the morning, we went to the National Park by car.
Then the 1,5h hike to the lower glacier started. Luckily we had a guides making sure, that everyone could handle the altitude and which motivated us to walk in a steady pace. At a base camp at 4,800m, we could drink some coca tea.
After that, we continued to hike and reached the glacier at an altitude of 5,100m. You could really tell that the air was thin, but cristal clear. In some lucky moments, the clouds moved a little and we had a nice view of Cotopaxi and its summit. (We unfortunately didn’t make it to the top, since it requires more time, better acclimatization and some experience with ice pickles.)
Afterwards we made our way back to the parking lot and had the possibility to drive downhill with a mountain bike. Although being a little painful because of the bumpy dirt road, it was great fun!
Our way home by car was than a little longer than expected: farmers blocked the highway back to Quito to protest for a better price for milk. And although it took us five hours more to get back, we are happy, that they seemed successful with their blockage.Read more