We will be arriving in Quito on December 14th at
the beginning of our journey. After a few days of
acclimatisation (Quito is at deceptively high
altitude - 2800m) we plan to head south down the
spine of the Andes. If the altitude and jetlag
permits, we hope to visit the Otovalo market, a
cornucopia of Andean folk treats. Sarah will be in
her element!
From the Nez del Diablo we plan to head down to the
city of Cuenca to experience our first taste of
colonial architecture. The city is a world heritage
site and is said to be a stunning place to spend a
few days soaking up the atmosphere.
Between Christmas and New Year we have booked a
guide to attempt Cotopaxi (5897m). Hopefully the
time spent acclimatising will pay dividends and we
will be successful. Regardless of whether we
summit, they say that the views at sunrise are
fantastic. Following the climb, we will head back
to Quito for New Year's Eve before heading out to
the Galapagos on New Year's Day.
By the time we leave Cuenca we will be rapidly
approaching Christmas and looking for a place to
relax in beautiful surroundings. With that in mind
we have decided to push the boat out and have
booked into an ecolodge on the Quilatoa
Loop.
The Black Sheep
Inn
gets rave reviews wherever we read and the owners
have been very helpful during the booking process.
We plan to spend several days walking and visiting
the cloud forest as acclimatisation for the next
stage of the trip.
Heading south from Quito we will make our way to
Banos, a town at the base of the Tunguruhua
volcano. Banos is famous for its thermal baths and
outdoor activities, both of which I am sure we will
sample. From Banos we plan to head across to the
Nez del Diablo railway. This spectacular stretch of
railway falls away over several hundred metres and
is meant to be an incredible feat of engineering.
It used to be that you could sit on the roof of the
train and enjoy the uninterrupted panoramic views.
However, rumour has it that a Japanese tourist was
recently decapitated whilst on the roof so I think
we may take a seat like everyone else.
