The Cotopaxi Diaries

We have just returned from 4, blissful, wifi-less days in the Cotopaxi mountains & OH what a 4 days it has been! 

We arrived after a two-hour (& very bumpy as we approached the mountains) shuttle from the sister hostel in Quito. I don’t know what I expected but in short, Secret Garden Cotpaxi is a beautiful countryside paradise; the hostel itself is comprised of several cabins (with wood-fires) & hobbit-homes, a large communal house where everyone eats dinner together & surrounded by beautiful gardens, ponds with ducks, fields full of horses & llamas, & an epic mountain range surrounding it all. After a welcome-wagon mug of mulled wine by the fireplace we set off on a short hike to a nearby waterfall. The hostel beagles, Luna & Cooper, weaving through our legs as we trekked through a thick forest, scrambled over rocks until we reached the waterfall & the pools. Gabby, Roxy & I were decked out in our primary-coloured raincoats & were then joined in a photo by Bailey (one of the volunteers) in green & another guest in purple & together we formed a human rainbow in front of the waterfall! it’s chilly & damp in the mountains so we were very grateful for the roaring fire when we got back. 

Our stay included all our meals (& freshly made snacks at 5pm), & before dinner everyone hangs out in the communal house, drinking coffee & nibbling on tasty treats & cuddling with the hostel dogs (there are five: two beagles, Luna & Cooper; the sausage dogs, Mash & Daisy & Milo, the majestic Dalmatian). There’s a long dining table where we all ate dinner together, during which time we met some really lovely folks over the course of our stay: Jack & Ellie, a couple from Devon & their friend Jen; Dan, a slightly crotchety but nonetheless hilarious & good-natured Brummie chef; Bernie, a hilarious & very German German; Harold & Deborah (more germans & a very sweet couple), Oreo Dude (aka Daniel, a Dutch guy & his very sweet girlfriend); an American guy called Nick & his cute 11-year old some Charlie; a bunch more British chicks; a cool girl from London called Tash; some funny Australians & a sweet Californian girl called Christina not to mention the volunteers: Bailey (Canadian); Victor from Argentina who looks EXACTLY like Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride; Jimmy (pseudo-philospher & a very cool dude with excellent conversation & taste in music) & lovely Sandra who was very complimentary about my sketchbook. After almost 5 months of being away, it was the closest I’ve felt to being at home with a family; home-cooked good, lovely people, utter coziness.

On our first night we decided to crack into some lovely warming red wine & an evening in the jacuzzi, situated in a greenhouse at the top of the property. We were joined by Warwick & Ricky from down undah & lovely Jen, the teacher from the UK. We hung out & drank wine until Warwick (who up until this point had seemed quite interesting, he’s a graphic designer so we had lots of arty stuff in common to talk about) uttered the immortal, spine-chilling words “sometimes I like to listen to psy-trance” closely followed by “here’s a video of me spinning fire-sticks in my psy-trance pants” to which we were like NOPE! & left for bed. Nothing, NOTHING cools the soul quite like a grown-man who’s into psy-trance. Gabby & I were in a tent that night (sounds worse than it was - it was huge, with a big blow-up mattress & a heater & heaps of blankets & was encased in a little wooden shelter) & we giggled our asses off before falling asleep in excellent spirits. 

The next day we rose for a sunrise, pretty impressive given the previous night’s wine consumption. However it was somewhat disappointing due to heavy cloud cover so instead we marinaded ourselves in coffee & steeled ourselves for a day’s hiking. We ate a hearty breakfast & packed little rucksacks & headed for the Pasachoa trail: us, Jack, Ellie, Jen & Bernie, guided by Victor & all five of the dogs. It was beautiful; very rugged, lots of interesting plants, & if it hadn’t been for the looming mountains reminded me quite a bit of the Devonshire moors & various dog-walks I have taken there with Mum & Angus & Scout. It was pretty wet making some parts of the climb a little hairy, throw in the fact that I’m not used to any kind of altitude really & at some points I felt very dizzy. The whole hike took around 6 hours & it was tough but worth it. When we had finally clambered our way to the summit we had hot tea & sandwiches & took photos; it was very misty & spooky. The trail had taken us through a very steep & eerie mountainside forest, all gnarled & crooked trees covered in moss & steeped in mist, trees with bark like paper & wildflowers, like something out of a fairy tale. Victor had to put the littlest sausage dog into his coat to keep warm.

After our snack it was time to descend, & by descend, I mean literally slide down a mountain feeling somewhat terrified that we were going to slip to our deaths at any moment. At one point I was literally hanging onto some long grass, my feet dangling off the floor. Thankfully our group was awesome, so supportive & fun & we helped eachother & had super interesting chats the whole way back, hopping over streams, sneaking through long grass, admiring the wildflowers & generally feeling like we were on a Hobbit-esque adventure to destroy The One Ring. On our arrival back at the ranch we gratefully hopped into hot showers (Gabby & I had now relocated into one of the cabins with Roxy) & I spent the remainder of the evening working in my sketchbook by the open fire.

Day three saw us go on a horse-back trek through Cotopaxi National Park. It was a clear, crisp, bright day & so for the first time since our arrival we were treated to the sight of the Cotopaxi Volcano’s snow-capped peak. Without fail this was one of the most beautiful views of my entire life. The volcano is active so we even saw it emitting little puffs of fluffy steam.

We had to drive a short while to get to the park & were greeted by a paddock of beautiful horses, in thick blanket-y saddles. Despite the sun it was brisk & still kinda cool so we, like the horses, were wrapped up warm. We were appointed our steeds for the day, got our helmets on & off we went. We started slow, a casual amble while enjoying the spectacular view of the volcano, a herd of rainbow-coloured raincoats. My horse was oddly competitive & kept hustling to the front near Bernie’s & when Bernie asked if we could go for a gallop without any prompting from me whatsoever my horse just took off! So off we galloped for a few minutes before we had to stop & catch up with everyone else, before stopping at a cute circular thatched hut so the orses could have a snack & we could have mint tea & banana cake.

On our way back going slow was no longer an option. My horse, now fuelled up on hay & with a taste for excitement would not stop galloping, especially when Bernie’s horse was nearby. Together we galloped through the desert, over the bones & skulls of smaller animals, faster & faster; at one point Bernie & I were just racing along laughing hysterically, it was just so surreal. To have that much space to enjoy a horse ride - literally just green & mountains & animal bones & rugged shrubbery as far as the eye could see. I’ve honestly never experienced that feeling of unadulterated freedom. At one point, my horse & I had disbanded from the group & were completely alone. It was blissful. Just us, surrounded by nature, hair whipping in the wind, faces to the sun.

I sorely paid for the two hours of intense galloping later however; my whole body felt like it had been beaten about  with a lump-hammer. I spent another evening with Gabby sat by the fire, reading & painting, followed by the next day of the same also while Roxy went on another hike (we’d be persuaded to stay an extra night at this point as originally were going to leave after our horse-back adventure); I would’ve enjoyed another hike but my knee was in a state of disrepair after the previous two days so I decided to give it a bit of a rest. So Gabby & I had the most relaxing day of literally all time; reading, drawing, hair-braiding, eating banana cake, chain-drinking coffees & cuddling the dogs. I made a painting to leave as a gift as a thank you for having me as it was truly, unforgettably wonderful.

A soggy Roxy re-emerged around 3pm & then it was just time to scarf down lunch before we bundled ourselves & our bags onto the minibus & bade goodbye to paradise with heavy hearts.