2008 Alumni Trip - From the Andes to the Amazon

Arrive at WA's Base Camp in Virginia. You can sleep in a tent if you want, but the rest of us are going to stay in the lodge and cook some "real" food.  Unfortunately shuttle service to our Base Camp will not be available on this day...but we can help arrange car pooling if desired.

Today will be spent listening to the Colonel (just joking).  We will be doing a lot of pre-trip planning...going through gear, packing food, learning more details about our routes and places we will be visiting.  We will also have a little fun on the ropes course and climbing wall.

Catch our group flight to Quito, Ecuador.  Spend the remainder of the day/evening resting and exploring the area immediately around our hotel.

Surrounded by forested mountains and volcanoes at 9,350 feet above sea level, Quito is the second highest capital city in Latin America. Despite the fact that it’s only 15 miles south of the equator, Quito’s elevation gives it a wonderful spring-like climate year-round. After breakfast, we will set out for Imbabura, known as the “Province of the Lakes”. Along the way we may catch a glimpse of one of Ecuador’s most picturesque, snowcapped volcanoes, El Cayambe, El Cotopaxi, or El Antisana. We will also visit the market in Otavalo, one of the largest indigenous markets in South America. Stroll around the market and have a shot at bargaining for local handicrafts. From here we will check in to the Hacienda Guachalá, Ecuador’s oldest hacienda, which dates back to the 17th Century.

After breakfast we will explore Laguna Cuicocha or “ Lake of the Guinea Pigs” nestled at 10,072 feet above sea level. This pristine lake fills the ancient, but active, crater of Cotacachi Volcano, and features two islets at its center. According to ancient belief, Cotacachi was the mother of the Imbayas, a Pre-Inca tribe. We will then visit the town of Cotacachi, famous for its leather goods. On the way back to the Hacienda Guachalá, we’ll stop at a native Kichwa community that specializes in centuries-old handicrafts, which are sold at the Otavalo market. A hands-on demonstration reveals how textiles are made from scratch including wool carding, natural dyes, and back-strap weaving.

In the morning we will head to the Middle of the World Monument.  It is here that you can stradle the Equator...with one foot in each hemisphere.  we will explore the cobbled streets of Colonial Quito before preparing for our climbing section.

After breakfast we set out to hike up the crater rim of Pasochoa Volcano, which stands at 13,800 feet above sea level. Pasochoa last erupted approximately 100 thousand years ago and destroyed most of its crater including its occidental slope. Its volcanic cone turned into a collapsed crater with a semicircular shape. The hike begins in Hacienda Santa Rita Private Reserve and crosses patches of native Andean forest and open “páramos,” a type of moorlands. We will trek through fields covered with high straw and enjoy magnificent views of neighboring glacier-covered mountains.

After packing our camping gear, we set out on foot for Cotopaxi National Park. Cotopaxi (19,347 ft.) is renowned for it almost perfectly conical shape and glacier-clad peak. Cotopaxi is a stratovolcano located about 75 kilometres south of Quito. It is the second highest peak in the country, after Chimborazo. Cotopaxi is one of the few equatorial glaciers in the world, which starts at the height of 16,100 feet above sea level.  We will hike our way up to a Base Camp at the foot of Cotopaxi.

Today is our last day of acclimatization.  We will head east with our local guides up the flanks of the extinct volcano, Rumiñaui (15,141 ft.). Take in breathtaking views of Cotopaxi from its neighboring volcano and try to count the rest of the surrounding volcanoes on the “Avenue of the Volcanoes”. Ascend into this fragile high altitude eco-system known as the páramo; characterized by vegetation such as tussock grasses, ground rosettes, dwarf shrubs cushion plants and conspicuous giant rosettes such as Espeletia and Puya. Over half of the 5,000 plant species here are endemic, they are not found in any other part of the world. Afterwards we will descend back into the valley and relax at the lodge.

Today is the BIG day.  For those that are ready we will travel to Refugio Jose Rivas for a Cotopaxi climb briefing and last minute glacier travel training.  We depart for the summit in the middle of the night, so the afternoon will be spent organizing our packs and sleeping.  At midnight we will wake up to a hot cup of tea, get ready and depart for the summit at 1AM.  We should reach the summit by 8AM where we will take our picture with a WA flag.

After celebrating our summit we will descend to the Refugio, rest, and eat lunch before traveling back to Quito for our celebration dinner.

Early rise and breakfast followed by a visit to the canopy walkway for another look at the forest’s ceiling. Hiking and wildlife viewing on the Pahuaco trail. Return to the lodge for lunch. The hall has a library with books on local birds and tropical ecology. The calls of red howler monkeys will company the resting times before gearing up for our afternoon canoe excursion to the “aguas negras”.

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This is our last full day in Ecuador. In the morning we will pack up the canoes and journey upstream to Coca, arriving in time for the flight to Quito. Upon arrival into Quito, we will check into the Charles Darwin Hotel, explore the city some more and finish our experience with some salsa classes led by a local tropical dance teacher.

We will catch our flight back to the States and then travel back to WA's Base Camp.

Sleep in...eat...look at photos, then decide, collectively, which activities we want to do for the next few days.  We can backpack, bike, canoe, climb, or come up with something totally new.

Go Home!  Our shuttle service will be available for return trips home (to DC, Richmond, Charlottesville, Greensboro, and Charlotte).