Written: Latacunga, Ecuador
Yesterday afternoon I arrived back in the highlands after a few days on the Pacific Coast. Latacunga is a small city that has been destroyed three times by eruptions of the volcano Cotopaxi, and each time the residents have rebuilt it. The last eruption was over 100 years ago, and one of my guidebooks, written a few years ago, suggests it isn’t ready to erupt again for a few years yet.
The trip to the Pacific Coast had its ups and downs, but in hindsight, I probably should not have done it, and spent more time in jungle and highlands instead. There were many long intolerable hours spent cramped on slow buses that stopped everywhere, it was hot and muggy, the beaches were dirty, and added to that I got sick for good measure. Atahualpa punishing me for actions of the Spaniards 500 years ago no doubt.
I did get a chance to bounce around in waves that were high enough for good surfing, and also had a chance to experience the Pacific side of Ecuador. It seems generally poorer than many places on the central plateau and many houses perched on stilts sit above festering flood waters. There are vast banana plantations on the lowlands between the coast and the mountains.
Despite a bus ride that cramped my legs so much I could hardly walk when I got off, the scenery climbing the Andes from the coastal lowlands was spectacular. The mountains are green and rounded — not jagged like the Rockies. Cultivation and animal grazing is done as amazing elevations and on incredible slopes.
Today, against my better judgment, I went on a day hike to Cotopaxi with a guide and an Irish/Greek couple. I was feeling weak already from being ill and on antibiotics, and you shouldn’t do any tough climbing coming from the coast without acclimatizing to the altitude for a few days. I felt dizzy and often had to stop to gasp for oxygen, but fortunately didn’t experience any of the more serious symptoms of altitude sickness. It was worth it — even though the views weren’t like the crystal-clear sky travel posters, they were better than I expected, and the clouds often cleared enough to see much of Cotopaxi’s snowy cone. I had feared the mountain might be completely obscured by clouds.
The snow was probably about 500 metres higher up in elevation. We climbed at 4,500 metres (14,000 feet), but I didn’t need to get any closer to the snow. I’ll see more than enough in one week from now.
Tomorrow and Saturday I plan to check out a couple of Ecuador’s better known Indian markets. Unless anyone wants me to bring back a llama or some piglets, I don’t think I’ll find much tomorrow, but it should be colourful.
