Cotopaxi’s best secret

After our time in Quito, we walked the short distance to The Secret Garden Hostel to await our transport to Cotopaxi. Cotopaxi itself is an active volcano south of Quito. We weren’t heading for the volcano exactly, but an area of the national park nearby. From Quito, our small and very squished bus took us through bumpy and winding roads for over 5 hours until we eventually reached The Secret Garden, Cotopaxi. We loved the surroundings from the moment we arrived – greenery, mountains, volcanoes, animals and no cars as far as the eye could see. We’d booked to spend the weekend here, on a bit of a splurge, in rustic luxury and with 3 meals served a day included in the price.

Cotopaxi volcano

The first step was to leave our bags and gather with the rest of the arriving masses around the warming fire. We were given a small mug of mulled wine which went down a treat. The staff filled us in on all the details – where the facilities were, when the treks were, and most importantly, what time the food was served. After the initiation, we were shown to our room – a cute-as-a-button hobbit home built into the surrounding hills. It was like something out of a book (ha) and the views were absolutely stunning. In fact, the only view that was better than the one from our bedroom was the one from the toilet. Honestly; check the photo.

Hobbit home

Toilet view

There was no time to sit back and enjoy the landscape as we were heading off on a trek almost immediately after arriving. This one was through the forest to visit 2 waterfalls. We donned our borrowed wellies and woolly hats and set off with the rest of the group. The walk itself was actually quite enjoyable (yes, I did just say that) and not too difficult but the altitude made it quite hard to breathe. We had to climb some very slippery rocks at one point and I felt a bit like Bear Grylls. Both waterfalls we visited were beautiful and some of the group even jumped into the second one – I wasn’t brave (or stupid) enough for this. The walk back was equally as pleasant and we reached The Secret Garden just in time for a warming quinoa and potato soup. After this we had some time to relax before returning for a 5pm meeting. We did feel a bit like we were at school at times – set meal times, organised day trips, everyone sat at the same table – but we actually quite enjoyed the routine after weeks without any. Dinner that evening was nutritious and delicious and we enjoyed a bottle of red wine before teaching an older German couple how to play some card games. 

Enjoying a hike

Chasing waterfalls

Bear Grylls

The next day we arranged to go on a 5-6 hour hike up to Pasachoa mountain. We thought it would be good practise for future hikes. Little did we now just how difficult it would be. I genuinely think it may have been one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. No exaggeration. Neither of us had hiking boots (but you know this from the Quito blog) so we took on the hike in trainers. By the end of the hike they didn’t even look like trainers – caked in mud, soaking wet and on the verge of ruin. We walked uphill for what felt like forever, waded through thick mud in the valley and climbed up wet rocks and trees in the forest. I spent 98% of the journey complaining. When we did reach the top of Pasachoa we had lunch and enjoyed the views. The walk back down was a lot easier and at one point I decided I would roll down to save time. In total, the hike took almost 7 hours and we were absolutely exhausted when we got back. Luckily, dinner was delicious (fresh burgers from the BBQ) and we were able to have an early night to recover. 

Top of Pasachoa

Views and dirty shoes

Our final day involved a lot of sitting around – we made the decision to not do another hike after the trials and tribulations of the previous day. Instead, we made the most of the breakfast and lunch served to us and read a book each. Then, along with a small group we had met, we hopped on the bus to head back to Quito. We were staying there for one more night before moving on to our next destination; Mindo. We loved our time at The Secret Garden in Cotopaxi and would recommend it to anyone who needs a break when travelling.