Ecuador Days 1 & 2

We had a good flight from New York to Quito, via Bogota Colombia, with Avianca airlines.  A new airline for us and we were impressed with their service.  We arrived at our hotel, Veija Cuba, in Quito's old town district just before 7pm after a bit of confusion with transport pick up from the airport but we got there.  The hotel was lovely.  We were very tired, missing a nights proper sleep, so went out straight away for some food and then had an early night.  We found a great pizza bar/restaurant just around the corner from the hotel. Nigel ordered a large beer - he got a very very large beer!

Quito, the capital of Ecuador is in a great setting high in the Andean mountains (2850m) and spreads for about 17 miles along a high valley between the east and west Andes.  It's near the equator so warm in the day but chilly at night due to the high elevation.  So we're back to wearing fleeces and down jackets again!  We didn't get chance to explore Quito but we'll be back again in a few days so will do so then.

We've booked an adventurer tour package for our first week in Ecuador so after breakfast we were picked up by Aries, our guide for the day, and headed to Cotopaxi National Park for some downhill mountain biking.  Mount Cotopaxi is a snow capped active volcano standing at 5897m, once claimed to be the highest volcano in the world but after remeasurement it drops to second place.  We were told to expect or be prepared for all weather conditions - we got all weather conditions.  The bike ride started at 4600m at the end of the road and almost at the snowline.  It was an extremely windy day and we had light snow/rain showers as we were approaching the start.  Luckily the snow/rain stopped by the time we started cycling but it was very cold and windy.  We put all our layers on plus waterproofs/windproofs and two pairs of gloves but our hands were still numb with cold/wind chill.  Once we'd cycled downhill a few kilometres though we warmed up a bit and the wind wasn't so fierce.  The sun even came out.  We were cycling down a dirt road which was very bumpy in places with lots of ridges.  Further downhill where it was dry it was extremely dusty, every time a car drove past we were enveloped in a cloud of dust.  It was great fun though, the weather cleared and we got some amazing views of Cotopaxi and surrounding mountains which we thought we wouldn't see as they were all in cloud when we arrived.

We stopped on the way down at a lake and for lunch at the park museum. Aries prepared us the biggest sandwich, half a loaf of bread.  It was delicious but beat us, we couldn't eat it all.  After lunch we continued cycling downhill still on dirt road but then hit a very small uphill.  Neither of us made it up!  We had to walk.  The headwind was too strong and with the extra exertion we could feel the effects of the high altitude, which we weren't acclimatised to, and felt very short of breath.  A bit further down, we hit paved road which was a nice relief after the dirt road, our arms which had taken a good old shaking on the rough ground could have a smooth ride.  We continued a few kilometres speeding down on the paved road until we met Aries again and finished our ride.  Not the best cycle route in the world down a not very well maintained dirt road, the park authorities stopped all cycling on smaller off road dirt tracks, but great views of Mount Cotopaxi and the park.

Aries dropped us off at our accommodation for the next two nights, PapGayo, early afternoon.  A beautiful 'Hacienda' farmhouse with a few horses, lama's, alpacas, geese, cows, rabbits, guinea pigs and a couple of very friendly dogs.  We have a lovely little cottage room.  An afternoon snooze was on order, we were both still a bit tired from missing a nights sleep.  Later we had a lovely evening meal.  Nigel had a peppered steak and I Trout, both delicious and we got served nice fresh vegetables with it, something we never got in America.  We won't miss North Americas fast food culture and limited menu choices.  We're looking forward to lots of fresh food here in South America, plenty of good fresh fruit and vegetables.  Dessert was just as good, a huge portion of chocolate cake for Nigel and a passion fruit mouse for me.