In the Jungle, the Deep Deep Jungle..

I have decided to change tack, this unusuall weather for this time of year could well be due to ¨El Nino ¨ which occurs every 4 years, and causes a change in the normal weather pattern.There has been much higher rainfall than is normal over the last month here, this made me think that the extra rainfall would cause the rivers to swell & subsequently be excellent for White Water Rafting!! So here I am in a place called Tena, the acknowledged center for kyaking & white water rafting in Ecuador. I took a bus ride from Quito today a nut rattling 6 hr journey from Quito , over a road which was 1/2 hour up and 5hrs down, half the distance was metalled the rest a murrum (or earth/ mud ) road with precipitous drops at the roadside and landslides on every bend, cleared by bulldozer, but leaving the streams gushing over the road ( which will no doubt wash further sections of the surface away). I have booked up on a rafting trip tomorrow (sun) on the El Napo river, Oh I wonder how the memories of my rafting days on the Tay will flood back, I do not expect tomorrows raft will be made of ply & polystyrene but I can but hope.
I spoke to Dave Pope this morning and he felt the trial went as well as can be expected, he told me about a bottle of perfume which had been found in the accuseds´ home, a product called Tobbacco Leaf and only sold through the Body Shop. Her sister had bought it for her before leaving, in Manchester, the sister had a bottle herself and the batch numbers confirmed they were from the same batch, Damning evidence if you ask me!! ( probably not good enough for Dook though !!) To find out more www. jennypopeappeal. The verdict is to be announced, along with the sentence on the 9th of Jan.
Thanks to Ian & Marj, did you just know this or did you have to find out, Anyway no one has told me the date of Epiphany yet ? SS.

Cotopaxi Again

I paid my $160 to Gullivers Travel who are organising this trip, there are 6 others on the climb I am to make my way to Papagayo by bus and my cold weather gear bag is to be delivered there, you can already guess can´t you . Altho $160 seems a lot it does include night in Papagayo, lift to car park and back that would be $50 night in refugio, entry to the park plus a couple of meals so it is not that expensive when you work it out.

Bus down to Papagayo and spend the night ther, simon , 24 swiss, I meet on the bus is also going, he seems quite normal and has a few beers with me before bed.

Up the next day 4wd is there to take us to the carpark at Cotopaxi , you are never going to believe this............my bag is not there. A motorcyclist brings it to Machachi.....evenually.

Drive up to the park gate, the driver is brisk and the old mazda bounces and tosses for an hour, I inquire of the driver if he has ever rattled any nuts off.

Back to the refugio

t 4800m , the same height as the top of Mont Blanc, it is cold with no heating or hot water and has icy drafts just to make it even more uncomfortable, all for just $18

The 6 making the attempt have already been reduced to 5 as Martin from Germany feels bad at the refugio. Ted / Debbie from Canada, Simon, Nora, German burd, 24ish and Me

Debbie developes a headache ,far from uncommon at altitude, and decides not to go.

Freddie , the Ecuadorian guide has been spooning with Nora during the evening!

Next day it´s freddie, nora and me, sergio ,other guide, simon and ted , big 6´5¨ outdoorsy guy,

It is very windy when we leave at 1am, We are suppose to be going in one group but after an hour the other group is moving ahead, Nora begins to become tired, after 4hrs it is still very windy and it is snowing, Freddie, who´s looking for a conquest , and it aint cotopaxi, says we go down, Nora looks to me to be utterly exhausted, i ask freddie how far to the snow bridge over the crevasse, He lies to me and says 3 hrs, I ask about the other group, he does not know and does not have any walkie talkies or such, I have no alternative, BACK DOWN AGAIN.

Reach Refugio and an hour later Simon and Ted arrive , the did not make it either, due to the weather, high winds and driving snow , I believed them, they were covered in snow when they arrived back.

I think only one group summited today and they left earlier then us , so maybe I wouldnt have made it anyway.

Back to Quito, this is supposed to be a time when climbing is possible but every day I try the weather is bad, If I cannot go up then perhaps I should try going Down.

Volcano Imbaburro

Decided to to climb Imbaburro, an extinct volcano some 3hrs North of Quito. I left Crossroadshostal with a Colombian chap who was heading north to go home after a year traveling round SA. He has decided to join the jewish faith & move to Israel (Haifa), I did not think Judaism was particularly welcoming to converts as it is not considered an evangelical faith. I thought you either were one or you were not,( I wonder if anyone has told him that he has to have part of his nob chopped off to join? ) there is a specific title for the chap who performs this function, the name of which escapes me for the moment, apparently it is a very poorly renumerated position....... but you get to keep the tips !!
Anyway.. left him and caught the bus to Ibarra, with the intention of changing buses there to take the bus from there to a place called La Esperanza, where the trail begins. Whilst gazing blankly out of the bus widow on the way to Ibarra I see a big sign pointing to La Esperanza, I ask the conductor on the bus & he says Si Si La Esperanza, so I swiftly disembark and catch a bus back a couple of K and then walk up to La Esperanza, I ask a few locals were is Casa Aida no idea I discover there are a few La Esperanzas & this was not the one I was Looking for. They seem to be sprinkled about Ecuador perhaps like we have Tarbets. Back on another bus to Ibarra, then to the right one. Find Casa Aida, & she cooks me an evening meal VG, she also organises a camioneta for 8am the next morning.
Up early, have breakfast & discover the driver is not coming because it is too wet. Oh well decide to walk up and see how I get on. Interesting walk up the cobbled lane through Chirihausi and to the end of the road, this takes 2hrs ; which would have taken 10min by camioneta.
It is still cloudy but perhaps it will lift, after 4.5hrs I have come from 2650 to approx 4100m and it starts to rain, quite heavily, and of couse the viz is poor, I have another 2.5 hours to the top, after some thought I reluctantly turn round & head back down, another failure.
Tomorrow I am joining a group to try to climb Cotopaxi AGAIN. I go first to Papa gayo AGAIN for a night then meet up with the others. This time it is with a guided group & at great expense ,well $160. There is not much alternative as I cannot really go on my own,
I wonder what will cause failure this time!!!
SS
Thanks for the message Cameron.

MURDER IN ECUADOR

This is rather a serious blog. You may have noticed in the the papers back in March a report of the disappearance of a woman from Manchester ? Mrs Jennifer Pope a 50yr old Nurse from Manchester disappeared whilst on a 6mth backpacking trip round South America. Her last known whereabouts was an hotel in Banos ( a large town in central Ecuador) on the 9th of Jan last year. She has not been seen since. The alarm was not raised immediately as her family was not sure what could have happened, however when her bank statement arrived it showed regular withdrawals of $20, $30 ,$50 dollars every few days, for the previous 4 mths, after the 9th of Jan $ 400 dollars was withdrawn every day untill the account was exhausted. A total of over $2500+ over the space of a week.
Why am I drawing your attention to this ? because yesterday morning I spoke , at lenght, to both her husband Dave & her son Stefan, who are both staying in the same hotel as I am.
Once Jenny had not checked in with them for a waak they began to worry,after 2 weeks they were very concerned, & once the bank statement arrived thier worst fears seemed to be confirmed.
Dave & Stefan put thier affairs in order and arrived in Ecuador in early March. They have been here ever since.
They soon found out who the main suspect was , a 28 year old inhabitant of Banos who had a reputation for robbery & violence in the area but had not been convicted due to his connections with the police, ( he shared the spoils of his activities with them) He was also employed at the hotel, as a night porter, where Jenny was staying.
Dave explained how corrupt the police are here, operating hand in glove with criminals in thier area. The murder of Jenny Pope would have been ignored & swept under the carpet by the local police if Dave & Stefan had not arrived,determined to ensure that proper procedures were observed & a professional investigation was undertaken.
There was circumstancial evidence ( the "accused "disappeared very shortly after the account was emptied) and there was video evidence of the accused withdrawing money from the account, as well as other facts which pointed the finger of accusation firmly in his direction.
Dave & Stefan are in no doubt of this man´s guilt, and that he did not act alone, they believe that other members of his family are also involved. Due to police lassisitude , incompetence & corruption and also the lack of committment by the prosecuting authorities ( they operate a procurator fiscal system similar to Scotland) they feel that having one person brought to trial is as much as they can hope for.
Bribery throughout the police & prosecuting system is rife here & althought the "accused" is not a person of much financial value he does have a close relative who runs a string of bordellos along the coast & she has baan funding his defence so far, whither she has the means or the inclination to further fund his evasion of justice is unknown. Obviously the further up the system the higher the financial burden.
The trial will take place on the 28th of dec purely due to the doggedness & persistance of Dave & Stefan as left to their own devices the murder would have been ignored.
Lets hope for a guilty verdict from the three Judges who will decide the case, if a guilty verdict is announced then there is the facility for an appeal, this however should take place within a month of the trial.
There is no death penalty in Ecuador but a sentence of 16-25 yrs could be imposed on such a case as this, as there is no body.
Only Dave & Stefans relentless quest for answers & action has forced the hand of Ecuadors lamentable judicial system.
All the best on the 28th.
SS
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Cotopaxi : the attempt

Leave Quito at noon on the bus to Matachi, from Matachi hire camoneta ( pick up truck) to the hotel I have booked within the national park, called Tamopaxi, very nice actually, good food . I am the only one who has a beer or anything else to drink with their meal, This is very worrying. The hotel is at 3750m. this is why i chose it, a good acclimatisation venue. Strangely enough the electricity went off at 8.30. pm so what do you do now ? the nearest anything is 15k away! Read my book with my torch like I am 8yrs old.( different book) Wake early, not surprisingly, hire camoneta to take us to refugio on Cotopaxi, arrived there at 11am (god knows why) I am beginning to be p.....d off with L@@k. As you can see from the foto in Tambopaxi, L or for short (BGT, Bald Ginger Tosser) has an enormous collection of climbing/mountaineering gear, carribeinas, both locking & screw locking ect ect, chocks, deadman plate, belay plates, prussacs, slings ties, 12mm rope x 60m, figure of 8, harness, chest harness, iceaxe, icehammer, ice screws,pullies,plus these mechanical expanding chock things, anyway it was too much for the others as they sat there, eyes open wide in astonishment & wonder, I had lost the leadership race ! such gadgets & technical trinckets had them mesmerised. The King had been found, I would have liked to crown him with his glittering gadgetry but.....We left tambopaxi & took a camioneta to the carpark below the refugio at 4800m & walked up. Had a little lunch then went for a walk part way up the glacier to ensure we would find our route the next morning in the dark. After that we were subjected to a crevasse rescue training session( if anyone falls down a crevasse we will just pull him out I would have thought, useing all this equipment at 5500m + in the dark & cold all seems impractical to me, I´m just jealous of course) which I truculently take part in. I make the evening meal and whilst doing so discover BGT has picked up rice which takes 45min to cook! imagine how I felt, .... very pleased indeed .. chance to show him up as fallible. Went to bed at 8pm but no sleep of course. Up at 12.30am, there is no elecric in the refugio at this time so had to dress in the dark then collect all our gear, bloody nuisance! Leave refugio at 1.20am clear night & can see the lights of Matachi twinkling below. Daniel goes first as the first person is most likly to fall in a crevasse, & we dont want that to happen to our leader ( well I do ) then BGT, then me then the Kid. We plod ON & ON for hours in the dark, with hardly any stops, the wind picks up then it begins to snow, it starts to become light as we stop before a snow bridge over a cravasse. At this point another group come back down and we hear some garbled info ... ther has been an avalanche up ahead on the route & an Ecudorian guide has lost his ice axe in it, yet another group come into sight making thier way down, at this point it is becomeing light" avalanche danger, avalanche danger," cries BGT " we´re going down " looking at me he tells me to put my drink away & get moving, "hey wait a wee minute" say I " we do not know what the hampden roar is here, it is almost light, we are probably only 200m vertical from the top, maybe we should find out exactly what the position is then decide," . "we're going down now, if you want we can leave you " he then kicks some snow and says "look slab that can slip anytime ". . They spend millions of pounds in the alps & elsewhere taking cores & analising them for potential avalanche danger & still it is a very inexact science, yet the BGT can tell with the flick of a boot!!! then the Kid starts down like the hounds of hell are after him & I rageing because there has been no proper discusion and reluctantly start down. They start almost running down the glacier & because we are short roped, we pull each other off balance, Finally I have had ENOUGH! I stop and unclip myself from the rope and tell BGT I will make my own way down , goodby. Arrive at Refugio & have a cup of tea then lie down as the camioneta will not arrive untill 12. I do not speak a word to BGT untill we drop him off at the bus station in Quito. Incidently in the camioneta the Kid asks him if he has heard of Bruce Chatwin he says eh ...eh... yea... but cannot elabourate because of course he has never heard of him ( he wrote a very good travel book called "In Patagonia" ) Being such a tosser he cannot admit to not knowing something.At Quito bus station, wordlessly, we very briefly shake hands. He is travelling to Guayaquil to meet his wife ( poor woman) and then he is travelling south. I feel so much better knowing he is farther and farther away with every passing hour, and in a month or so he will be back in Northern Alberta Best place for him.

Two attempted climbs two failures, He was a pretendy climber, like the golfer who buys the most expensive & extensive gear but hasnt a clue. There was an Austrian mountain policeman there with his girl friend, they managed to climb the highest that morning only 100m from the top but they turned back due to the weather. I asked him how they had managed & he told me , he looked round at all the rest who had scurried down " they dont want, no heart "

Planning for Cotopaxi

Today tue. we have early morning meeting regarding accent of Cotopaxi . I replete with pen and paper propose "modus operandi"so we sing from the same hymn sheet , no discordant voices, so far so good. We decide on route, times, equipment required..even a menu... draw a line on enforceing haggis suppers all round. L@@k Flowers (30) has had some experince of glacier conditions and has worked in an outdoors shop in alberta,& "knows his knots" makes a big deal about crevasse rescue & sounds reasonably knowlegeable, but I suspect it has been all learnt in a classroom & is all theory, doubt he has ever rescued anyone from even a snowball fight. The Colorado kid, just turned 24, is a typical effusive american, claiming experience in climbing & in glacier travel. Enthusiastic* & upbeat & of course does not drink enough, in the belief this is virtuous, " I hae ma doots"
Daniel (32) swiss from zurich ( if it comes to a square go at least we´ll have someone to hawd the coats) 16 months on the road much of it solo on his bike. On reaching a tricky bit on Illianaz (the rest had dashed on ahead) i aked him how he felt about this & he told me he had never scrambled in his life or had any experience of climbing ( and him from switzerland too ! tsk tsk !) All the same I feel I know were I stand with him & he is not full of bull, having not much to prove. So far he has my stamp of approval. could a US v Europe contest be ahead ?
Spent the rest of the day doing some "shopping" ( a word they were all unaware the meaning of ) & to explain "doing our messages" only resulted in blank looks , bewilderment and vague thoughts of a trip to an internet cafe. However all these jobs done ( when in Aberdeen I was once told by the cleaning lady in the union, after mentioning that she seemed particulaly busy that " you canny stand still when you have plenty o wee jobbies to do" oh how true how true!) we then hired equipment for the ensueing expedition ( ice axe, harness, prussacs etc) Last job of the day to uplift washing, whilst waiting in the que I feel my nose, throat & upper resperatory tract cleansed by the soapy soapy air .
We leave for Cotopaxi tomorrow, SS

Ilinazes

Met up with Luke , Luke Flowers, really!! & discovered that there were 2 more coming along, Daniel from Zurich, who had been on his bike for 16 months, ( & the answer is prcbably) & Kit from colorado. So off we set to travel to a hotel not for from the Illianises, called Papaguya, quite ok but the steak was chewy.Next morning camino to the trailhead and a 3hr walk to the refugio where we will spend the night at 4600m.

the photo is from the trail up to the refugio, the one we will climb is on the right. Arrived at 2 oclock so it was just as well we arose at 7am!! not my idea! We all had a terrible night no sleep at all, obviously not acclimatised nearly enough. Tomorrows clomb will take us to 5200m One of Ecudors big ten.

Out of bed at first light, for once I was happy to get up, left refugio at 7.30. arrived at the 2nd of 3 tops at 9.30 & I pointed out that this was not the top, the top was a further 300m away and required a grade 3 maybe 4 scramble over loose rock, and they were not for that. I started to chech out how tricky is was and they started down the hill.I was´nt sure whither to go on or not, but I knew I would lose them if I did the true top, so I came down with them, I was raging all the way down & didnt speak to any of them Exept Daniel the swiss ( who had not at any time pretended to be a climber, I hadnt pretended either by the way) untill we were back in the bothy. I then told them how disappointed I was that we did not summit! Much humming & hawing!! Left refugio to walk back to the trailhead were our taxi was coming to meet us. Started to walk down to meet it as there was only one road, it did not seem to be on time so asked Luke (who speaks some spanish ) what arrangements had been made, He said that he had asked the taxi driver to be back at 3.30pm ( far too late ) & had given him a $10 deposit !! what a divvi !! Needless to say nada taxi. Walked out for a couple of K the Luke took a left turn Kit went with him, It was obviously the wrong way, so Daniel & I continued the correct way then luckily hitched a lift to the small town HA HA HA We enjoyed a beer or two untill they turned up. I doubt this outfit is going to succeed unless an intelligent benign yet firm leader is found !

Pinchacha again.

Up the telepherico again and walked for almost 3 hrs, the right way this time, to reach a bealach at about 4700m. It started to snow, quite heavily, I waited but it did not go off. I was only 90m from the top so was keen to press on, the snow however had covered the route & the last 90m is a S11 in parts, also the viz was poor so reluctantly nade my way down . The snow turned to sleet then to driving freezing rain, by the time I was back 1.hr45min later I was very wet & very cold.
Back to town.
Discovered on my email a chap who,s advert in the South American Explorers Club I had answered had left a message wanting to meet up as he was keen to do some climbing as well.

PINCHACHA FOR THE THIRD TIME

Up the telepherico again, feeling a bit like robert the bruce & his spider, this time surely !! & after 2h45m reached the bealach climbed the last bit to the top HURRAH
There was a chap sitting at the top so I said " Hi & it was a sham about there being no view " and he said " YOU MUST BE STEPHEN " ........ it was the guy I had emailed.. well well.
Good walk out & the mist cleared . We will arrange what volcano to do tonight.
which we did, Illianas & we leave 2mro lunch time
Yours SS

Pichincha

There is a teleferique from the outskirts of Quito which takes you from 3000m to 4000m, from there one can climb Guagau Pichincha, a volcano which is still active apparently! It´'s last explosion was some 10 years ago which resulted in 3 or 4 inches of volcanic dust landing on the city.
Left the top of the lift and followed the path for about 1 hr, stopped for a drink & saw at my foot a comb, what a strange thing to find !! could this be a SYMBOL, signifying what ??? A parting of the ways perhaps ?? a hairy moment ahead ?? Then a rabbit crossed my path , what can it all mean ?? symbolism is not my strong suite so could not work it out . Puzzled I walked on.
It was very misty, at a biforcation of the ways I was left with a choice, seeing a group making thier way up a ridge i decided to follow them, it was a S1 scramble quickly changing to a S11 however soon caught up & discovered it was a school climbing trip & they were all roped up & had all the gear, There was a an instructor with them and i had a chat with him ( the group were all novices ,I could tell by how tentative they were ) & asked him if there was a way off the ridge, he said he did not know as( being english ) he had not been here before, oh well might as well keep going, so passed him & his group & caught up with the next group of roped up "climbers" ... another english so called guide, asked him if the route became better, ¨" do you mean does it get harder " was his supercilious reply. I told him I would start again " is there a way off this ridge ? " he did not know either, so not much of a guide, but a complete .....er. Passed him & his group & made my way up, I might add I was In trainers & jeans & this obviously pissed him off, If only i had 10 Regal & a can of export with me !!!! I did not find this scramble too hard up to S 4 in places, Then I reached a tricky bit ( discovered later it is called the" Devils notch" probably a R2 maybe a R3 as there is an overhang), so rather than ask for help from him I left him with a parting shot & downclimbed all the way as ther was no way off. It was now too late to make my way back up so made my way back.
So there had been a hairy moment & a parting of the ways & what about the rabbit ??
Went to a Quiz, it was all about Christmas, the team did not do very well, My high point was knowing the date of Epiphany, DO YOU!!!
SS.
On my way back from the quiz I was confronted by a very scantily clad young lady, who after smiling at me pulled up her skirt & showed me her uñderwear !!! why she thought I would be interested in looking at Her tiny knickers I have simply no idea, 2 puzzles in the one day.

To Quito

Left Glasgow & was met by Bazza at Luton. Went out with him Fri night, the bars in Towcester are now open a bit later 1am, the last time I was there they all shut at 11pm !
Sat had a game of golf with Baz & Dave ( the guy he usually plays with) went round Whittle bury in +4 with doubler at the first & trousered 6pounds , a welcome addition to expedition funds !
Sun - DRAMA- inserted my card in a machine at Tescos to make sure presented checks had cleared---it swallowed it --whole!! this is where all my money is- i'm deep doodoo now!! Decide to PANIC.. palpatations..cold sweat.. loosening of bowels....PANIC produces no useful results -
Realise there is no point in remonstrateing with Tescos employees & march swiftly back to Bazzas. Phone banks , quell surprise no answer. Check the cards I have and discover to my delight & chagrin the card I inserted was an out of date one I had taken along to placate any footpads who may waylay me ( I thought that perhaps any ner-do-wells would be unlikely to scrutinise any card closely enough to determine the expiry date, prior to hot-footing it to thier hideout !) so PANIC over.
Leave Bazzas at 4am mon taxi to station & arrive Gatwick for 9.30 flight to Houston- arrive 2pm + 6hrs time diff. Leave Houston 4pm- arrive Quito 11pm taxi to Crossroads Hotel - go to bar- the restorative properties of beer have been much undervalued in my opinion--Why it is natures storehouse of goodness ! a balm to both the body & the spirit - if Barbra Carthorse had promoted beer instead of honey she would still be alive today ! no doubt adding to her formidable literary legacy of having written 500 books... or the same book 500 times depending on how you look at it.
Tue 12th dec. - Wander about Quito & catch up a bit of sleep. Quito is at 8500ft & is only 25 kilometers south of the Equator, so is pleasant during the day but at night the temp. drops & it becomes quite cold. This is sort of the winter time so it came be a bit rainy & cloudy but with good days as well.
So far so good, 2mro will try to cimb the volcano which overlooks Quito.
Hope you reached australia ok Cameron.