Ecuador (part 3)

Wednesday, 29 IX 2010

Tonight I went with Hugo and his friend to the soccer game ($10). It was a match between Deportivo Quito (Hugo's favorite) and Barcelona from Guayaquil.
It was a cool experience as the crowd of 10,000 would go wild over a goal or almost jump down to the field to tear up the referee for what they thought was a wrong call.
Deportivo Quito annihilated Barcelona 4:0!!! so it was a good game.

Thursday, 30 IX 2010

Sunny, cloudless sky made a perfect day to hike up Ruco Pichincha. There is a gondola ($8.50) that takes you up to 4,050m (13,300 ft) from which you can begin your hike up or just enjoy the view of Quito from above.
Again, I was pressed for time a bit and did not have a claimed 3h hike each way but I was determined to conquer the peak. I stepped out fast crossing my fingers that the elevation sickness won't get me.
Quito is located at 2,850m (9,300ft) but lately I was in the jungle and Mindowhich are closer to the sea level. Your organism looses the acclimatization to the elevation after a while.
The first hour of the hike takes you through the treeless hills as you approach the rocky mountain. The crazy weather didn't disappoint in showing its face. Black clouds rolled in out of nowhere and the wind picked up. Something was brewing up there but I was still in denial. I got to the jagged faces and first thing on my mind was to climb them hehe. As I was about to glue my feet and fingers to the rock and navigate to the highest peak the dark clouds opened up and it started SNOWING!!! I'm not gonna risk climbing on wet, unknown rock so I kept following the trail. I did take my rain/wind shell but had only a t-shirt underneath so I had to keep moving to keep warm. It snowed for 10-15 min and stopped; for now at least. The air is thin up there and it is very tiring hiking up steep slopes. At points I felt my pulse in my head as it was a ticking time bomb ready to explode. After a total of only 1:45h I reached the peak of 4,700m (15,400ft). To my surprise elevation sickness didn't catch up to me :) The views were magnificent! The clouds were zooming through the sky above and below covering and showing many more of the jagged peaks in the distance. At one point a dark cloud engulfed me. The question on my mind was: Should I really be here right now? Did I mention I was all alone? Everybody else either turned back due to the snow or elevation sickness.
Free climbing down on the slippery rock made my blood pumping much faster through my veins warming me up. Hike down took only 1:25h but on the way, instead of snowing it started hailing pretty hard and these icy suckers felt like somebody was pinching me everywhere. This chilly weather sure didn't help my cold.
To my surprise after I got down and was heading to Hugo's shop my head started hurting pretty bad. Stupid elevation sickness couldn't keep up with me while I was hiking but had to make it's presence known. It ruined my evening :(

On a side note this was the day when the police decided to go on a strike and hold the president against his will almost executing him. After an hour shoot out with the military and 8 dead, the president was freed. With almost no police protecting the streets the city closed down pretty early and the danger level sky rocketed especially at night.

http://picasaweb.google.com/maurycy.sarosiek/EcuadorRucoPichincha?authkey=Gv1sRgCKGG_9_cnYq8VA

Friday, 01 X 2010

I was suppose to go and see a folkloric dance presentation with Luisa. With a very few policemen on the streets the danger level remained high and the show was canceled. Luisa preferred not to go out after dark so my plans fell through. Not to mention that there was a nation wide 10pm curfew in place for 5 days with the military roaming the streets.

Saturday, 02 X 2010

Initially I planned to leave last night to the coast but Hugo offered to take me to Volcan Cotopaxi and I wasn't gonna turn that down. The weather was perfect with clear skies and sun shining strong.
Upon arrival to the park's gates a surprising change of rules caught us off guard. Foreigners can not enter the park without a certified guide!? They said it is to create a bigger awareness and create some jobs. They finally let us through ($10) saying it's the last time.
Volcan Cotopaxi have an impressive height of 5,897 m (19,350ft). You can drive up to 4,500m (14,750ft) and hike up to refugio located at 4,800m (15,700ft). That's what we did having snowball fights along the way and a race down the sandy slope. Too bad that clouds formed (as usual with this loco weather) and hid the peak from us to admire.
Climbers leave refugio at midnight and it takes about 8h to summit the beast. This beast explodes about every 120 years and it is about that time to spit out lava and ash of destruction.
On the way back Hugo decided to take a different route out of the park and it turned out better than we thought. Along the way we saw a sign for waterfalls and decided to check it out. The trail took us through the canyon where the walls would have overhangs everywhere and we had to cross the river multiple times. After a second crossing we left our boots on and were skipping through the water like little boys. It was super fun and the scenery was beautiful. The trail showed us few not too big waterfalls along the way culminating with a huge one following with the canyon probably 200m (650ft) deep. Once I got an inch from the edge of this sheer cliff the vast openness overwhelmed me. It felt.......
The pictures couldn't take it all in and downgraded it a ton. Funny thing cuz Hugo had no idea it was there being within 30min from his house hehe

Volcan Cotopaxi:
http://picasaweb.google.com/maurycy.sarosiek/EcuadorVolcanCotopaxi?authkey=Gv1sRgCIbGnM-TifTR5gE

Caldera del Diablo:

http://picasaweb.google.com/maurycy.sarosiek/EcuadorCalderaDelDiablo?authkey=Gv1sRgCKGAoKrp0oWHAg#

Sunday, 03 X 2010

I stayed in Quito yet another day to go biking with Hugo. There is a bike trail in Ambato where a small train used to go. Nice views with a big canyon and a river down below. It's not flat though. It takes you in to the bottom and then to the top of the other side of the canyon. You also go through a kamikaze tunnel hehe From bright light to complete darkness where you can only see a small light coming from the exit and nothing in between. You have to make sure you use your bat senses not to have ahead on collision with another biker. We traveled there and back for about 36km (22.5 mi) making a good time.
At 10pm I boarded a bus heading to the coast.

Thanx a million once again Hugo and Susana for taking me in, feeding and showing me around. I had a wonderful time and appreciate it greatly. You guys rock!!!

Monday, 04 X 2010

It took 8h ($8) to get to Manta from where I took another 3h ($2.50) ride to Puerto Lopez. Along the way, in Jipijapa, Davi and Javi hopped on the same bus. I've met these spaniards in Puerto Misahualli as I was heading to the jungle. They also had allocated two days for Puerto Lopez so we decided to see the city and surroundings together. For me it was another language test and lesson.
After lunch we rented bicycles ($7/day) to go visit Agua Blanca ($5) which was 5km on the road and another 5km on a dirt trail through a dried out forrest/bush gathering. It was a community with rich history and a natural sulfuric pond. It was hot, dry and our bikes without suspension were throwing us around like crazy. I got a flat tire and of course the key we were given did not fit and we couldn't take off the tire. Luckily the village was close and nice people helped us out. For us it was a waste of time and money.
From there we headed yet another 5km north up the road to Los Frayles ???????? beach which supposedly is really beautiful. Entrance cost $12 or you can buy a week pass for $20 which includes Isla de la Plata ($15 otherwise). Well... the beach is nice but nothing special. It's guarded by rocky cliffs on its sides and dried, ugly looking bushes and stuff all around. We went for a swim and current was so strong it was making waves toward and away from the shore.
It was a pain in the ass riding these piece of shit bikes so we took a motoryksza back to town.
These two places have potential to be really nice but during the rainy season once everything is green. This time it was a bit waste of time.

Tuesday, 05 X 2010

Tour of the Isla de la Plata ($30 including lunch) along with possible whale watching was in store for today. The season for whale watching ends with the beginning of October but we were lucky enough to spot a group of four. We got pretty close. They weren't jumping above our boat (buuuuuuu) but at least one showed its tail.
Same story with the island... it was all dried up. We went around half of it for about 3h. We saw few birds and a sea lion. Again, during the rainy season it could be nice but right now it was pretty ugly. Nice cliff coast made up for it a bit.
The whole day we had an overcast so once we went snorkeling the visibility was't too good. Still, I saw some interesting and colorful fish but couldn't catch them lol.
Puerto Lopez is a fishing town with nothing special to offer. It serves as the hub to go see Isla de la Plata. It's interesting to watch what the fishing boats bring in the morning after a night's work. All the seagulls and alike spiral down and steel whatever they can as the men try to outrun the birds LOL

http://picasaweb.google.com/maurycy.sarosiek/EcuadorPuertoLopezIslaDeLaPlata?authkey=Gv1sRgCO6t5qy9wfrv-wE#

Wednesday, 06 X 2010

It was drizzling since morning so without any rush I went a bit south to Montanita (1h $2.50). On the bus one man started asking me what I do, an economic status of Poland and stuff. Then he started explaining to me how I can make lots of money selling some health pills. Of course It was a pyramid thing where I would have to recruit more people and so on. From each sale of these people down my path I would get a percentage. For only $134 I could get in on that and make lots of money not doing much hmmmmmm... (www.4life.com)
Montanita is a touristy town with good surf year round being best during the rainy season. Due to slight rain I just walked around the small town and the beach a bit. Without the sun there is little to do.

My experience with the Ecuadorian coast wasn't what I was hoping for. Maybe next time it'll charm me but for now I'm done with it. Time to move on.

Thursday, 07 X 2010

At the crack of dawn I took a bus to Guayaquil (3h $5.20). I walked around the town for few hours and it made a positive impression on me. The city have many nice places to relax and go for a walk with family and friends. There are few parks and one is a home to tons of iguanas up to a meter long and a gang of turtles. The riverfront (Malecon 2000) is pristine and a nice place to just walk around. Cierro Santa Anna brings out the colors from where you can have panoramic view of the city.
There are more things to see there but I'm not a huge fan of big cities and wasn't going to stay another day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/maurycy.sarosiek/EcuadorGuayaquil?authkey=Gv1sRgCLai4YGC46WGgAE#

Friday, 08 X 2010

Parque Nacional Cajas is about 3h away from Guayaquil and an hour fromCuenca. I asked to be dropped off at one of the early trails of the park. The bus driver knew the one so it was no problem. It only became a problem when I saw a small sigh for my trail zoom by the window. I think you have to keep asking them every 5 min or they'll forget or just don't care. Good I saw it and had to hike up only for few minutes. I was suppose to pay ($10 entry + $4/night camping) and register at a station down below but not knowing if I'll get a ride up to the trailhead I decided not to. I didn't want to waste daylight either. If anything I'll pay on the way out.
The weather was crap. It wasn't raining but constant drizzle and cold weather was annoying. Also, the fog/clouds were rolling around blocking the views. Supposedly it's really easy to lose your trail. Asia (polish) and Adam (czech) that I've met in Puerto Lopez gave me the map (thanx), I had my compass so I was set.
I started around 9:45am. Right from the start I took a wrong trail and wasted 30min and energy climbing a steep hill. Now I started paying closer attention to the map and the terrain features. It would be good if it had contour lines. It's not a true topo map but I'll deal with it.
Everything was going fine, even the drizzle stopped and the temperature was nice. Still cloudy but that's better for trekking with my house for the whole year on my back so I wasn't complaining. The trail was somewhat marked with color paint on sporadic rocks and even though sometimes I trailed off it was easy to get back on the main one. My day turned to worse when I got a headache due to altitude. I was hanging around at nil elevation at the coast and jetted to about 13,000ft in no time. I took ibuprofen, curled up in a ball in the tall grass to get some shield from the wind and took a 30min nap. I still didn't feel too good but I had to keep moving. The tall grasses covered the ground making it impossible to set up a tent.
The scenery wasn't too exciting. Barren rocky hills covered with some grass. This would be ok if they would be green. Even though this park is super wet and it rains here all the time tons of vegetation was brown or washed out olive drab! Not much motivation to keep going. On top of not feeling good it started raining and didn't look like it's gonna stop anytime soon. My rei jacket worked perfectly but my pants got wet really fast. I had waterproof boots on but that was only good for a bit. The problem was that the trail was very narrow and the tall grass on which water dropletswere hanging around would block the way. So my pants would get a fresh intake every step. The socks betrayed me and decided to let the water in making a swimming pool in my boots grrrrrrrrrr... Soooooooo at that time I was pretty miserable being wet, not feeling good, and my hands were almost frozen. There are no trees to hide under for a bit to take the heavy pack off and maybe eat something AND the wind would smash the rain right in my face. On a brighter note views were improving rapidly only if those clouds would go away. I was descending slowly so there was more brush and even some trees with tiny leaves (still no protection from the rain).
I finally got to the place that had a bit of a flat ground around 4pm. Waited for the rain to die down a bit and with almost no feeling in my hands I set up my tent for the first time. It is a Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1 one person tent that weighs only 2lb 5oz + footprint. It is surprisingly roomy and I had no problem dealing with all the wetness, changing and finally eating something.
I hope it won't be raining in the morning. I'm not looking forward putting on my soaked boots.

Saturday, 09 X 2010

The morning was cold and overshadowed by clouds. I did not want to get out of my sleeping bag. I was hoping for some sun to start my day. After breakfast sun showed up only for a minute. This gave me the motivation to shoot up and roll up my camp. Putting on wet socks and then into wet boots took some will power. I headed out after 10am.
Descending slowly more and more the views were getting better and better. At one point I had to be climbing over and under trees of what seemed to be a dense jungle = super fun! After another ridge I dropped down sharply to an "enchanted" forrest. Moss overgrown everything including every branch of every tree and bush. It looked pretty magical. The ground was wet but the sun was shining and the trek was well worth it. It took me about 4.5h and a bit more to get to the road. While waiting for the bus two nice people gave me a ride that were catering at a nearby lodge - thank you!
It was almost evening, I was quite tired so I just went out to eat with my hostel dormitory roommate Alon from Israel who was traveling around like me.

http://picasaweb.google.com/maurycy.sarosiek/EcuadorParqueNacionalCajas?authkey=Gv1sRgCL-RlIjd1ID7EQ#

Sunday, 10 X 2010

On Sunday almost every museum and a lot of shops are closed. So it happened I had this day to visit and wander around Cuenca.
I saw a religious museum El Sagragragio ($1) and museum of modern artthat was free and almost entirely empty. Downtown Cuenca is really nice with interesting and colorful architecture. Many churches and the one on the main square boasts a statue of Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II) inside. Not too much to do though. I wandered back and forth and it was it. I was bored. It looked like a nice place to live... I think. Cities are cities and I prefer nature.

http://picasaweb.google.com/maurycy.sarosiek/EcuadorCuenca?authkey=Gv1sRgCLrA7-awjZXQ9gE#

Monday, 11 X 2010

I have decided not to leave right away and visit Museum Pumapungo. It is a nice one showing different cultures and tribes throughout Ecuador. Nice thing to see were shrunken human heads. It also held numismatic display and religious art. Most important part of the museum were the ruins of the settlement. In addition it housed a garden and few species of parrots, hawks, toucans, and other bird thingies. It should have been ($4) but for some reason they didn't charge me.
I got to the bus terminal just in time to catch an 11:30am bus to Loja as it was leaving the terminal gates ($7.50 - 5h).
Upon arrival I still had about 2h of daylight left. Not wasting time I bought a ticket to Zumba ($7.50 - 6h) for 11:30pm, left my luggage with the bus company and  jetted to town.
It was raining at the time but it didn't much bother me at the time. The town doesn't have much to offer. Few churches, monuments, few meters of calle Louders (old colonial homes) and a gate to the city. Hour and a half was enough to wander around and get a gist of it. There is also some recreational park and some other museums but I really didn't care or had time.
Funny thing happened as in the gate to the city there was an art exhibition and an artist had a collection of Eddi from Iron Maiden hehe. That was cool.
Almost at midnight I headed out to Zumba.

http://picasaweb.google.com/maurycy.sarosiek/EcuadorLoja?authkey=Gv1sRgCMSZ2t6poZj1zwE#

Tuesday, 12 X 2010

I arrived in Zumba at O dark thirty. I had to wait about 2h until 8am for a ranchero truck. It is a medium truck with rows of narrow benches and open sides. It took 1:30h ($1.75) to get to La Balsa which is a very small border crossing with Peru.

Nos vemos Ecuador...

I enjoyed my stay in Ecuador. People are nice and the country is beautiful. I could easily stay here longer and have more good experiences. Time is fleeting and I need to keep moving. At this rate one year will not be enough jeje