Quilotoa Laguna

Yesterday I visited the most perfect crater lake of a vulcano ever! And I did my research, all the others are just not that perfectly round, don't have that perfect turquise colour in the sun or are simply not entirely inside a crater. Just look at it. The crater is huge, you need more than 5 hours just to walk around, it's on about 4000m and if you want to go down, you need half an hour, while getting up again might even take you two hours.

I absolutely wanted to go down, because, first, it was really really windy up on the top which made it quite cold and not really relaxing. You must know, when going somewhere, I always look for the perfect place - to read. I am kind of an addict, from arriving to Colombia until now I have read more than 30 books - I am SO glad I have an e-book-reader with all my books on it because else I would be lost. The criteria for finding the perfect reading spot are simple: I have to be comfortable without feeling cold or hot or being somehow disturbed, and when I look up I have to look at something stunning.

It was a sunny day, therefore the perfect conditions for finding a good reading spot, only the wind was somehow a problem, which was one of the main reasons I wanted to go down to the shore of the lake. The only problem I didn't consider was that when going up a mountain, first there is normally something I want to reach up on top so therefore a good motivation. Second, if I am tired, I can turn around anywhere and just go down again. That didn't work, because I had to go down first, and then up again.

And even while I knew it's half an hour down, I was still surprised it was such a long way and that was when I first considered if it might not have been better just to stay on top. Furthermore, I didn't really have much time because they told me the last bus goes quite early and the bus took (again) longer than they estimated to get there. And I met a girl that just spoke spanish with me, which was quite rare to find here because most of the tourists just speak english and I really need to keep practicing my spanish, and she didn't want to go down to the shore because she considered two hours climb too much at 4000m.

Also, she told me she always gets headache when getting into higher altitudes - which is exactly the same problem I am facing. But all of that wouldn't keep me from exploring. If there's somewhere I haven't already been, and I can reach it, why should I stop? And how can I find the perfect reading spot if not through looking for it?

To tell the truth, it was still quite cold down there, but I did really enjoy the silence and the beautiful water of the lake. You could even rent a boat and go paddling around in the lake. There were some really friendly dogs that I decided chilling next to the lake is really the best you can do and accompanied me while I was reading my book. Unfortunately, there was really little time and I was kind of worried I would need too much time up - which was completely wrong, because I made it up in a little bit more than an hour. But I enjoyed every minute reading down at the lake. And as soon as I found the perfect reading spot I will tell you!

Chimborazo

When I decided to go to Ecuador, the first picture I found was a really high mountain with snow on top and in front an Alpaca. It took me some research to find out which mountain that was and where I had to go to take this picture. It turned out it was the Chimborazo, a vulcano and the highest mountain of Ecuador with more than 6300m altitude. They also informed me that due to being located near the equator (the earth is not perfectly round), it actually is the highest mountain measured from the middle of the earth.

So I totally wanted to go there and take this picture. I found out there's a bus to the entrance to the volcano at 4400m with another street going up to the first refuge where you might be able to be picked up by a car so you don't have to walk. So when I reached that entrance, it was rainy, cloudy and really cold and I couldn't see more than maybe three meters ahead. Therefore I was really glad I could go up in a car, together with some japanese people also hoping for a transport.

I really hoped we could get over the clouds so I could see something of the mountaintop. And I was lucky. The sky partly cleared on top and it was even sunny sometimes. So on 4800m, at the first refuge, I already really felt the altitude. I never imagined it would be that bad. Walking down - no problem,  but everytime I took some steps up, to the second refuge at 5000m which you might see on the previous foto, my heart started beating really fast. But nevertheless, of course I got there.

Up there it was really, really windy and cold. When continuing the way up to some lake that should be there, I thought the wind will freeze my nose. That didn't happen, but I did get a nice sunburn, especially on my nose. So when reaching the lake, in the middle of snow at 5100m,, feeling cold and fighting against the wind, I did the only rational thing that could be done: I built a snowman.

After that, for some reason, probably because I was going down again, the altitude suddenly didn't bother me anymore. So I decided to walk back down to the main street where I could catch a bus. This allowed me to see some vicunas (no idea what's the difference to alpacas) that live here on the vulcano and also two wolves I first mistook for street dogs - and even when one of them stopped to stare at me, I didn't feel as afraid as when I saw that tarantula. Fortunately I wasn't that interesting for them.

So after getting back, I was really euphoric, because it was really really impressing. I do have this theory that people are getting so euphoric about mountains that high because of the altitude that causes them to feel kind of high. But nevertheless, it was really great and I am really glad I did the trip, because who knows when I will be that high again?

Cuenca

My first stop on the mainland was Cuenca, a city with a beautiful historical center that reminded me somehow of Graz, but I haven't figured out why. Maybe it was just the same size. But I really enjoyed walking around because there were so many beautiful buildings. Still, it was not the classic beauty, one might recognize that lots of the buildings need a do-over, and that they are currently building a tramway through the city, therefore construction areas take up whole streets, did not help either. Still, there was something about the city that really made me enjoy it.

It could be that I just like compact city centers, so you could see how it grew over the time. Or it was the river directly next to the center that offered enough space to sit down and hang out in the "nature".  It felt like some kind of narrow, very long park all along the city center.

I was really impressed how beautiful the grass was besides the river. I haven't seen a beautiful natural lawn since leaving Austria. But then, they also had wild growing flowers like clover and dandelion, which was really weird for me because I didn't expect to encounter the same flora so far from home. But then, even the mountains sometimes seemed the same.

Sure, everything is bigger here, but I still had some moments when I looked out of the window of the bus and felt kind of disappointed because there wasn't anything new to discover, just some mountains with coniferous forests and lots of fields inbetween. Not even some cliffs or anything spectacular. But still, the houses are quite different. While there are some really beautiful ones, the most seem quite simple and rustic, just covering the basic needs.

I also visited some surrounding towns because I read the are really beautiful and have a lot to offer. They really were beautiful. One of them, Chordeleg) was known for their silver and gold jewellery, so I thought I could buy some small presents, but of course I only ended up buying stuff for myself. I just couldn't think of anybody being as happy about some beautiful earrings as me.

One other of the towns, Sigsig, was known to have some archeological site from the Incas, and my brochure said it's close. So when I didn't find it after three hours of walking (in several directions - there were some street signs but they all shortly disappeared) it was already to late so I just enjoyed the nature around and the nice center of the village. I really just should have taken a taxi there but some voice inside my head told me "you can't just let the taxi take you around, you have to walk to some places by yourself!"

So, like I mentioned I took the stupid decision just to discover it by walking, which wasn't really my brightest moment because my legs were still sore from the trip to the national park. It would have helped, too, if I hadn't decided to go out dancing on the day of my worst muscle ache in years, maybe without all those action my legs would have recovered sooner. But then, I knew I would be visiting another archeological site from the Incas, actually the most important one of Ecuador on the next day.

The site is called Ingapirka and it's more like a mixture of Inca and Canari, because the Inca couldn't defeat the Canari so they cooperated. Like most of the Inca leftovers, it was destroyed by the people from Spain coming in 15something to conquer South America. So all that's left are some walls and one temple where they did their ceremonies for the sun and the moon. In this region, they also speak another indigenous language which is also on every street sign and so on.

One thing I had to learn was never to trust time indications, especially not when dealing with going by bus. When they say it's half an hour, I am in the bus for one and a half hours. When it's one hour, it's more like two hours or more. Also, they always show those freaky movies on the busses in a volume that high you can't simply ignore it. Fortunately, I already adapted to going by bus until now (I sometimes suffer from motion sickness) and therefore my mp3 and my e-book-reader are my best friend for those long bus trips. If I am not simply staring out of the window and admiring the beautiful landscape combined with a beautiful city like Cuenca.

Parque Nacional Las Cajas

I might have done something stupid yesterday. You heard about how it could affect you when staying on a higher altitude, like when you are used to sea level and suddenly you are in a city at 2000 meters above sea level? I read about that many times, I even heard stories how people suddenly felt so weak on the first days - that's why I planned four days here in Cuenca at 2500m when arriving directly from the Galapagos Islands because I should really take it slow.

But then I met another girl at the hostel, Rotem from Israel, that told me she will visit the National Park next day and if I would like to accompany her because it's always better in company and the route seems quite easy. She guesses it's at about 3000 meters. So, I couldn't help myself but take that opportunity to go with her. Because that's what really excites me about traveling, taking unplanned opportunities when they come along.

Turned out the starting point was at 3900 meters, the route went over a mountain top of 4270 meters and the whole trail was so slippery most of the time I just clung onto the grass next to the trail not to take the fast lane down. I never encountered a hiking path so slippery.

Unfortunately, I also never felt so weak when hiking. I never ever needed so many breaks and at some point down I even no longer trusted my legs to stay steady without holding on to the grass. What didn't mean I couldn't continue. I am quite tought (if I want to be), I can always push myself a little farther when others already might have stopped. So I did manage this four-hour trail up more than 300 meters and back down, even when at the end of the trail I wasn't really sure how to get up some stairs. When coming back to Cuenca, I could even do a two hour city walk to use the hours still left before sunset. But I already knew it would hurt a lot the following day.

And so it does. And not just the legs but also my arms (from clinging onto the grass). The legs are not a problem, because like I wrote, I am tough and if I can push myself to get up to that mountain, I can push myself to walk all day in the city as well. But everytime I see a bench, I really just want to sit down. And I really have to withstand that temptation, because my legs even hurt more when getting up again. And I really do have trouble to lift stuff because my arms just hurt so much.

I guess next time I won't do a hiking trip on my first day in the mountains. But also, I guess I am just really good dealing with heights, because others might have not managed that. And, the national park was really beautiful. Lakes everywhere and quite distinctive plants, and mountain tops in all directions. Also, it was my first time above 4000 meters, therefore quite an experience!

Galapagos Islands

 When deciding to go to Ecuador, I had to decide whether to go to the Galapagos Islands or not. And since I don't know if I will ever come that close again, it was clear I had to go. Even if it was pretty expensive. But I really wanted to see the sea lions (still no idea what's the difference to seals), the penguins, the turtles and all the other animals that might cross my way.

And it was even better than I imagined. I would have never hoped for finding sharks so close, I could actually take a selfie with them standing one meter besides them in the water. I do have to confess, when one of the sharks suddenly started swimming around me I almost panicked, but I read it's absolutely secure being next to the sharks because the sea is so rich of food for the sharks, they have no reason to attack humans.

I quickly found out that Isla Isabela is way more beautiful than Santa Cruz, the island I was staying first because it was close to the airport (that was located on another small island). While probably the biggest city of the islands is located on Santa Cruz, there are very few opportunities to discover the nature on your own. Not so in Isabela. While just walking along, I found a turtle. penguins, sea lions, blue footed boobies, pelicans, iguanas, lizards, flamingos and lots of crabs.

In the following picture you can only see the red crabs because they are such a contrast to the black vulcano stones. But there are also black crabs that relax there and can only be seen when they are moving. And then there are some beige/brown crabs living in the sand.

There are some animals I never wanted to get so close to, like the tarantula I already wrote about, and the crabs. I never knew because I never got that close but crabs really freak me out. If I had to choose between spiders and crabs, I wouldn't know what to choose. And so when I found this really quite small bight near the beach where a penguin and some pelicans where looking for food, while a blue-footed boobie was sitting on the rock and some sea lions were playing together, I really had to work up the courage to walk out to the water on the stones populated by many many crabs.

I thought a video shows better what was happening in that bight. Keep your eyes open for movements. And no, fortunately there's no crab attack at the end. I actually got to this point by bike - which was quite hard because parts of the trail go over the beach. And I can inform you that biking on sand is nearly impossible.

What really surprised me on my first trip from the harbour was that when going to the boat and looking out onto the water, you will probably find some animal swimming around in the very clear water. Might be a shark, or a turtle, or just some small fishes. But they have this great system that keeps the harbour clean and attractive for those animals: There are only quite small boats, for no more than 20 people, and if there are more people needing a ferry, they just take more boats. But those boats don't enter the harbour. They anchor a little bit outside, and an even smaller "aquataxi" picks up the passengers to take them to the port.

What kind of disappointed me were the iguanas. There were so many of them, in different stages of life, and they were almost everywhere near the water, which was because they were the only water iguanas I think on earth, if I remember right. But I never ever saw one of them in the water. Unlike the sea lions, that you could encounter on the beach, in the water while snorkeling (they like to accompany you while diving), on some rocks near the water, on a bench, everywhere around the water.

And, because the islands are actually vulcano islands, I also climbed the nearest vulcano on Isla Isabela. I had bad luck because it was foggy and we couldn't enjoy a panoramic view over all the island, but still we got some insights into the crater. We were told that there was once a forest next to the crater, until the vulcano erupted the last time. So now, there are kind of round holes in the stone where a tree used to be but obviously burned up caused by the heat but nevertheless stopped the lava.

And because I enjoyed my time so much, I managed to get an extra day. Which was actually not planned. But, like I mentioned, the airport is on another island, so you need to go by bus to the ferry terminal, take the ferry to the airport-island and there take the bus to the airport. I did remember that from the arrival at the island. But somehow, the time needed to go there seemed to have slipped from my mind. I thought it took like half an hour, but when I had a flight to catch, it suddenly took me more than two hours to go there. Needless to say, I didn't make it in time. I probably looked really desperate, because they offered me to change my ticket to the next day. Without any fee or anything. So I suddenly had one day more. The only annoying thing was that I had to do all the trip backwards now because the airport-island has nowhere to stay for a night. But, for some reason, when I left for the airport two hours earlier the next day, I suddenly needed less than one hour and was the first passenger on the whole airport, earlier than the staff. So now I can say: miss my flight - check. And hope it will never happen again.

Amazonas

In the end of May, at the end of my semester abroad, we did our trip to Leticia. Leticia is a colombian city next to the Amazonas at the border to Brazil and Peru. From here, we could start our Amazonas-trip that took us deep into the rainforest. It was also our last trip together before we exchange students parted our ways, me heading to the Galapagos Islands while some of the others went to the Caribbean Coast and the rest just stayed in Ibague for the last days before going back home. I already miss all of them, but I will write about that seperately.

So when we arrived, we had actually no idea what was awaiting us on our 3-day trip through the rainforest. And I certainly didn't expect we would kind of live on a boat slowly driving along the Amazonas for most of the time. Neither did I expect the boat we were using was more like a kind of house-boat, called "hipimovil".

But I shortly learned this was really the best way to travel along the Amazonas. Sure, there are some speedboats, but people there have no hammocks, no change of taking pictures of the surrounding area, no possibility to spot some delfines on the river or monkeys in the trees. Also, this was a great possibility to catch up on missing hours of sleep from the previous night.

You must know, I had probably the worst night of my life on this trip. On the first day, after a day filled with activity, lots of sun and not enough water, I had quite a headache. Furthermore, on the nightwalk through the rainforest I got my pants covered with mud. Since we all slept in the same room of some "hotel" somewhere more than 50 km from Leticia, we only had one shower. I didn't want to make my bed dirty with my pants so I just sat down on the floor to read a book while waiting for my turn. Which also meant, that while I would be safe from all those insects of the rainforest in my bed because it had mosquito-nets I was quite unprotected on the floor and already slightly annoyed with fighting off some weird insects while having headache. Unfortunately, it turned out there was no potable water in this hotel, so no way to take a pill against my headache, which was bad because once I have it, the pain won't stop without pills. So I was already preparing for a horrible night. When in almost exact that moment, one of my friends spotted this huge spider on the window above my bed.

I was so shocked, while I almost jumped to the opposite corner of the room while stating I won't sleep in that bed, I didn't even feel my headache for a while. So when I finally slept, I woke up everytime I touched the mosquito-net, in paranoia the spider might sit just outside of the net, and as well woke up like every hour because my head hurt so much I felt just really really sick. And when we finally got up for the next day, the spider was gone. I never went those 5 steps to the bathroom that carefully.

On the bright side, now I definitely won't ever forget my trip to the amazonian rainforest! The climate was really quite humid when leaving the river, but on the boat we could enjoy being cooled by the winds. What impressed me most was how wide the Amazonas really is. It's more like a big lake than a river, I guess the biggest river I saw until now had less than a fifth of the width of the Amazonas. And I can't imagine that the water line even rises some months of the year. Where does all this water even come from? They told me, there's this island called "Isla Fantasia", because every year the island disappears. That's why the houses are built on piers - and some years, even that isn't enough.

There are actually lots of people living even in the farthest spots along the river. They are organized in communities and even have TV and such stuff, so definitely different from what I expected. But they do know the plants around and some of the communities even have their own language. And some of the bigger communities are called "cities" and have at least 2 different churches - not only TV found its way into those regions. And, I was quite surprised, even 70 km away from Leticia, the nearest city that's probably not bigger than my hometown I grew up with, I had data on my phone and could get into the net. Never expected that - but really great because I really needed to share my spider-story.

Some weeks back, I was in the desert (I didn't manage to write about it, maybe it will follow) and they told me the stars will be marvellous. They were, but it was nothing compared to the stars in the rainforest, far away from city lights. That's a sight one can only enjoy and hope to see soon again! And what I would also totally do again is go to the hotel we were the last night. They had tame monkeys and parrots. The monkeys were really cute, one even sat down on my arm. But stay away from the parrots, they are mean! I got attacked by two of them, and one actually pecked me in my leg, I still have the mark. But then, I also had more than 140 mosquito bites all over my body (I counted them because my friends did a bet on how many I have) so this one little peck didn't really matter.

And I am totally sure I didn't mention all the important things I experienced while there, so you better ask about more stories when I come back! I don't know if I would go into the rainforest again, but I am really glad I got the opportunity to go there at least once in my life!