Expenews

What an amazing journey the past few days have been! 1st of all, our
time on Cotopaxi was tremendous. After "getting up" at 12.30pm, and
starting to climb at about 1.15am, the stage was set to be a long fun
climb! The winds kicked in here and there while the angle of steepness
stayed consistent.

Lennie and Kat persevered however, and at about 8.15, we summitted! The
day was full of trials and tribulations. From talking the Swiss team
into not turning around, (they ended up making it to the top). To Len
and Kat grabbing eachothers crampons in the dark in the hut, only to try
and put them on at the glaciers edge and discover, "hey, these don't
fit?!?!"

All in all, it was a fun day filled with laughter and heaps of effort.
Afterward, we raced down the hill to grab our stuff and head straight to
La Cienega, one of the oldest and most beautiful haciendas in all of
Ecuador!

After enjoying an evening there recovering, we sat down and discussed
our remaining time in Ecuador. By all reports, the conditions on
Chimborazo are not good. Stories of rockfall, and black ice (ice harder
than regular ice if you can believe it), were filtering back to us. So
after a brief team meeting, we decided to shift our focus north, to
Cayambe, one of the other high volcanoes here in Ecuador that actually
straddles the equator! (Think summit picture with one foot in the
northern hemisphere, and one foot in the southern one). They say on that
line you are travelling the fastest as the world turns, we will have to
wait and see if that is true!

For now, we have "hacienda hopped" to Guachala, a hacienda near the foot
of Cayambe, to be ready to move up to the hut tomorrow for a summit
attempt tomorrow night. En route, Lennie found a puppy to feed sugar
cookies to, despite heaps of protest from Katrina and I.

I will keep you posted as things develop, but for now, Lennie and
Katrina are satisfied to be savoring the sights and sounds of Ecuador.
There are rumors of horseback riding in the morning before we head up.
That should be quite entertaining! Pictures to follow soon.

Till then.