Trip to Ecuador- Adventuring...

Hello all!

This is my first update since the project, and man oh man have we been busy since my last update. I am tired, but having an absolute blast. We have also had real beds and showers since then also, makes life much easier, and cleaner...

After leaving Quito we stopped in Sigsipamba, where we rode mountain bikes and rock climbed. Andrea and I were in the group that did the mountain bike riding first. ISV (the group we are travelling with) is pretty militant about safety, so we wore helmets, elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves, of the gardening variety. We looked like road warriors. The first downhill was pretty sweet, it was fast and required manuvering, which was difficult for some of the people who hadn't really ridden bikes before. The rest of the ride was down cobblestone streets, basically making my arms feel like a sewing machine, and ended on an old railroad track going through tunnels. That was cool. Then we had lunch and switch to rock climbing. This was one of my favorite activities, I almost made it to the top of two 5.9 climbs. I just didn't have enough upper body strength. When I get home I gotta work on my guns.

Then we got back on the bus and drove to Tambopaxi Lodge in Cotopaxi National Park. One of the highest active volcanoes in the world at 5800ish meters and it is capped by a glacier.  The lodge itself was at 4400 meters, higher than any point in the lower 48 states. The hydration really helped adjusting to the altitude, but it was a strain on my bladder. :) The next day we went to climb the glacier. The weather was cold and snowy, and made me really glad for all my gear, except for the leaky rain jacket. We went nice and slow from the parking lot at 4600 meters to the refuge point at 4900 meters. Then we went up to the glacier, put on cramp-ons and roped up and went all the way to 5100 meters! We had to turn back at that point due to glacier conditions being prone to avalanching, but it was really sweet. Some of the other people in the group had altitude sickness and others had colds. Being all about safety and health, they were put in a separate room to try to keep everyone healthy. The food was really good, the fire was warm, and there were no roosters to wake you before light. It was good.

The next morning we drove from Cotopaxi in the highlands, to Banos in the jungle on the eastern side of the Andes. We got off the bus and hoped straight on bikes to go down the Avenue of the Waterfalls. It was a really tame ride, but really pretty. We rode a super sketchy gondola across the canyon to get a great view of the river and waterfalls. I know that if Dad had been there we definitely would not have been allowed on, but it was only $1... then we continued riding, ate some lunch where Andrea ate some cake that had milk in it which proved to fatal to her digestive tract later. Then we went white water rafting. Andrea and I were in the most extreme boat due to people and locations. I was a little nervous at first, but it proved to be a blast. It was all girls in the boat and our guide, Patricio, was absolutely hilarious. "Faster malas chicas, faster!" He purposely flipped the boat and we got to row on top upside down for awhile, and when we went over some of the bigger rapids he would jump really high in the air and come crashing down in the middle of the boat. It was good. We then went to stay in jungle cabins for the night. Andrea saw her lunch again on the ride there. She went to sleep and the rest of us ate dinner and hung around the campfire for a fake shaman demonstration and funny stories.

The next morning we woke up after another night under mosquito netting and went on jungle hike. We went to a hidden waterfall and went swimming and tromping through the river and on the muddy trails. It was really fun. When we got back and I took off my boots and got attacked my little black flies. So now I am covered in fly bites, especially around my ankles, and they itch like crazy, but I think I can manage. Everywhere else that had bugspray was fine... darn those boots. At the end of the day we went down the river to some dugout canoes and spent the night in more jungle huts with mosquito nets. We had a talent show where we performed a traditional Kichwa dance complete with crazy foliage outfits. We then danced for a bit and went to bed.

Then we transfered to a hotel in Banos, warm showers again! We went for a horseback ride up into the old volcano flows, lahars, and drank from a natural spring that tasted like sparkling water. It was cool. We actually got to canter, and not just trot, and I didn't looke like a complete idiot getting bounced around in the saddle. I will have to thank Francie Cole for that one. We then had dinner and met with the other ISV group, the north bound tour, and talked with them about their experiences on the coast, which is where we are headed next. We then went out bar hopping, listening to some crazy music and walking in the rain. That was really fun also and then we came back and hit the sack to get ready for another very full day.

This morning we woke up to some pouring rain and I worried about whether our day of puenting and canyoning would be cancelled or not. Not to fear, no one stops for weather here. Our group went puenting first, which turned out to be a good thing because the group that went canyoning first became icicles in the river. Puenting is basically bridge jumping, which means you jump off one side of a bridge, which was 150 feet about the river, and pendulum out with a rope that is securely attatched to the opposite side, like a giant swing. Andrea and I both went off backwards like jumping and doing a backflip, which was really cool, although now I have bruises from the harnesses. Yes, incase you were wondering, we are hardcore. There were two girls in our group where were afraid of heights and bridges, respectively, and they both jumped. It was really neat to watch people conquer their fears, or do something in spite of their fears. Then lunch and switch groups to go canyoning. We got to put on wet wetsuits which was a little chilly at first, but after going out in the warm sunshine, it felt good. The weather changes here very quickly. Canyoning is basically rapelling down waterfalls, or using a rope to descend from the top of a canyon to the bottom. Andrea and I had already had experience from  summer camp, so it was pretty easy to get the techique and we had a minimum of slips and crashing into the rock. The last waterfall was by far the coolest. You go over the edge of a rock and then lower yourself down freestyle, not touching any rock, 150 feet. It was spectactular. Then back to the hotel for a nap, because after all this back to back activity my body hurts... 

Then dinner and maybe some hotspring action later tonight and then tomorrow morning we drive for 10 hours to Montanita, a small city on the coast where we will be surfing, whale watching, and snorkeling. Hopefully there will be no bugs. I am sick of itching. The group dynamic is really cool actually because about 70% of the people are really experienced outdoors and really active in their regular lives (there is a guy who does triathalons and is training for an iron man) and there are about 30% who have never done anything like this and everything is a new experience (like the girl who can't swim, barely rides a bike, and had only sat on a horse before). It really makes me appreciate all the experience and worldliness that both Andrea and I have had growing up. We are by far the most well travelled, culture conscious, and independent people here. I am really excited for the next few days and later our Galapagos Island excusion!

Hope all is well in other areas of the world!