Trekking in Cotopaxi National Park

 We finally get to start hiking, but first we have to drive a couple of hours to get to Cotopaxi National Park. Along the way we stopped and bought some fruit. It was also raining the entire time we were driving, not a good sign for a trekking vacation.

We started at the entrance of the park. Of course we have to get pictures by the sign. My Cotopaxi backpack is ready for Cotopaxi National Park.

We started the hike by trekking around the Limpiopungo Lagoon. It was drizzling.

After flying the previous day and riding in the car it felt so good to be moving our bodies.

We hiked up to 13,000 ft. The purpose was to get acclimated to the altitude and hopefully get some good pictures of Cotopaxi.

Amber and I were the only ones on our trek. This was actually so nice for the hiking part. We could hike our pace, which is a little faster than large groups usually can do. We also got Paul, our guide, all to ourselves. he was a wealth of knowledge. It was a bummer to not get to meet other people. That is always a really fun part of treks. We met a couple different groups along the way but due to COVID everyone stayed to themselves. That was definitely different.

Despite not getting to see al of Cotopaxi the cloud cover made for perfect hiking. The temperature was perfect and the drizzle didn't last too long. It felt great to move our legs and start to adapt to the higher altitude.

I was bummed we didn't get a good view of the Volcano but such is life. Here is what we would have seen on a clear day . . . 

We walked this same path to get back to our car after hiking:) It was just all clouds.

I did my best to find pictures from where we were. Isn't it beautiful?

My favorite sign on the road in Ecuador. It tells you in case of a volcano run:)

Lunch on this day was our first taste of Ecuadorian food. I really loved all the food. There was so much fresh fruit. Lots of soup and lots of variety. It was a pleasant surprise

After eating lunch we started our drive to our accommodations for the night. We were headed to Insinlivi. A small mountain town where we would spend the night.

Along the drive we saw a few more volcanoes. The Avenue of Volcanoes is an area that has 8 volcanoes all kind of close together. We got to see at least glimpses of all 8. Some from the car and some on foot. Some partial due to the weather. Here are the two brothers.

 The drive felt long but we stayed in Hostal Llullu Llama, which was such a fun little place.

Isinlivi.

We walked up to the cross on the mountain above the Hostal. It was a beautiful evening.

The little village/town (not sire what to call it) was right on the mountain side overlooking a massive canyon. Don't worry we hiked the canyon the next day. It made for the most gorgeous evening views.

Llullu Llama

This little hostal was very charming. I really like it.

For dinner we had Shepherds pie. Made in a little different order then what we do in my family but still good.

After dinner we got to use the hot tub. Are you kidding me? I could stay forever. I love hot tubs!!!! It was a great way to end the evening.

Day 1 trekking was a great day. I was disappointed we didn't hike up to Cotopaxi base camp. I wanted to do that. Our guide didn't take us because we had just flown in the day before and he wanted us to acclimate more. We would have been fine but in his defense he didn't know Amber and I actually hike a lot.

We were also quickly reminded about how many dogs there are in some countries. Ecuador has a lot of them. The good news is they are all very friendly even though the are straggly looking.

We will end this post with a picture of the sunset from my balcony at LLullu Llama. So amazing!