Hiking and Cycling In Ecuador
by Enchanted Expeditions Cristina Romero
I have always liked to travel and get to know my country. Ecuador is a small and diverse country with a high degree of multiculturalism where many interesting places can be visited on a day´s trip from Quito. Travelling to most of these places will give us the opportunity to have a totally enriching and unforgettable experience.
If I were paid to travel I would be a millionaire. And even though, I still feel rich for getting to know my beloved country.
I never believed that travelling was to be done only on special occasions; and even less when everything is so close within my reach. Without a big budget, the desire to know and experience different places will be enough to set things out.
In my opinion, one should be thankful to live in the Highlands of Ecuador surrounded by the magnificent Andes mountains where we can do many outdoors activities such as hiking, mountaineering or cycling, among other things. Each and every one of them will bring us special moments and great memories…
Even if you expect that everything I mention here cannot be possible, I have personally taken advantage of the easy access and the relatively short distances to get to know a few but important places such as Quilotoa Crater Lake, the Cotopaxi Volcano National Park, Mindo cloud forest, The Paramo of Mojanda Lagoons, Los Illinizas, Alluquirín, Bellavista mountain forest, Condor Machay Waterfall, el Molinucu Waterfall, the Cayambe-Coca National Park, Cochasquí Ruins or the village of Nono to name a few.
Just before this year´s lockdown, I went to visit the Condor Machay Waterfall where I took a hike with my 3-year-old son and a friend. The route usually takes approximately 2 hours to walk around but, can imagine how long it took to walk this trail with my 3 year old son??? This will be left to your imagination…. When we finally got to see this beautiful waterfall, we felt so happy and proud of our great adventure! Even more so my son as he ended up came in a nearby puddle. Inevitably, all his clothes got soaking wet so always have an extra change of clothing when traveling with small kids.
On the way back it started to drizzle and my son no longer wanted to walk, so I had to enjoy the return walking downhill with my son on my back and with the adrenaline of getting back safely as I was afraid to slip and fall into the river as we crossed a few bridges on the trail. We got back just in time before a thunderstorm. This was indeed an unforgettable experience!!
The Mojanda Lagoons; what a lovely place to camp! How can I forget that beautiful night camping by the shore of the lagoon? The sky was clear and starry that chili evening of Summer. During the night the temperature dropped even more until my feet got numb and frozen inside my sleeping bag. Nothing seemed to help to warm me up! However, looking back, as I remember the beautiful scenery I realize it was all worth the cold camping experience.
On this occasion, we rode our bikes from the nearby town of Tabacundo. Tired from the uphill journey and not knowing the route well enough, we arrived at our destination exhausted but happy. The weather was really great the next morning. The intense blue sky, the amazing landscapes and the warm morning sun made me so happy that I almost completely forgot the chili night in the tent!
Mindo, with its lush vegetation was another unparalleled adventure!! One of the most incredible experiences in my whole life. We started the trip biking with a group of friends (by the way I was the only woman in the group). The plan was to take the route downhill from Lloa to Palmiras and then across the White River which had a strong current so we had to carry the bikes to the other side. I tried to observe the surroundings very carefully so as to remember every detail since I had no camera with me to take pictures of the beautiful mountains. Later on, we reached the Mindo River, where we had to cross a small bridge with our bikes. Before crossing to the other side, we had a nice bath in the river. By then, we had already run out of food and water. As we moved forward, we found a bush full of “Uvillas”, which helped us survive for a while and were so thirsty that we drank the water from the river. By the time we reached the mountain slopes before the village of Mindo it was already getting dark, so we had to speed up the ride. I was the second person to get there in our group of 8 people. The air was getting cooler in the late afternoon as we rushed to the local market and had a delicious Menestra (a typical bean stew which can also be made of lentils). We were suddenly overtaken by a feeling of glory and triumph as we had reached our goal safe and in one piece.
My latest adventure was going to the Illinizas Volcanoes with beautiful landscapes that surround these tall mountains on the Western Andes Range.
It was Sunday and I said: “let’s take a different route today and that’s what we did”. When we arrived to the entrance post at the Illinzas Reserve we were asked by the control guards where we were heading to. We told the guards that we were going towards the refuge, but we were not really sure that we would be able to get there. Before embarking on the ascent, we decided to eat in a small inn on the way to the Reserve parking lot. The food was so good!! We had corn with fresh cheese and a continental breakfast which actually saved our lives until we finally arrived at the parking lot. The road was not good but we made it. It is so important to have a comfortable vehicle when we travel….
We started to hike along the longest trail which offers spectacular views and bordered with local vegetation. As we moved forward some blue birds encouraged us to keep climbing. In spite of the effort I felt so good and so full of energy with the mountain fresh air filling our lungs with every step I took. We greatly enjoyed every minute of our hike. We walked for an hour and a half but still we did not get to the refuge as yet. On the way, we came across other people who had already started to ascend and encouraged us to go on. After another while, we saw a sign that indicated the way to the refuge. This last part was very steep and where the real effort started. By then, we discovered the importance of proper breathing and keeping a good pace to overcome exhaustion. A family with a 7-year-old boy encouraged us to keep walking, because they had already made it to the refuge. When I saw this little boy who had made it to the refuge I said to myself: “if they can do it I can too”. At some point I felt I had to speed up a bit so I left my husband behind and kept on walking until I finally reached my the long-awaited goal. What an amazing view of the Illinizas!! A fox appeared out of nowhere and I was very excited to see a wild animal like this, in its natural state. Shortly after, my husband caught up with me while we heard a thunderstorm coming from the Cotopaxi Volcano as it started to snow. It was time to go back. We started to hike down in a hurry as we weren’t very well equipped for the bad weather and we wanted to take refuge before the storm could catch us. But we were a bit late for that; snow was already starting to fall and I inevitably slipped and fell. We feared we mightn´t be able to reach the parking lot before the storm but luckily we were wrong. We got there safely.
Travelling will always be an enriching experience that fills your body and soul with energy, adrenaline, joy and hope to continue and achieve new goals. New goals and dreams!
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