Betty and her husband picked us up this morning with their kids for our weekend away with the family. Mateo and Maria Paula were awfully shy, and wouldn’t speak to us for the first hour or so, but Paula eventually warmed up to us, and I was able to practice Spanish with her. She is learning English, so it was fun for both of us to practice. We drove to Cotopaxi and Marcelo took us with Maria Paula to hike to the refuge. We started around 14,000 feet and hiked to 15,000 feet. Of course we both felt sick and dizzy the whole time, seeing as we were at sea level just the day before. I guess it really would have helped to acclimatize a little! After some tea, we got to run down the loose volcano stones to our warm car waiting for us. We then ate at a little typical restaurant on the way to Quilotoa, and had, amongst other things, four different kinds of corn on our plates. It was unfortunately very dark and foggy when we headed to Quilotoa, and the road was extremely high (around 14,000 feet) and windy. Marcelo did an amazing job driving and got us to the village safely, even though we couldn’t see much of anything through the fog. Mom and I were both still feeling the altitude, so after a cup of tea, we went to bed in our little room. The indigenous tribe had little hostel-style accommodations for us to stay in, and while they were rustic, we still slept quite well.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.