After our week in Banos it was time for a change of scenery. Arriving at Hostal Rondador Cotopaxi it did not take long for us to notice the elevation change from 1800 meters at Banos to 3300. We did a 2 hour hike around the area and surprising stumbled upon a bikepark we planned to try out the day after. The highlight of the hike was a dog that joined us at the bikepark and insisted on following us for about an hour. It only gave up when we reached a small town and it encroached on other dogs’ territory. On our last day we went back and found it again – this time bringing dog food.
Unfortunately Noah was the first to feel nauseous and get a headache and Vitus followed a few hours later. Line and Jesper never experienced any effects during our stay (besides being out of breath) which just goes to show that altitude sickness is pretty random and has nothing to do with gender or physical shape (Noah is by far the one in the family with the highest VO2 max).
Unfortunately that meant that Jesper had to stay back with the boys on our second day while Line went horseback riding. Fortunately the pet cats, dogs and Llamas at the hostel kept the boys busy while they recovered and our host Fernando is about the sweetest and most service minded person you will ever meet.
Fernando is a big fan of music and plays several instruments. Noah quickly fell in love with Fernando’s guitar and we even tried to buy it from him for Noah’s birthday 2 days later. Being a gift from his wife it was not for sale but Fernando took us to his favorite music store in town where Noah ended up falling in love with an even better model. He got part of it as a birthday present from us. As we could only bring one guitar with us he had to sell his old one to the owner of the music store, but being pretty battered he only got 25 USD for it as part of the trade.
Climbing the Cotopaxi volcano
On our last day it was time to go to the volcano. Vitus was still too impacted to join so he stayed back. We drove about 30 km. to the foot of the volcano and from there hiked about an hour to the “Refuge” at 4860 meters above sea level. It was amazing to feel the effect on your body and how just a few steps at a too high pace would leave you out of breath and dizzy. It was equally impressive how fast your body learns to compensate and by the time we reached the Refuge Jesper and Noah was feeling good enough to convince the guide to take the much less beaten track up to the glacier. While literally hundreds of people were making their way to the Refuge, Noah and Jesper only encountered 3 other people on the out-and-back glacier trail. A truly great experience.
Going back it was time to get on the bicycles. Line felt the road was a bit too steep at the Volcano so she joined at the base when it became more flat and rode with Noah and Jesper to the small lake. Probably a wise choice as it was a gravel road and Noah and Jesper quickly reached +55 km/h.
From there the lake it was a 20 km. (mostly downhill) ride back to the hostel where Line opted to stay in the car. A fantastic day that concluded our Cotopaxi trip.
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