This is a joint blog…Greg first.

I need a Cotopaxi, or at least a little break, as we have been moving and grooving for 14 days.   I know what you are thinking and I’m thinking the same thing, but we have another 260 days to explore and we need a break already?  Here is how I see it, the first two weeks was a vacation and moving forward we need to start traveling and not vacationing.  Yes, on vacation you have packed days and live it up from dust to dawn but it’s not realistic or desirable to do this long term.  When traveling you need to take it a bit slower, soak up the sites and blend into to the local culture.  Fortunately, we have built in several days, and in late september several weeks, to just settle into a city that we will call home for a short period of time.  (Disclaimer complete)

After a 1.5 hour drive south from Quito we hit the Andes mountains and our next stop in the region called Cotopaxi.

This is where I would typically throw in some useless knowledge but I am on such information overload I don’t know where to begin.  Cotopaxi is also a volcano and for some reason Linda and I now think we are Lewis and Clark so we decide to hike part of the volcano.  Twenty years together and we have explored more and are about to complete more hikes in theses two weeks than in the combined twenty years past.  Not to mention we have the Inca trail 4 day hike in a few weeks.

We are so excited for this new journey of hiking we are embarking on and today feels like the first day of school, excited but nervous about making an ass of yourself somehow.  We stop on the way for a quick snack and as I get out of the car I see Linda all bundled up with full hiking gear strapped on to include, glacier like shades, back pack, multiple layers and a jacket.  I felt terrible telling her we were still 30 minutes away and that the stop was for a drink and snack.  She was obviously the first one on school grounds that first day of class each year.  We are planning on hiking up to 16,000 feet, this is a pretty big deal because at this altitude each breath yields about 50% less oxygen (46% to be exact but 50% sounds more dramatic).  To put the hike into perspective Kilimanjaro peaks at 19,000 and only about 60% of the people make it to the summit.  Nothing like jumping in head first, or should I say feet first!

Cotopaxi Volcano Hike (means neck of the moon) – My turn…this is Linda

My disclaimer…I have hiked up to Caddies in Bethesda before (even in the snow), but not a volcano, so I was ready to go!!!  The little stop for a snack threw me all off!  I was mentally ready to roll baby!

The climb was gorgeous.  Strenuous going up because it was very steep, and tricky going down with all of the loose rocks and little pebbles.  It was 15,953 feet at the top.  We were so relieved that we didn’t have a bad reaction to the altitude since we have the Kilimanjaro hike (19,000 plus feet) in October.   We were certainly winded but I think the Coco tea we had before our climb helped us out.  The tea is made from the COCO plant!  Yes, the same plant used to make cocaine but without the other ingredients!  The plant is a sacred plant here as it is said to provide energy, settle your stomach, and helps with diarrhea – all symptoms of altitude sickness.  We also bought Coco candies for later!  🙂

Heading down was much like roller skating over marbles.  And you all know me…an event cannot pass me by (including a trip to the gym) without me getting a souvenir of a wound of some sort.  On the way down I slipped on the rocks and slid back…so my warrior wound is a little boo boo and abrasions on my hands, not that bad!  As we descended the clouds quickly came in around us and then the snow started – almost a cross between hail and snow.  It was crazy how quickly the weather changed…dropping about 15 degrees.  Wow!  It was then time to head off to a quick lunch in an off the beaten path restaurant with a stepa (straw) roof.  Since the weather changed so quickly, there were instant mini-streams all around, so the van we were in could not make it to the restaurant, so a short hike for us to get there.  The hike was worth it as the view was all mountains!

The second day in Cotopaxi was even more adventurous…horseback riding (Greg hated not having control of such a large beast!), a llama visit (I’m adding a llama to the list of animals I want to take home with me…sea lions and blue footed boobies already on the list) and a very rigorous bike ride in the afternoon.

I felt like a little 8 year old tomboy on a BMX bike.  We tore through rocks, mud, sand with rocks, more rocks, steep dirt and rocks and some rocks that were on more rocks.  P.S. I have never ridden a bike on anything other than a street or flat sand, so this was crazy to me!  Scratch that…I forgot…I rode a bike down a mountain in Vail in August several years ago and flew over my handle bars.  So, this was double crazy for me.  Greg kept turning around laughing after every big hill we tore up…he thought it was hilarious seeing little ole me keep up.  I remained unscathed.

 

Now, of course you know what happened when we got back to our Hacienda after all of these physical conquests…I hurt myself stepping over our MacBook’s power cord.  My knee popped in and out of socket…all good…just need some ice and am glad it popped right back in.  MAN – SERIOUSLY!!!!  I’m such a klutz.

While traveling we’ve been very cognizant about being polite, respectful and friendly so as to not be the stupid, aggressive people from the Estadios Unidos. Norte Americanos need a little help in the PR Dept, so to that end I’ve even been waving and saying some spanish greeting to even the kids walking by with their cows in tow (seriously…they were walking their cows to get milked) and all the little girls say ‘hola’ back and giggle away.  Probably because I sound ridiculous, but at least they know I am trying!  The kids are so cute.  Btw, cows milk goes for $0.45 per liter here and a good cow produces 20 liters a day.  The cows are walked to the local plant to be milked twice a day. How’s that for useless facts!?

Now, more on this kickin’ Hacienda we are staying in.  It is called Hacienda of San Agustín de Callo.  Built on the site of an Inca palace, one of the two most important archaeological Inca sites in Ecuador.  This place feels like a story book…from the main courtyard (now the main photo on our blog) you can see three architecture styles:

(1) Inca – Imperial style 15th century, construction style which the Incas used for their temples and palaces It was built by Tupac-Yupanqui (Inca Emperor).  Any relation to good ole hip hop Tupac?!?!?  (RIP)

(2) Spanish Colonial – 18th century and

(3) Republican – 19th century.

The temperature here gets down to 50 degrees at night, but there is no heat in this Hacienda.  Every room has an impressive fire-place.  See below pics.   Our bathroom, bedroom and little sitting area all have cranking, crackling fires!  We will both smell like a cookout when we leave here!  We will need to air ourselves out for sure!

FARMERS MARKET…COW HOOF ANYONE?

Last, but certainly not least, is the visit to the outdoor farmers market.

There were so many fresh veggies, fruits, even flour being made in front of us straight from the grain.

When I say fresh, I mean so fresh that we saw a small farmers family…grandma, mom and daughters…all sitting on the ground wiping the mud off the fragrant spring onions.  The work ethic was so apparent!  We even saw a 4′ 10″ man carrying a sack of potatoes that was bigger than he was. People were not just “manning their stall” they were all a buzz preparing, cleaning or peeling something.  Nobody was sitting still!  Everything looked so delicious!  Farm fresh eggs, every herb you can imagine, fifty different types of potatoes, juicy berries, vibrant flowers, …the list goes on and on! Yum!

So fabulous, until we sauntered over to the meat area.  Can you say, “cows head on a platter?”  Yes, we saw a woman pulling the skin/fur from a cows head that was on a platter…perhaps cow heads don’t float my boat but she gets a thumbs up from me for not wasting anything.

That includes the heart, liver and other guts we saw.  Put it all to use!  Ya know…gelatin comes from hoofs…or used to.

Now…I’m torn here because you KNOW the meat at the market is from a cow, pig, chicken, etc that was from a local farm and were fed fresh grains, bright green grass…only the best.  Also, the farm animals here live a happy life.  I saw them…they were chillin’ like Bob Dylan just enjoying the scenery hanging in the pasture.  No mass production meat warehouses here!  No chickens shoved in to pens so small that they can’t turn around or cows being shot up with hormones.  HOWEVER, only the indigenous people here can actually eat the meat without getting sick, due to the way the meat is handled. No refrigeration, random people touching the meat (with dirty little hands), etc.  With the invention of refrigeration, vacuum packed wrapping, and better sanitary conditions, we poor Americans perhaps became weaker.  The indigenous people here have the enzymes to be able to digest this meat without getting sick.  Now, I’m not lobbying for rotten meat in the US in order to strengthen our funky rotten meat tolerance, but here is something to think about… In the US we have better sanitary conditions, yet we jack up our meat with hormones and such plus we provide a piss poor quality of life for our livestock.  In Ecuador they have organic meat from livestock that lives a happy, carefree life yet you can’t go to the local farmers market to get the meat or you’ll be sick from bacteria due to the poor handling of the meat.  Which would you prefer?

Third disclaimer from this post: I am a carnivore.  I do try my best to eat more fruits and veggies when possible and I opt for organic or Amish meat so that I can eat happy, clean meat.

All for now…sorry to gross you out with the head and hoof pics, but had to share!  Miss you all!

If you want to view our pictures, click on this link: Photos

Hugs,

Linda