Our original plan had us staying in Ecuador for maybe a week but in Quito we booked trips around the country which would take around 3 weeks to complete. The first of our trips were ascents of Ilinizas Norte (5128m) and then Volcan Cotopaxi (5,897m).

For our expeditions we moved outside of Quito to a lodge called Papagayo which can best be described as an establishment modelled on Fawlty Towers, its only redeeming features (to make up for the slapstick service) being the puppies and llamas.

The first climb up Ilinizas Norte was quite straightforward, right up until we were 10 minutes away from the summit when hailstones began to fall and we found ourselves in the middle of an electrical storm. It is really inadvisable to be at the top of a high mountain during an electrical storm. As we were so close to the summit our guide, Estalin, let us continue to the top, but insisted that we be roped together and had to be quick. By the time we reached the summit Gemma's hair was standing on end due to the static electricity in the air and we could only pose for 2 photos before being ushered down the mountain.

Ilinizas was really just an acclimatization climb to expose us to an altitude in excess of 5,000m and to get us ready to tackle Cotopaxi. The big difference between the two climbs is that Ilinizas can be done with just walking boots, whilst Cotopaxi is done entirely on snow and requires snow boots and crampons.

Between the 2 climbs we had a day of rest at the lodge where we were able to catch up on sleep and writing our blog!

The day before the Cotopaxi ascent we selected our specialist gear from the minging hire equipment at the lodge and were driven to a refuge at 4810m. It is an hours walk, carrying all our equipment, to the refuge itself from the car park. The path can best be described as a wall of scree and we were both pretty tired from that walk.

There were only 4 other people staying in the refuge with us, whereas the capacity is around 50 so it was a little eerie. The other 4 people consisted of a young couple from the US and a couple living in London who were here on honeymoon!!!

After the hour long climb to the refuge we had a quick cup of tea and then it was time for a lesson on how to use crampons and ice axes and how to walk on snow. It was clear from the lesson that this challenge was going to be tough. The only fun part of the lesson was practising how to use an ice axe to stop yourself from sliding down the mountain if you fell over.

Lesson over, the 6 climbers enjoyed a hearty meal and good conversation in the cosy refuge before being sent to bed at 8pm. Why so early? Well, we had to be up at just alter midnight to start the climb by the light of a (nearly) full moon. The night was freezing cold, probably the coldest that we have experienced on the entire trip, even in China.

Awoken at the appointed time we got suited up and had a quick breakfast before setting off. It soon became apparent that we would have some serious problems. Craig's boots were immediately paining him and so our guide decided to rope us all together for safety. This meant that we had to maintain a constant 3m distance between ourselves which made walking much more difficult. Gemma then began to struggle with the combined weight of her boots and the crampons. To complete Cotopaxi you have to reach the summit before 8am otherwise the Sun begins to melt the snow and climbing becomes very dangerous. It was clear after 3 hours that we were in no fit state to continue and that we would fail to hit the time window, defeated, we had to turn around and come back down the volcano to the refuge. We slept until 11am when the other 4 climbers returned, exhausted, having successfully reached the summit. Judging by their state on their return we were lucky not to have gone any further.

Dejected we were driven back to Quito, Gemma adamant that we would return one day to conquer Cotopaxi.