After a 2 hour journey we arrived in paradise - according to head volunteer Tony. The views across the fields to Cotopaxi were indeed stunnning and the hostel itself was gorgeous.

We settled down for lunch, were shown to our rooms and given a welcome talk from the slightly crazy French Tony including introductions to the three dos - Daisy and Mash the dashounds and Milo the Dalmation. After this the new arrivals headed out with welly boots on a walk to the waterfall - I had to duck out when the last bit involved climbing around a outcrop of rock.

We were home for snack time which was also a chance for us to choice our activity the next day - I chose the volcano walk. More downtime until supper then talking and drinks until bed - no electricity on the dorms adding to the rustic feel.

Next morning I went on the trek led by Bailey. There were only 6 of us on the walk which nearly went down to 5 when I almost gave up in the first "pixie wood" section. However I persisted and managed to reach the summit of Pasachoa at 4220m from the 3500m of the hostel. The view from the top was amazing - into the crater, across to Quito, to Antisana some 36 km away. We were kept company by Mash and Milo who reached the summit before us despite lots of detours to chase b irds, grass, imaginary things! We had a snack at the top before walking down and completing the 14km walk - I was very proud of myself!

The afternoon was a relaxing one and was the next day as I decided not to do the biking - partly due to one guy dislocating his shoulder that day (and then another girl falling and badly bruising her leg on that day) Instead I sat in the net overlooking Cotopaxi reading a whole book and enjoying the sunshine and the scenery. In the afternoon I went in the hot tub and soaked away some of the aches from the day before.

The last morning was also spent relaxing but inside this time as the weather had closed in with rain and winds and a hidden Cotopaxi before a final lunch then transfer to Machachi where three of us caught the bus to Banos.

The Secret Garden hostel in Cotopaxi was one of my trip highlights - beautiful scenery, stunning hostel buildings, plenty of food including free banana bread and bananas and great volunteer staff who made the whole place feel like a family retreat.