Camping at Mama Tungurahua

Before I came to Ecuador, my friend introduced me to her friend in Quito via facebook. My first week in Quito, he invited me on a camping trip to see Volcán Tungurahua. Now, this volcano had been in the news because it had been erupting… so naturally we wanted to see it! On Friday night, Nicolas and Santiago picked me up and we went to Nicolas’s apartment where we hung out with a few of his friends. The next morning we picked up his friend Ivan, or Pili, and headed down south. On the way, I learned a ton of new words in Spanish- mostly bad words. We stopped in the town of Salceda and bought their famous ice cream popsicles and then ended in Baños. There, we ate lunch, walked around a bit, and asked where the best places were to camp.

We decided on a mountain in between Baños and Mama Tungurahua so the view was incredible. Driving up the mountain was amazing. The valley was filled with clouds and all along the path you could see rose farms and small cottages. We arrived on top and hiked up a hill to find Casa del Arbol, a place where a lot of people camp. Since it was only mid afternoon, we went back to Baños, found a bar and hung out. We returned again to Casa del Arbol just before dark and set up our tent. The view was just as incredible at night- the lights from the city dotted the hill and the clouds were illuminated from the moon.

For the rest of the night, we roasted marshmallows for s’mores and had conversations that were, for me, very interesting. May I remind you that there were three boys and me. The topics ranged from: Where would you rather get shot- the balls or the stomach? to Would you rather have a penis the size of a ping pong ball or the size of your arm? Needless to say, I was laughing the entire night.

The next morning we had a big breakfast, swung on a swing over a ravine, and said goodbye to the family of kittens at the campsite. Although we couldn’t see the erupting volcano right above us, the views were amazing and it reminded me again how much I love the outdoors. It was an amazing weekend with new friends and new adventures.