Avenue of the Volcanoes

Sunday 23 September, 00:00

Several alarm clocks are going off in Refugio Ribas... It's barely 3 hours ago that we finished our last game of UNO. "Why exactly are we doing this, Tom", asks Martina, a girl from the Czech Republic. "Because it is fun...", I answer while crawling out of my sleeping bag and without being really convincing. Luckily we have Chris in the team, a British guy who starts playing 'Eye of the Tiger' on his mobile phone... in no time our backpacks are ready and we are trying to eat as much as we can, which requires quite some effort at this nightly hour and at an altitude of 4800m.

At 01:00 sharp we start walking from the Refugio to the glacier and soon we put on our crampons and start the climb of the Cotopaxi Volcano! We switch off our headlamps, an almost full moon shows us the way to the top. It's almost magical climbing up this volcano in the moonlight, while deep down and in the distance we see the little lights of Quito... We manage to keep a good pace and we only stop a few times to drink and eat a bit and to put on some extra layers. Up, up, up... You never really have the summit in view, but then suddenly some faint smell of sulphur, a big flat snowfield, the dark crater rims and a beautiful sunrise! We are at the top of Cotopaxi!!! 5897m and one of the highest active volcanoes in the world!

While the first sun rays are warming us up, we enjoy the wonderful view we have on all the surrounding volcanoes: the Illinizas, Cayambe, Antisana and even the Chimborazo! It's clear that we are right now in the middle of the 'Avenue of the Volcanoes' in Ecuador :-)

At 09:00 we find ourselves again in Refugio Ribas for our second breakfast of the day! All very excited about the great Sunday morning we just had...

    Cotopaxi seen from the top of the Ruminahuia volcano, climbed one day before Cotopaxi

   Cotopaxi, the stereotype of a volcano...

    Serious preparation for our summit bid!

    Sunrises don't get much better than this one on top of the Cotopaxi volcano!

    Popeye summit picture - dark crater rim in the background

    View on the Illinizas volcanos (Norte and Sur) from the top of Cotopaxi, including its own shadow!!

    Thanks Christiaan, Dieter, Jonas, Katja and Yves for joining me on this climb ;-)

Traveling is experiencing extreme emotions... one day after the happiness of climbing Cotopaxi, I lost/got stolen (don't know what really happened) my passport and credit card on a bus. What to do? I am in Ecuador, at the beginning of an 8-months trip through S-America, and I have no passport and no access to cash money. 

Back to Quito... to meet the consul of Belgium, a friendly man who has his office (read: desk) in a very unattractive travel agency. The Belgian Embassy in Quito has been closed years ago and all diplomatic affairs and consular services are transfered to Lima, but luckily there is still this -one person- Honorary Consulate in Quito! The consul can provide me a temporary passport for one year, so one problem solved. In the mean time my parents have already blocked my credit card and a new card has been requested, but this will take some time to arrive in Ecuador. Bedankt mama en papa voor alle hulp vanuit Belgie!!

10 days of living on a very limited budget and improvising... but sometimes the best things happen when improvising. Mario, a friend in Quito, and his family were so kind to offer me to stay at their house and we had several nice evenings chatting about Ecuador, baking Belgian waffles and having a great taco party with two French friends of the family who also stayed over for a couple of nights. Furthermore my limited budget was ideal to go trekking and camping for a few days in the Chimborazo area. Chimborazo is the highest mountain (volcano) in Ecuador and even in the world, if measured from the centre of the Earth... I had to go and have a look myself :-) Also for the many vicuñas (family of the alpacas and llamas) one can spot in this area!

    Riobamba, the city nicknamed 'La Sultana de Los Andes' in honour of mount Chimborazo

    Riobambees :-)

    The almighty Chimborazo volcano (view from where the bus dropped me!)

    Hiking in the Chimborazo national park and meeting the first Vicuñas

    On the run!

    Ready for a quiet night...

    Coffee and breakfast at the foot of Chimborazo (the jet-boiler has proven to be super!)