Puerto Lopez

So we are still catching the blog up to where we actaully are right now; the previous Chimborazo post happened BEFORE we went to the beach for those that were confused. And now we are back biking in the mountains, but here are some Puerto Lopez pictures and scoop on our time there.

Sippin´fruity rum drinks!

Great colorful skipping stones

Another spectacular sunset from the hammock

Everyone admiring the fish I caught???

Sweet offshore rock outcroping after sunset

The first and last time I looked like I knew what I was doing with the surf board but damn I look good!

Tina ¨scoop¨!ing the fish down under

We spent the 5 weeks taking Spanish lessons, studying, working at the hostal and also working in our fields; I did some therapy and Steven worked a little carpentry. They are not big fans of power tools, try ripping a board with a hand saw, fun stuff. Sure didn´t hurt that all my patients were restaurant owners, free food, yum. We got to know some folks and it was really cool to feel like we were a part of a community for a while. We learned more about what the day to day life is like for the locals in the fishing village. Like everywhere else in Ecuador there is plenty of poverty, but the fishing trade and the 3 month ¨temporada¨(high season when tourists come to see the whales) keep the local economy going. It seems that when people or buisnesses bring money in, it immediately goes out again, either to buy a needed item, pay a debt, or in the case of some of the fishermen to spend it on booze. So, it is hard for folks to get ahead of the game in terms of bettering their situtation.

It also means it is very difficult to get change anywhere.... resturants and stores often don´t have change for a 5 or a 10$ bill, much less a 20! They sometimes turn business away because they don´t have change for the customers. We would run into this working at the hostal as well; we would have money in the house bank from the weekly tourists and the family would come on the weekend and spend all of it on things for the hostal. Come monday when they left there wouldn´t be money in the hostal bank to pay for the water or laundry. This is typical buisness down here, and it was interesting to be on the other side of the counter!

We went snorkeling twice, the first time we got hooked up with some ex-pat locals and went out on a boat with just 5 people to this great little coral area in a cove with beaches and cliffs around, it was sweet! Sadly, Stevens waterproof camera turned out to be oh, not so waterproof.
The next time we went out on a tour with a Canadian family with two kids aged 4 and 6 that we met at our hostal. They provided some excitment, the 4 year old is shy about his bathroom habits and refused to pee off the edge of the boat; this eventually resulted in an emergency beach landing so the little guy could go. We also did some fishing with hand lines and the captain made ceviche from our catches, tasty stuff! We saw some blue footed boobies and other ocean birds.

We spent our weekends exploring other small beaches out of town, drinking tasty drinks, swimming, and in Steven´s case trying to surf. The waves here were too huge for me to try; Steven has a little experience and he still got pounded! He managed to break the fin off his board the first time he went out. I guess your not supposed to ride the waves all the way in, duhh!

So we learned a lot and had some fun in Puerto Lopez, but after 5 weeks we were ready to get on the move again! Our last week at the hostal things were starting to pick up. Tourist season on the horizon, the perfect time to escape. About a week ago we returned to the Andes and to our bikes and resumed our ride south towards Peru. We were surprised that sitting on the beach for 5 weeks didn´t help our biking shape. Tough first couple days back in the Andes. Time to get back in shape, Uhhhhhh!

-Tina (with Steven interjecting)

How close can you go?

Volcan Chimborazo 6310M (20,702ft)



We began our first trek of the trip, a 4 day hike around the mountain of Chimborazo. As it turned out only one day of the trip had a recognizable trail, but I managed to navigate with the topo and not get us lost. It proved to be tough walking within the high paramo grass and uneven terrain, a great ankle workout. We spent 5 days in the shadow of this grand volcano. Clouds were constantly moving over the summit and we would get glimpses of the peak, but still it tried to remain mysterous. We did get a few clear views and could begin to comprehend it´s size and what might be ahead when we attempted to climb it. We crossed a wide variety of terrain including desert, lush swampy valleys, and dense grass and shrubby stuff. We encountered wild vincunas, got and snowed on 2 different nights, but overall the weather during the days was fine and we managed to dry our tent out every day before packing camp. This meant leaving camp at 10 but who was in a hurry?

Sunset after the hail storm cleared (Day 1)


The next morning proved beautiful and gave us our first clear vista of Chimborazo


Tina with a heard of llama


I think we might be lost this looks odd?


Last day high on the eastern slopes of Chimborazo


And I thought I might be hairier for a second, well not quit!

Say hello to my little friend Billy!

And his chocolate dipped brother

Poor little Bambi lost her heard of Vincuna (similar family to alpaca or llama)

What is that pile of.........Oh a cool grass hut

On our final day we ended up at the climbers refugio at 5,000 M (16,404ft) after a long day of hiking. Our climbing guide was planning on meeting us at the refugio the following day to climb, but after talking with the guardarias we decided that the weather had been too bad and we probably would not be able to climb it. After much debate we returned to Riobamba to discuss options with our guide. We decided to wait one day there and would head up the following day if the weather held. Weather held and so we returned to the refugio.

Sunrise halo over the mountain (Refugio´s orange roof lower right)

We decided that we were going to camp 800 M above the refugio to give us a better chance at the summit if the weather cooperated. This way we could make a break for it when we got some clear weather.

Hiking up to our Base camp fully loaded with gear

Base camp 5,800 M (19,028Ft)

Sunset above the clouds

It was really intersting and neat digging out a flat spot in the side of this hill in order to set the tent. We enjoyed a nice pasta dinner and sunset above the clouds which was pretty spectacular. Than after melting snow for water for the next day we went to bed around 6. The weather held and we began the climb just after 2 AM. A really clear yet brisk morning.

Sunrise with Cotopaxi & Antisana in the background

Our guide approaching the summit and sun

Looking back at the false summit

After climbing steady for five and a half hours we approached the summit. Our guide was not a big fan of breaks, slow and steady he would say, although at times it seemed like we were moving pretty fast. We finally reached the summit around 7:30. We were fully frosted at this point as there was a stiff wind blowing across the summit ridge. Despite being cold we still managed to get a couple of throws in with the frisbee at 6,310M. Pretty sick! We had done it, we had arrived at the closest point to the sun. So I guess that´s as close as you can go. I jumped off the highest thing I could find so maybe got up to 6310.6M.

The decent proved to be quite epic. It started after we had gone down about 30 minutes and our guide relized he had lost his cell phone. He went back up to look for it well we waited and froze. We than decided to help him and ended up summiting again for the second time that day. But to no avail. It was gone, lost in the snow at least for another 10 years until all the glaciers melt. This was our means of calling our return transportation. Ughhhh! So he than decided he wanted to catch another party that was about 45 minutes ahead of us and try to hitch a ride. We pretty much sprinted down the mountain but all for not as they had no room for us. We packed the camp and finished the decent back to the refugio. My legs were exshausted. And although I´m the one with the glacier experience I ended up hitting a crampon tip wrong and slipped down the snow slope. Tina caught me with the rope right as I was regaining my grip in the snow. Heart was pumping but never in real danger as we were lower down on mellower slopes. But Tina likes to talk about how she saved my life. We finally made it back to the refugio and after waiting an hour caught a ride with some German tourists and their guide. The only caviot was that we had to go to this place and wait for them to eat lunch on the way down. Back at the hostel we ate a bunch of food and then went to bed for about 14 hours. And that next day we decided a little beach, warmth, and sunshine might be in order.

Finally reached the summit. An interesting place to run into John Lennon I thought.

Ahhhh! Warm sunny beach. (slight contrast in climate between these photos)

Spent the next five weeks just chilling on the beach, studying spanish, sipping fruity drinks, and working at a hostal.

-Steven