Cotopaxi

The magnificent cotopaxi

A few days ago I went to the Cotopaxi and it was just an amazing experience. During the ascent, we had a fantastic view over the landscape and of the surrounding volcanoes. Unfortunately, the Jose Rivas Refuge, where the climb normally starts from, is currently closed for some refurbishment work and so we had to stay at the mountain base Rinconada. The mountain base is located at an altitude of 3,800 m, which is a little lower than the refuge and probably made the climb a bit harder. But the conditions are actually really good. Due to some recently snowfalls the glacier has some fresh and compact snow so the prerequisite for the climb were just perfectly. However, I would recommend everyone to be very good acclimatize, especially for beginners, because even under good conditions it´s quite a hard work to get to the top. The altitude has a great influence on my body and physical conditions, in between I thought I couldn´t make it but our guide José pushed me through it. He was very patient and motivating and finally got me to the top and I felt happy like never before. The whole group of Gulliver Expedition and the people from PapaGayo really made this to an experience I will never forget. They are working in a very professional way, everything was very well organiyed and they are providing a good service.