The Snows of Cotopaxi and....injured riding the Ecuadorian Secretariat

 I left Qualitoa and headed Cotopaxi NP and my digs at The Secret Garden, an odd hostel like place just outside the park.  It has been known to host hobbits-

 Cotopaxi is nearly 20k' high and is a stunning volcano-

I chose The Secret Garden not so much because it is a secret- there were dozens of people there and it was quite popular on TripAdvisor- nor because of its garden- all i could see was a composting toilet- but because it offered an array of different types of outdoor activities in and near the park.   But it also had friendly lamas which I had learned to appreciate-

So, fancying myself as a bit of a South American cowboy, I chose horse back riding as an interesting way to see the  park and the volcano up close.  Well, the latter turned out to e true (tho I  forgot to charge my camera beforehand so few pics), but whatever horse back riding skills I had ever had, I had clearly lost.  For some reason they gave me the most spirited horse and during one wild ride bouncing about in the saddle, I fairly badly hurt my back.  That really hurt (still does) and essentially knocked me out for a day and half.  

Today, I did finish  my tour of Cotopaxi by hiking up to the glacier at the base of the mountain.  That had me climbing to about 5200 meters, which is close to 17k'.  My back held up fortunately

The area presented some fabulous mountain views apart from Cotopaxi-

And one more of Cotopaxi-

Tomorrow I head for the Galapagos for a week on a boat and I don't know that i will have any internet connection.  So it may be a week or more before I post again, though I am not sure.   Ecuador is a beautiful and fascinating country, but not necessarily made for blogging regularly.