Head(s) Over Heels: 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!!