Traveling in Ecuador

Horseback Riding around the Cotopaxi – By Robin Fillner – SALUD Program Guest blogger traveling in Quito.
The Amerispan SALUD program has had activities for us to attend on all the weekends. So far they have been incredibly well organized and mind-blowing! Our group was so impressed with our last weekend that we couldn't possibly imagine what was to be next. But last weekend definitely topped the weekend before.
This past weekend, I went with the SALUD group to a volcano called Cotopaxi. The mountain lies directly on the equator and is therefore symbolic with the indigenous people. The mountain always has snow on it and can be seen from Quito although it is several hours away by bus. I think the ride there took 3 hours, excluding the stops we made along the way. Our guide, Santiago spoke only a little English, but we preferred Spanish anyway. He was extremely knowledgeable about the geology, culture, natural history, etc. of the area and was eager to share all of this with us.
We arrived at Hacienda Provincial or Tierra de Volcanes (an other name for it?) which I highly, highly recommend if you're ever in the area. The wind was blowing 80 km/hour and so it was freezing. I was layered up and had my Andean gloves, hat, and scarf on. After unloading, we were served "canellaso" tea, a tea made with cinnamon and lemon. It hit the spot and warmed us up. We were encouraged to take aspirin and eat a lot of sugar, which I had no problem with, due to the altitude. I believe we were just at 4000 meters. We all had chocolate and candy!
Next, we dressed up in chaps and ponchos and saddled up for a 4-hour ride in the countryside adjacent Cotopaxi. The ride was incredible. Santiago guided us along the countryside; he said he has ridden horses for 18 years and used to be a bullfighter. We rode along empty farmland and through some fields with giant "toros"(bulls) in them. We had a little brave dog with us that rounded up the bulls and herded them to the other side of the field so we could ride through.
Eventually, Santiago let us gallop the horses if we felt comfortable. I was so excited to go fast. At first, it was hard to hang on but then it seemed just like surfing! I'm serious! I was surfing my horse! We ran up to a clearing on top of a valley. On one side, was a tall mountain resembling a profile of a face and on the other, in the distance, was the snow-capped Cotopaxi. If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was in Montana. It was beautiful, and cold. We stopped to eat lunch and drink a mint tea, known to help with effects of altitude.
After we returned, we ate a spectacular lunch. They even prepared eggplant for me, because I didn't want to eat chicken. Then, I fell asleep on a couch in front of a fireplace in the hacienda and didn't find out until later that the other students went out to milk cows. Oh well.
Afterwards, we went out for a hike to a waterfall. Along the way, Santiago pointed out which wildflowers made which tea and help with different illnesses. The waterfall was cool, but I didn't really get why it was significant. Back at the hacienda we had an incredible dinner and sat around the fireplace talking stories. Our beds were made with thick comforters that made for easy, warm sleeping.