Cotopaxi

Hola! Okay so this past weekend my friends and I "climbed" Cotopaxi, the largest active volcano in Ecuador!  

Quick story before that adventure- My friend Erinn and I had dyed our hair back in September. I went darker and loved it! (It washed out after 3 weeks) Anyways, I've been wanting to dye my hair permanently, the same as it had been. I went to the salon and told them I would like to go darker, but NOT BLACK. Well, as you will see from the pictures below, my hair is nearly black now. Something must have gotten lost in translation. Oh well, change is fun haha.

Anyways, Cotopaxi is about 1 hour away from Quito. My friend and I are doing a project over the national park there so figured we might as well go and check it out! 

Unfortunately, the day we went it was EXTREMELY foggy. The picture below is a view of Cotopaxi from the laguna we hung out at first.

Jessica and I in front of Cotopaxi

This picture is at Laguna Limpiopungo. The laguna is supposed to be home to a variety of animals and plants. In fact, there is a specific species of bird that is about to go extinct (they only live in this laguna) and it's estimated only 100 or less are still alive. But....

All we saw was tons and tons of poop...

We did see 1 bird. But, that's it. The highlight of our laguna walk was taking pictures with all the poop. 

Anyways, after the laguna, we were supposed to drive to a parking lot where we would then hike 1 hour to the refuge where there is food and a gift shop. IT WAS INSANE. There was so much snow! The guide said usually there is no snow until you reach the refuge/are close to the refuge. He couldn't even drive us all the way to the parking lot the weather was so crazy. I was super excited because although I was just informed I did play in snow as a one year old baby, I thought this was my first time in real snow. 

After my friends took a few pictures of my freaking out and running around like a crazy person in the snow, we began our hike to the parking lot so we could get on the trail for the refuge. IT WAS PAINFUL. It was sleeting and the wind was insane. Most of the hike to the parking lot we had to walk backwards because our faces hurt so bad.

But we did see a neat little snowman on the way...

After hiking for a bit, we finally reached the parking lot! That is also where we made the collective decision to not hike to the refuge. The twenty minute hike to the parking lot was good enough for us. 

IT WAS SO COLD!! Being from Texas I did not have the proper gear to hike in snow. I wore a long sleeve shirt and two small jackets while my other friends, who happen to live in New Year, Iowa and Indiana, were wearing crazy warm looking rain coats. I was jealous. SHOUT OUT to my host family for giving my gloves and Emily for giving me a warm hat. Thank goodness.

The hike back down wasn't bad because all the sleet was hitting our backs rather than our faces. Because we were no longer in pain, I took a break to make MY FIRST SNOW ANGEL! So fun. Although I quickly became wet and even colder haha. But, it was worth it.

I just want to say that I absolutely love Ecuador. Yesterday I climbed a volcano and played in snow, 6 days earlier I was snorkeling with sea lions. TRY TO TOP THAT AMERICA. 

I'm off to a ton of homework. I'm getting nervous because my time here is running out; I only have one month left. WHATTTT!? This weekend I am pretty sure we are going to the beach, so I'll post pictures and such on Sunday!