24/7 Cotopaxi

For our second day in Secret Garden Cotopaxi we had a very early start (3:30am wake up for a 4am set off) to try and summit Sincholagua, an inactive volcano and the 12th highest peak in the country at 4,899m. Our guides drove the five of us to the start of the trail at about 3,900m and reached our first rest point at sunrise, we were treated to a stunning inversion over a nearby city. After a while we had to put on our helmets ready for a difficult scramble over snow-covered rocks. We reached 4,800m and sadly the guides told us the conditions were too dangerous for us to continue to the summit, however we were still very proud of our efforts!! Hiking at such high altitude is muy difícil 😮‍💨 On the way back down while we were trying not to be blown away by the wind we saw 2 Andean Condors, apparently quite rare in the area. Back at Secret Garden we treated ourselves to a dip in the jacuzzi before enjoying some bird watching - so many beautiful hummingbirds! After dinner the boys put in a huge effort to light us a campfire and we had a few singalongs before bed.Read more