Cotopaxi, and... more Quito.

So, nothing for three weeks and then two updates on the same day - we're on a roll... (see Gary's summary of our Galapagos trip below).

Last week, we went on a mountain biking trip to Cotopaxi National Park (a couple of hours away from Quito). Within the park is Cotopaxi, a 5,897 metres high active volcano which last "woke up" in 1887. It is active about every 120 years, so they're expecting an eruption any time now!

We were driven 3,800 metres up the volcano, then went down 1,500 metres on our bikes - it was great fun. Well, I must admit that after my last mountain biking experience (or shall I say trauma) in Thailand, where I fell off my bike once every 5 minutes, I wasn't too relaxed. But the landscape was so gorgeous: colours of greens and browns, fields of rocks, volcanoes and mountains all around us... After lunch, for some reason, something switched and I felt at ease and in control, and started riding so fast I nearly left Gary behind :)





I know it gets boring, but we are still in Quito. After the Galapagos trip, we did an extra two weeks of Spanish lessons as was planned, and also managed to get our passports situation sorted within that period. On Friday last week, we had our last lesson and were sad to say good bye to our lovely teacher Amparo (that's us during a lesson below. Out in the sun, learning Spanish... what more can you possibly ask for!):


So we were all set, had said our goodbyes, went out to a brilliant salsa club called Seisebero on Saturday night and danced our backsides off, had our bags all ready and were all set to leave Quito for good to go to Baños (about 4 hours away) on Sunday morning, when... I did my shoulder in, and have found myself harldy able to move these past three days (let alone carry a 15 kilos' backpack on my back!). So we're still here, doing mostly nothing and waiting for my shoulder to get better.

It's such a pity as we were both excited to be setting off and on the road again. Plus we were going to go horse riding in Baños, which I cannot wait for! But I guess we just have to be patient and see how it pans out.

C.