welcome back to our channel he's Stephen I'm Andie and today
this is really why we needed the helmets they weren't worried about us falling off the horses
it was the stuff pelting off our heads when you last saw us we were in Mindo a nature and
adventure lover's paradise oh my gosh it's beautiful today we're at Cotopaxi National
Park and we're gonna go by horse if you're new to the channel welcome we're Stephen and Andie
caffeinated travelers of the us and beyond when our lives changed completely in 2020
we decided it was our sign to spend as much time as possible enjoying what matters
Cotopaxi National Park is a must-do day trip from Quito
it wasn't even on our radar but our travel agents recommended it and we're so glad they did
it was about a two-hour drive from Quito which included a stop for essentials
coca candies to help with symptoms of altitude sickness
you can also take coca in the form of tea or even just chewing the leaves
Quito is already at a pretty high elevation and Cotopaxi just gets higher from there
so if you're not used to the altitude expect
shortness of breath at the very least but possibly even headaches and nausea
the tour stopped here at the park for breakfast we bought ours from
the hotel but we wanted to get some coca tea for the high altitudes
once in the park we were dropped off to meet our horses and start our ride
we get to wear these awesome ponchos because apparently it gets quite windy
up there so this is going to help keep us warm
sounds like you're feeling the elevation a little bit a little bit I'm out of breath a bit yeah
how do I look am I ready awesome sweet perfecto oh helmet yes gracias oh doesn't fit I got a big head cabeza grande
okay I am ready let's do this
I get the big one all right here we go one two three that was not graceful okay gracias yes
it wasn't booked as a private tour but it worked out that way for us since everyone else in the group opted for the mountain bikes 0:02:48.560,1193:02:47.295 uh, el nombre? uh, "Chugo" y? "Cotuto." Got a mohawk ok
this is so much better than hiking and biking our tour guide first asked
us if we were interested in mountain biking and uh I was a little hesitant
we don't really have experience on that and um I wasn't real sure if we could handle it
but then she suggested horseback riding instead and we were all about that
the terrain kept changing as we made our way around the volcano and
into the valley that's amazing
what
we spotted several skeletal remains throughout our ride that is a skull okay
we never did figure out what kind of animals they belonged to in the area for volcans
Chugo was a hungry hungry horse-o who kept grabbing mouthfuls along the way
and another snack
more snacks okay one more snack for the hill let's do it
i am really feeling the altitude i'm not even the one doing all the work and i'm still out of breath
but it is gorgeous up here
even though most of our tour did the bike riding and the uh hiking
I'm so glad we went this route especially after yesterday i hurt my foot a little bit
in mindo so i was prepared to do some hiking if we had to today but this is so much better
horse it's bouncing me
and we have some storm clouds coming in on the other side
so it looks like we're gonna be getting some rain 0:05:55.823,1193:02:47.295 wild horse! oh it's beautiful, oh
we're getting some weather and it's actually so beautiful wooo picking up the pace we got some rain
on us now a little bit of sleet a little earlier and we've had some thunder rolling actually to
my left but then it echoes from the hills on my right so we get it in stereo and it's so cool we're coming
let's not go to the edge that's okay
this is really why we needed the helmet they weren't worried about us falling off the horses
it was just pelting off our heads
[loud long thunder] it was a good one that was awesome you look like you reverse peed yourself yeah I did oh okay
well it's really cold now that we don't have those nice alpaca ponchos on so got my hoodie out there
but that was just incredible did you hear that thunder oh it's so good amazing it is absolutely
beautiful here the weather i feel like i've seen landscapes that vast driving past or things like
that but i haven't been in it on a horse that was just perfect such a fantastic way to see
Cotopaxy National Park highly recommend big time so the benefit to breaking away from the group and
having the horseback riding tour instead turned out to be that we had the tour all to ourselves
which was amazing it was so unbelievable it also gave us time to do what we wanted in terms of
filming and putting up the drone because the guide was happy to accommodate whatever we wanted to
do which was so perfect we didn't have to keep a group waiting for us or anything like that so that
was definitely the plus however the negative now is that our tour finished up before the bike tour
so we are standing out here in the cold waiting for our bus and we're wet so it's extra cold
just a couple things to think about if you're gonna come up this way
one if you're starting in Quito you're at a pretty high elevation already but this is quite a bit
higher I forget what they said in terms of how many meters and where they went for the bike
tour and to start hiking for the glacier yeah it's a little bit higher you're gonna feel it with like
the oxygen and everything like that so definitely come prepared for that also with the increased
elevation we have a decrease in temperature so it is always much colder up here so i would
say it started out around 50 degrees fahrenheit yeah um when the weather rolled in it definitely
dropped a bit so i would say we're probably like in the 40s exactly what he said bring
layers definitely if you have a waterproof jacket rain jacket of some kind or ponchos of some kind
bring those with you as well because the weather here apparently changes frequently
and on a dime so be prepared for all kinds but you know what it is gorgeous it is so worth it
I'm so glad we did this oh it's amazing oh my gosh that was such a wonderful day incredible
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