What a day we had yesterday climbing Imburura attempting to get to the volcano at the top. We left a bit too late to make the climb from our tour guides home, but because we did not know if we would have the time to come back we still went but did the first part of the journey by truck. These trucks are like a taxi driving people, livestock, and anything else that one might need transported such as building materials. Many her do not drive or have vehicles and living on the side of such a mountain requires a wee bit of help at times.
Yes even Miss Mali came along for the ride, and a crazy ride it was. I am continually amazed at the people who live here, respectful of their endurance and strength as they carve out their existence. But I am a bit ahead of myself. We started the day by bringing one of the puppies from Satcha’s litter to the family we were visiting on the other side of the mountain.
This puppy was a gift from another friend of this young family knowing they wanted a dog, but could not afford one. So this kind person bought the dog, paid for the shots and all the supplies needed for the puppies new home. They called him Malik which translates to something like “sprout” It’s always rewarding to see your puppies go to a good and loving home. This little guy will be well loved. We stayed for a bit until we could arrange for the truck that would take us to the mountain. I rode in the back, barely able to hold on while we made the steep climb on the cobblestone road, laughing most of the way. We came precariously close to the edge of the road at times where there was a rather dramatic decline down the mountain (I kept my back to that side of the road 🙂 – what you can’t see won’t hurt you!) Once again I am amazed at the homes people live in on the side of this mountain, and how they still plant their crops on the steep incline. There is no modern equipment, just good ol fashioned manpower tilling these fields on the side of the mountain. And you know they don’t just make a quick trip to town for a few things. Knowing that they would have walked over this mountain at one time to do their trading makes me understand that they are very amazing people, their strength is to be admired.
Here you can see the tilled crops on the side of the mountain – the house is that white spec at the end of what looks like a road. If you enlarge the image you will also see the people working where there is more dirt than plants closer to the road. 
This was taken near where we had been dropped off, the elevation over 3,000 m. While it seems pretty high, it is nothing compared to what we were going to. My fear of heights was going to be a bit of a challenge. At this point there was no sudden drop off, the climb was not too steep yet, so I was managing.
There I am, still in one piece and not breathing too hard….yet! Notice the new alpaca sweater for the cold mountain air as we got higher. The elevation is 3,466 m and so far I’m enjoying the pace and the view. It is a wonderful and varied countryside, very dramatic and at times overwhelming in its grandeur.
This is our guide Condor, who has obviously done this more than once as he is not even breathing hard and is very light on his feet all the way. I may also add that he is a teacher of the arts and was responsible for the stairs in one of my first entries, being painted. He was one of the painters as well as the organizer for his students to do some of the work. A truly nice man, very gentle and kind, his family also are very beautiful, kind people. They have been very welcoming and we have hope to spend more time with them learning Spanish and teaching them English. The children are learning English in school here, but they don’t like to speak it which I find interesting. In other countries like China or Japan they seem eager to learn English and speak it knowing that it will help them in business. Maybe that is the most important difference, these kids do not think that way, they are very content with their culture, their language and way of life. Perhaps they do not see a need for learning another language.
We were told a story while taking a break along the way, having a small picnic lunch of bread, cheese and fruit. At one time many years ago when the Inca people wanted to claim new territory, they would first send in the women with baskets full of seeds. The women would show the village they came to what they had to offer and ask what they had in return. In this way they were sharing resources. Then the men would go to the village displaying their weapons and tools, saying the same thing. “This is what we have to offer you, what do you have to offer us”. In this way they would amalgamate their resources and the village would either accept or decline the offer. If they declined, then the Inca people would accept their decision and move on, leaving them be. When they got to this area, the village, the native people of this area declined the offer of the Inca because they felt they had everything they needed and were happy. The Inca accepted their decisions and let them be. However the Caranqui-Cayambe-Pasto confederation became frightened that the Incan’s would attack them, and so attacked first. They killed women, children and the elders, sparing no one. For this, the Inca retalliated with their soldiers killing all the men then taking the surviving women and children into their fold. They stated that if you want to start a war, start it with the army, not the women and children. They considered this a great offence to attack the villages, killing the defenceless. The massacre took place at the Laguna Yahuarcocha which is now known also as Blood Lake by the locals.
You can see the lake on the other side of the city Ibarra. Also the city is getting smaller as we get higher, I am getting very warm, definitely over dressed for this part of the climb. This is where we took a small lunch break.
The climb became increasingly difficult from this point and for me the worst part was my lungs, I just could not get proper breath. Still I was able to keep up for the next half hour or so, until the climb became so steep that at times I was holding onto the grass on both sides of the path to not fall. We were also a lot closer to the edge with a drop so far down, you could not see the bottom. I had some moments of panic inside, doing my best not to let it get the best of me. My lungs were just not up to the task though and Willak and I took several breaks. Patrick and Condor had tried a different path which looked easier because the incline wasn’t as bad, but Willak said that it would be like walking in deep snow when you would suddenly step into a hole and it would be difficult to get out. For some reason Mali decided to follow Patrick and she could not get back to me. She tried at one point, but Patrick could not see her and thought she would get lost and so called her back. It was a very hard route for her, but she perserveared. Never say die, never surrender!!
While Willak and I sat, we had lovely conversations about dreams and different experiences we’ve had while looking out at this view (everything is getting pretty small down there). On one such break he explained that for their culture, if someone is having a difficult time with the loss of a loved one, they just can’t seem to deal with their grief, they bring them to the mountain. He said that he is not certain why it helps, but it does, he has seen the person change. He asked his elders why this happened, but they too were not sure, they just knew that it helped. We theorized while we sat there and came up with the idea that it is from pushing yourself past what you thought you could endure (this was Willak’s thoughts about it). He believed that by pushing yourself past your normal threshold you broke through a barrier that allowed you to finally let go. He said the mountain lets you give it your grief and the person will cry, climbing down with renewed spirit. It seemed pretty logical to me and I wondered if this was not why I wanted to make the climb – to release the many years of trauma, and this is what I mentioned to him. He thought so also.
Willak’s son had also come with us and was way ahead, climbing up and then back down to check on us. He basically ran up this slope that I could barely climb. When we finally reached him he had made a bed out of the grass and was pretendeing to be asleep. I’m sure I could have fallen asleep at that point. It seemed that every time I looked up expecting to see the top of the hill I saw only more hill. It just seemed to go on and on getting steeper as we went. When we finally got to a place that seemed a little more level we sat to wait for Patrick, Condor and Mali. We had thought they would be waiting for us, but they were nowhere to be seen. We were a little worried because they should have been ahead of us, but we did see at one point, while taking yet another break, Patrick had flown his drone to try to get some footage of the mountain. We wondered if they had trouble and had to go back down to retrieve it.
When they finally caught up Mali was in the lead. She was about to bark at us, but saw me and came bouncing over to say hello. She was in great need of water and a time out. We had a good laugh over how long it took them to arrive using the shortcut, and then continued on our way. I was pretty much done in by this time, my lungs just couldn’t do anymore climbing. I felt light headed and when I looked up and saw that the next part of the climb was as steep as what we had just accomplished, I told them to go without me. I would wait where I was while they continued on for the next part of the climb which would take another hour.
While I sat there for the next two and a half hours, I enjoyed the view and the warm sun. There were many people who came down the mountain while I waited. Groups of 10 or more at a time, all different ages, some as old or older than me. This I admit made me feel a bit embarrassed, that I could not keep going. So yes, I did try once more to make the next part of the climb, but I just couldn’t keep going. This time Mali decided to stay with me, keeping me company while we settled in for the long wait.
About an hour and a half later when I looked up at this person stopping at the top of the next hill before descending, I thought – Nope, no way am I going up there!!
This was how steep the climb was and I knew it was not worth the risk of losing my footing. While I waited the clouds began to move in and before I knew it I was enveloped in the fine mist. Pretty extraordinary to say the least to be sitting high enough to be in the clouds. A cool experience.
I did film the clouds moving around me, but I just can’t put film on this site. Unfortunately a big cloud moved over the sun and I was getting pretty cold being at higher elevation and having worked up a good sweat. I had to move, but could not go up, so I began to go down slowly knowing that they should be getting back soon (it had been almost two and half hours). I just wanted to keep moving so that my muscles didn’t seize up too much. Another big group was coming down and the leader of the group asked if I was waiting for Patrick. He told me they were coming soon – Yay!!
This man was so happy because Patrick had put up the drone in the bowl where they met and was able to get footage of his group, which he agreed to send on. It was pretty good timing and this man was pretty excited. We saw the footage when we were back at Condor’s home and it really was spectacular. They did not make it to the top of the volcano as it would have taken too long and we would have been coming down in the dark which would not have been smart. Mali and I were very happy to see them coming over the top of the hill so we could start moving again. They had a bit of rest while Mali had more water (I had run out). Coming down is also a bit of strain on the legs, especially for Patrick with his extra long body. In some places you have to be so careful of your footing as it would be so easy to misstep and take a serious tumble.
So off we went, beginning our decent, it felt very good to be moving again. Going down was much easier for me without the extra strain on my lungs, I was able to go down with no trouble.
This was the group ahead of us going back, and you can see a little better the steepness as well as the distance we needed to go. We had climbed for six hours (3.5 for me) going up, but it took us just almost two hours to climb back down to the spot where the taxi would pick us up. The sun was going down and for those riding in the back of the truck it was pretty chilly.
When we arrived back at Condors home we were welcomed with a hot meal, hot sweet coffee, which I’ve never had prepared like this before. It was delicious after so much exertion, we were all pretty tired (except for Condor). It was such a lovely day and one I will never forget. We are hoping to go back to climb the baby volcano which is supposed to be a much easier climb, not so steep or as high up. Patrick would also like to attempt to get to the volcano on Imbabura, he is sure he would be fine to go that last section. Me, I don’t think I need to try especially since at the ridge you are on a narrow path with a serious drop on both sides. Pretty sure I would not be able to do that part of the climb. Considering my great fear of heights, I am pleased with how far I got yesterday, it was more than I expected to have to face. Miss Mali – she said it was the best walk Ever!!! She was so happy :).
Today we climbed the stairs just to get the muscles working again. We were all a little sore, the climb more than any of us were used to. Even the stairs were tough today, I’m still not in shape…..
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