We stayed at a cool hotel called Hacienda La Cienega a few miles from Cotopaxi National Park. It was built over 400 years ago. We were able to catch a World Cup game, try hot chocolate with mozzarella cubes(never heard of that before), kids go to the hotel restaurant themselves and order a snack with their own money(they were so excited about this), and get a good night’s sleep with heat.
The next day, we met up with Dutchman Biking for a bike ride down Cotopaxi Volcano, one of the world’s tallest active volcanos. It is also known for its perfect cone shape. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so we did not see the top till a few days later from Quito. Cotopaxi has erupted more than 50 times since 1738.
We spotted wild horses on the way up to the highest parking lot in Cotopaxi National Park. Our kids were so excited to see “real, wild horses.”
They took us to the highest parking lot in Cotopaxi at about 15,700 feet. It was freezing! The wind was whipping and the snow was lightly falling. The road was steep and gravel. At this point, I thought, “What in the world have I got us into?” Kat decided to ride in the van, which I totally agreed was best and after Kane got out and was ready, decided to ride in the van also. I really wanted to ride in the van also, but since I signed us up, I had to do it. 🙂 Only 27 kilometers to go!
About 30 minutes into the ride, Kane joined us. Then at the bottom, Kat joined us for the ride through the lava fields and rocks.
During our lunch break, Kane and Scott went for a hike and Kat played on the swing set.
Our kids ended up having a blast biking through Cotopaxi and want to do more biking adventures.
Kane: I liked the part where we were going through the rocky meadow where I saw a fox. I thought it was a dog at first.
Kat: It was fun biking!
