The road chose me

With winter fast approaching in the south I’ve been looking for a place to stop off and stay put for a while. While in Quito I learnt about The Secret Garden Cotopaxi (check the photos), a beautiful hostel in the foothills of the massive Volcán Cotopaxi (5897m), Ecuador’s second highest peak. As luck would have it, a volunteer position has presented itself.

When I first dreamed of this adventure and decided to write a blog I really wanted to capture my feelings and emotions along the way. I wanted to make sure I wrote about the good and bad times to paint an accurate picture of solo life on the road and my state of mind along the way. I don’t think I’ve done a good job on that so far, because I’ve been so busy visiting places and taking photos to share it’s just been easier to write about happy times.
Here goes.

To be honest, I feel the need to stay put for reasons more important than winter. The last couple of months have been the hardest of the journey for me, mostly due to loneliness and a bit of monotony has crept in. Constantly going new places and seeing amazingly beautiful things is great, though not being able to share it with anyone is getting kind of hollow and meaningless. On top of that, things are starting to feel the same day-to-day and I think I’m stuck in a bit of a rut.
I haven’t seriously thought about giving up, mostly because I have nothing else to do and nowhere to go, but it does cross my mind from time to time. I’m definitely not enjoying myself as much as I was for the first six or eight months, so I want to change my setting for a while to break out of the ‘funk’ I’ve found myself in.

By staying in one place I hope I can get my fill of things I miss from the ‘normal’ world, to recharge my batteries and get me back on the road full of excitement for the final stretch through about four more countries to Tierra Del Fuego.

In no particular order I’m looking forward to:

• Lots of fitness related stuff.

• Eating really well.

• Learning more Spanish, which might be tough with so many English speakers around.

• Meeting a ton of travelers and potentially a new friend to jump in the Jeep for a while.

• Waking up every day and knowing that I’m already where I will goto sleep at night.

It sounds like I’ll be doing anything and everything; painting buildings, setting the table for meals, manning the phone, taking guests hiking, working on ‘projects’ around the place and anything else I feel like doing.

By the time you read this I will have already started, and have no idea how long I will stay. A month sounds great right now, and I’ll see how I feel after that. There is no electricity or internet out there so regular updates here are going to be tough.

If I don’t update the site as often as normal, please don’t worry – I’m perfectly safe living the simple life.

-Dan

I’m happy to be out of the big city, a journey that took a little longer than expected, and stop for a couple of days just off the Pan American highway near Volcán Cotopaxi at a working farm called Hosteria Papagayo. I go for a huge hike into the hills behind, continuously gaining elevation, though the continuous cloud cover means I don’t get so much as a glimpse of the snow-capped mountains I know are all around me.

My 'friends' who joined me for lunch at Papagayo

I set out on the famous Quilotoa Loop not entirely sure what to expect and am immediately in awe of the scenery and little villages I constantly pass though. This tiny road winds it’s way through communities high in the the Andean mountains which I imagine have been much the same for hundreds of years. The highlight is by far Laguna Qilotoa, formed in the crater of an enormous inactive volcano at 3,800 meters elevation. A local guy lets me camp on his property about 5 meters from the edge of the rim, one of my better campsites for sure. Hiking around the rim the next morning takes about four and a half hours with some seriously impressive views along the way.

The endless green hills of the Quilotoa Loop

The full Laguna Quilotoa

I drive further and further along the deteriorating track, to the little town of Chugchilán. There are a couple of tiny stores, two hosterias and some street vendors selling suspicious looking meat on the one and only street in town. I check-in to one of the hosterias, with a private room, hot shower, dinner and breakfast all for $10 and set out to explore. After walking the length of town twice in five minutes, I venture up into the surrounding hills with no exact destination in mind. As I’ve come to expect the thick clouds roll in around lunchtime and there is a steady stream of rain for the remainder of the day. Although there is nothing to do per se, I come to like this little town and the friendly people going about their lives.

Iliniza Sur and Norte snuck out for just a minute

The trail around the entire rim

I finish the loop the next day by wandering around Saquisili, reported to have the ‘most authentic’ market in Ecuador. Indigenous people hike into town from miles around often using Llamas to pack their produce and hand made goods in and out. It’s not at all geared for tourists and is the lifeblood of the many communities in the area.
At least, this is what I’ve read.
The market is a Thursday-only affair and I’ve arrived on a Saturday. Maybe I’ll come back.

Just hanging out on the side of Laguna Quilotoa

On the rim of Laguna Quilotoa at my campsite

I still don’t know what that suspicious looking meat was, but it tasted pretty good

-Dan