We are heading back to London

We will be heading for the airport in a couple of hours. We still have a long journey ahead with 13 hours stop over in Atlanta so we will take advantage and visit the city. We could go mad if we had to sit for that amountsqzqex greeted sex were of time in an airport after the active time we have had in this truly amazing country.


When we left London we had set ourselves the challenge of climbing 4 mountains and cycling the Quilotoa loop. We achieved almost everything we set ourselves to do, safety prevented us from climbing to the summit of the last mountain.


It has been an intense physical and emotional journey but unbelievably fulfilling that will continue to feed us for months to come.


We would like to thank you for having been with us all the way and would like to leave you with the photos of each of our challenges.

Pasochoa Summit - 4,200 mt

Quilotoa Lake

Iliniza Norte - 5,126 mt

Cotopaxi - 5,897 mt (19,347 ft)

Cayambe Glazier at 5,100 mt

Otavalo, the weavers and back to Quito

After the disappointment of Cayambe we decided to use the time to visit Otavalo, famous for its markets and it's weavers. We realised we were exhausted from our active holiday and crashed in the hostel for the whole afternoon after wondering around the streets of the village and having a meal serenaded by a life Andean music group.

The loom had been used by generations of weavers in the family

The following day we explored further afield and went to a weavers village 15 mins away by bus. We were really lucky to meet an old man who invited us to see his hand loom. He and his family had been weavers for generations and 4 generations shared what seemed to be a single room. We bought some of his produce and he had so little that had to take it off the loom, that was truly special.

The young woman had to translate into Spanish as the old man mainly spoke Quichua

We also saw some amazing hand woven carpets and had a demo of how to make natural dies from cochineal insects.





Back in Quito we did some site seeing and played at being proper tourists. Here are some of the sights of this nice city.

Towards the Plaza Grande

La Basilica

Near our Hostel

Climbing Cayambe

Cayambe is another exciting volcano , with its 5,790 mt it is the highest point in the Ecuator.


To reach the refuge we had to drive through a tiny track carved in the side of the mountain full of massive holes and sheer drops towards the valley, it was pretty scary but Marco was the most amazing driver, when it got really bad he got off the car, inspected carefully the way and we moved on.


The refuge was very cold but relatively comfortable. We settled ourselves in the sleeping bags to get a bit warm and talked about the plan: eating at 5, going to sleep at 6pm and getting up at 9pm to be in the mountain by 10pm.

The weather wasn't on our side from the start, the temperature was too high to totally freeze the surface of the glazier and it was so foggy that the light of the head torches reflected back. We knew that the day before no one had been able to summit but we were feeling really strong and were willing to give it a go provided it was safe. We had total confidence in our guide Marco.


After about 1 hour we reached the glazier, put on our crampons and roped ourselves. We were making really good progress when Marco asked us to stop. He dug a triangular shape in the snow and looked a bit concerned, then checked his barometer and commented that the pressure was going down and that was bad news, he muttered something about avalanches but suggested we continued. By the time we reached 5,100 mt we had climbed 600 mt and were half way up when he asked us to stop again, he repeated the digging in the snow, looked at us and told us that in his experience with the conditions of the snow and the relatively high temperature there was a 50 per cent chance of avalanches further up when the slope would be just over 45 degrees. He stated that it was too dangerous to continue and we should turn back. We felt really disappointed as both of us were feeling really strong but at the same time were clear that we didn't want to take unnecessary risks as we were well aware that avalanches had killed climbers in Cayambe. Here is the photos of that moment. It is hard to turn back when you know that you could have done it!




When we began descending we were above the cloud and as in Cotopaxi, the night sky was breathtaking. What made it even more special for us is that, as we were right on the Ecuator, we could see the Big Plough and the Southern Cross. Neither of us had ever seen the Southern Cross or any of the stars of the Southern hemisphere and as we had time we took our time to watch the sky.


Back at the refuge at 3.30am we got into our sleeping bags with a touch of sadness because in other circumstances we should have been on the mountain.

Visiting the Childrens Home in Ambato

As you all know we are raising money for two great charities: Macmillan Cancer Support and Danielle's Children Fund. We have set up a Just Giving page for Macmillan and are collecting the money ourselves for the Ecuatorian children. 


Visiting the children's home was an opportunity not to be missed . We had a long conversation with Ine, the president of Danielle Children's Home about the work they do on Ecuador and Nepal and then we went to see the children.



After the successful climb of Cotopaxi we had we were advised that the conditions were better for Cayambe than Chimborazo so we decided that we would attempt to climb Cayambe to have a better chance to reach the summit.


Marco collected us from the Children's Home and took us to the wackiest of haciendas. All the rooms had religious names and we were suitably housed in 'La Virgen'. Food was great and Kath ended up having trout for the fifth time in three days, such is the life of a vegetarian in these parts.


Bed beckoned but not before some treatment to Kath's eyes that got a bit burned in the Cotopaxi.

Cotopaxi here we come

Is now the 18th and we met our guide Marco. By now we are so excited that it is hard to sleep.

We drive in a 4x4 through really remote tracks and enter the Cotopaxi National Park, for both of us climbing Cotopaxi is more important than Chimborazo. There is something pretty appealing about standing in the open crater of a volcano. After a while we enter the Páramo, a barren landscape in which the only vegetation is very coarse grass that is used in the area to

build the house roofs. The terrain is sandy-ashy from the remains of the rivers of lava that once covered this land.

Marco, our guide quickly set us at ease, he climbed Cotopaxi more than 80 times and his response to our questions as to whether we were well acclimatised was that the most important thing was to be relaxed. Marco is a very experienced mountaineer who was a member of the Ecuatorian Mountain Rescue Team.

Best present ever - straw bale!!!

We stopped for lunch in a traditionally built house and you can see Kath's delight at discovering that it was a straw bale construction (OMG), we are stopping here after the climb and I can imagine Kath will need an extra memory card for her camera!!!

The walk to the refuge from the car park was steep but short, although at 4,800 mt breathing becomes harder. Finally we were able to get the very first glimpse of the full mountain albeit in the mist

Cotopaxi in the mist

The first thing we did when we got to the refuge was walking to the glazier to practice walking with crampons and stopping ourselves from free falling with our ice picks, all very exciting. The plan was that we would go to bed at 6.30pm after pushing some dinner inside us, get up at 10.30 and start walking by midnight. It's all very real now and we are quite nervous.

Unbelievably, we managed to get a couple of hours sleep and as planned we set off at  midnight. The night sky was extraordinary, I´ve never seen so many stars - the Milky Way could be seen clearly as could a miriad of shooting stars. The light of our head torches made the snow and ice sparkle. It was really hard work but worth every step of the way. Behind us in the distance we could see other climbers like a little row of fairy lights. Marco set the pace and was constantly checking the condition of the snow, avalanches are not uncommon in this mountains and every year they claim climbers lives. We felt totally safe with him, his technical knowledge as well as the knowledge of the Ecuatorian mountains is second to none. We crossed crevasses through ice bridges and saw massive ice waterfalls and other incredible ice formations under the lights of our torches. Such a shame we couldn´t take pictures we would love to share them with you!

See the crater behind

The number of people continuing to the top was diminishing as some of the climbers turned back. Truth to be said it is the hardest physical thing either of us has ever done. After 10 hours of strenuous walking, including some long 45 degree slopes, we made it to the top. The feeling is undescribable, suffice to say that we both burst into tears, a dream come true. The view of the crater, fire and ice together, sulphur plumes of smoke raising from the depths, nothing we can say can describe it

Kept this one large to show the incline we just climbed down

We didn't stay long in the top as we still had a very long descent some of it pretty steep. This is Marco coming down after he had secure us down with the ropes.

Marco making sure all is in order

The whole day took fifteen and a half strenuous hours worth every single second just to be on top of a volcano 5897 mt high. Just want to leave you with some photos to try to share in a small way what we saw and experienced in the summit.

 

 

The hardest is still to come

As the hardest is still two come we decided to take it easy on the next two days and try to get some rest to prepare for what was to come.

First we returned the bikes, the shop owners were thrilled and wanted to take our photo to publish it on their website as we had been the first to do the Quilotoa loop on their bikes. Then we went to the craft market for a bit of retail therapy a welcome rest from being constantly on the move since our arrival in the country.

The next day, we went for a wonder to the local market where you can buy the most amazing variety of potatoes as well as a whole series of potions against evil eye, to give you success in business as well as the most amazing sexual prowess.

 

 

Papallacta was next, back to the local buses to get us there. The waters in Papallacta are heated by the volcanic activity beneath and can reach up to 45 degrees centigrades. Here are two relaxed women who nearly fell sleep in the water surrounded by beautify mountains.

 

Climbing the Iliniza Norte - 5,100 mt

In the very early morning the clouds were enveloping the mountain refuge and it looked like we wouldn't be able to climb our second mountain, eight pairs of eyes kept on looking out of the window and suddenly as if by magic all the cloud lifted and we saw a very different scenery from the one the night before - it had snowed heavily in the night and we had a clear view of Iliniza Norte. The hut became a hub of activity and we got to know better the other 4 climbers than with their dog had arrived in the middle of the night.

Pampa fully kitted to climb up the mountain

When all of us got ready, including the dog we set off together. Snow makes the mountain more technical and we agreed that we would stick together. The views from the saddle between the two Ilinizas was fantastic. And we were even able to see the summit of Cotopaxi who has been playing hide and seek with us for days.

After such nice clear start of the day the cloud came down and together we scrambled tithe summit - Pampa in spite of his short legs made it first (I suppose having 4 puts him at an advantage!) The comradery in the summit was really special - all of us felt a real sense of achievement.

Iliniza Norte the one we climbed

We climbed down keeping close together because the cloud got even thicker, rested a bit in the hut and continued down with Lindsay and Rene who offered us a lift to Quito. We drove in the middle of torrential rain and got the warmest of welcomes from Luis our lovely host. Our day finished with a meal in a restaurant with the most amazing views of Quito

We were more than half way through our challenge: we had climbed two mountains and cycled over 150 k through one of the most remote areas of the country.

Iliniza Sur

The climb

The cross in the summit

Quito at night