Adventures at Tambopaxi

Javier and I just got back from a fabulous weekend in Parque Nacional Cotopaxi.  We headed out with a group of teachers to Hosteria Tambopaxi.  Other than the Refugio (which we walked to in April when we hiked to the glacier on Cotopaxi) it is the only place to spend the night within the park.  It is just a short distance from the bottom of the volcano and has breathtaking views.  We were looking forward to hiking around the park and enjoying our stay at the cozy hostel.

We were all SO excited that it was clear enough to see the top of Cotopaxi as we drove in!
(The volcano is almost always covered in clouds.)

We even had our bus driver, Dennis, stop so we could take some quick pictures!  Here is our little group.

wish it had been this clear on the day we hiked!!

The clear day actually let us see many of the peaks located in the park.  This is Ramba.

And on the other side of the road is Ruminahui.  And lots and lots of blue sky!

This was our adorable little room.

Plenty of space for everyone :) 

After we settled in and layered up, we headed out for a hike.  There's Cotopaxi to our left. 

Here we are mid-hike and high above the valley.

We were headed towards Ruminahui. (Clouds come and go so quickly in these mountains.)

We stopped for a little rest and snack (with a great view). 

Here we are - made it to the base!

Cabezas hiking high. 

This purple flower is a chocho plant.  We eat these a lot at school in salads.

Here are the chochos inside their pod. (They are much bigger and white when we eat them.)

We were the group that decided to head back after reaching the base of Ruminahui....the others were heading the other direction (up)... 

I thought these orange plants were pretty cool.  (Lots of fun flora along the way!)

We also found this awesome horse carcass. 

Here is Tambopaxi as we approached it from our hike.

Tambopaxi settled right at the bottom of Cotopaxi

After a nap and some relaxing we went on another short walk and Cotopaxi opened up again!

Our afternoon walking crew.

The red soil is so bright.

This is Tambopaxi nestled in the mountains.

Tambopaxi.

You can see we have a great view of Cotopaxi! and a fireplace!  And Peter is recovering from their hike up Ruminahui on the floor...

It was also Peter's bday!  So we celebrated with champagne!!

Us at dinner up at the lodge.

The sky was beautiful this morning 

We took a shorter (and easier) walk this morning to a nearby lake.  (And were so grateful for the clear skies yesterday because it was a super cloudy today!)

This was the same lake that Javier and I visited after our hike to the glacier, but it was all grown over with grass this time!

We took the loop around the lake....lots of pretty views.

We walked right by this herd of wild horses and saw two foals!  Little one with the momma 

Lots of wild horses!

wild horses crossing our path 

On the way home we took a minor detour to the GUITIG factory!  Guitig is this AWESOME water sold here in Ecuador.  Now...I'm not a fan of sparkling water, but this is naturally carbonated and DELICIOUS!  He had heard a strong rumor that the factory included a pool of Guitig water that you could swim around in.  We were still pretty high up and didn't have much sun, but decided the chance to swim in Guitig was a once in a lifetime....even if it was going to be freezing (they say about 53 degrees year-round)...so we had to jump in!!

 Look how hesitant everyone is... 

That's not rain...those are bubbles coming up from the pool!!!

First brave boys jumping in!

They said it was freezing...

Second round of jumpers!

I got in too....but very briefly!! It was VERY cold.

celebrating 105 years!!

We had such a fun time...beautiful walks, fun friends and a brisk dip in Guitig all in one weekend is hard to beat!

Running Races Equastyle

In addition to CHIVAing this weekend, Javier and I were deceived conned tricked convinced to sign up for a 7k race that was being held in Quito. Considering all of the training we have been doing for it *cough* NONE *cough* we thought a race at this altitude was clearly a great idea.  We actually hoped that 7k was just short enough to wing it on race day, but showed up feeling less than confident.

Here we all are stretching and getting ready at 6:30am on a fine Sunday morning in Quito.
There was a drone  circling overhead to take pics!

The Cabezas with Javier and Poppy, the con artists friends that convinced us this was a good idea.
(They had been training...)

I won't lie to you readers, it was pretty tough.  We were lucky because the route took us straight down Avenue Amazonas, one of the only flat road that goes through Quito.  Poppy was hoping to finish in about 50 minutes which put us on an 11 minute mile pace.  That seemed reasonable to us so my goal for the next hour was just to stick with Poppy.  Having a pacer helped hugely!!

After we had all crossed the finish line and received our medals!

We were all using GPS maps on our phones that agreed we actually ran 7.5k (or 4.7 miles), which I 100% believe.  That last 1.5 kilometers was the looooooongest of my life (and included the only hill on our route), but I was so happy that Javier and I both finished and were able to run the whole way.  While I haven't been running like I want to or used to, I thought it would be fun to participate in a race while we were here.  (And get a free t-shirt!)  So even with the early morning and extra .5 kilometers, we were super happy we were conned convinced to join in!

My favorite part of the race...breakfast after :)

CH-CH-CH-CHIVA

We were first introduced to Quito's Chivas while watching a Househunters International episode before our big move. Chivas are basically gutted, open-air buses with music and drinks that drive around the city while partiers dance around.  After we arrived we would see them from time to time driving down the street with partygoers hanging out the sides.  Clearly fun that the Cabezas couldn't pass up.  This Friday we booked one for us and some of the finest educators we know.  But you can't board a party bus without a few drinks first so we invited one and all over to our apartment for some celebrations before the bus.

Javier was excited to bring back his blind beer taste test. Club, Pilsener, Brahma or Bud?

Michael was just excited.

I was pumped for the 80s Power Hour that Scottee sent us for the occasion (I made this face a lot)

And there is our CHIVA!  Looks like a party right?

Here is the scene inside...lots of arms holding on and legs dancing around

Did I mention that they serve warm canelazo on the bus?  It was delicious but made for a bit of a sticky mess...

We had a ton of fun!!  It was a wild and sticky time and probably not something to do every Friday night, but we figured at least once!  I mean....when in Rome Quito...