Santiago, of Haku Walking Tours, was our Lima Tour guide for the day!
In the Plaza Major
On the rooftop balcony of Hotel Espana, with the San Francisco Monestary behind us!
To start our adventure in Peru, Dennis and I had arranged a half day walking tour of Lima. The company, Haku Walking Tours, practices sustainable tourism and all of their profits support local Lima communities. They do many projects to support the Lima shantytowns and so we felt really happy to hire them.
Dennis and I flying First Class to Houston
Here we are flying First Class to Lima, Peru
United was having a credit card deal where you get a pile of points just for using the card, so Dennis signed up. As a result, we were able to purchase first class tickets for the whole trip to Peru. We had never flown first class and we were both looking forward to being able to lie down on the 6 hour flight to Lima.
A Market on Outskirts of Quito
The Guagua Pichincha Hut (14,900 ft) and nice looking Basalt Crag (climbable?)
Enjoying a beer in the Marascal District
On our last day in Ecuador, we drove back to Quito, from the lodge, Cuello De Luna. As we neared Quito, we drove through a large farmers market. Then, we headed to the town of Lloa, to do a cool down hike near Guagua Pichincha. After the hike, we drove to the Marascal district in Quito, where Rafael’s shop is, to walk around and have dinner. A ride to the airport was arranged for after dinner, so we had the evening to be tourists.
Antisana and Chimborazo from the summit of Cotopaxi
Tilden and Clare on the Summit of Cotopaxi
The Shadow of Cotopaxi and the Illinizas (see the previous day’s post!)
The Map
Our Guide, Rafael (photo courtesy of Tilden)
Times
12:00am: Trail Head at 15,100 ft
01:20am: Hut at 15,750 ft *took a 10 minute break
02:20am: Snowline at 16,000 ft *took a 10 minute break to don crampons and rope up
06:05am: At 18,600 ft Watched Sunrise and shadow of Cotopaxi appear by the Illinizas
07:45am: At 19,347 ft On Summit!
08:25am: Began Descent
11:25am: Back at Trail Head
La Rinconada Campsite in Cotopaxi National Park
Tilden Admiring Cotopaxi
From the Swiss Lodge, we drove 45 minutes to the La Rinconada Campsite in Cotopaxi National Park. We have left everything at the hotel except a sleeping bag, change of clothes, and our mountaineering gear which we need for climbing Cotopaxi. Dressed in our mountaineering garb, Rafael drives us to the campsite. It rained the entire drive.
La Rinconada has a huge open space where people can pitch tents, a covered picnic table area, and a bunkhouse with a mess hall. The bunkhouse has ~6 bunks, which are 3 beds high, and also some mattresses for the floor. So, at full capacity, there is probably room for up to 25 people. There were two bathrooms, but one did not have a sink and no shower facilities (that I could see). Read the rest of this entry »