"I love being connected with nature because in my way of thinking is one of the best forms to relax"

At least once I hear someone say; I hate staying just in Quito or in San Rafael… I can not understand to this kind of people, I mean that there is not only one place in Ecuador; there are a lot of places that you can visit during holidays or during vacations.

I have two favourite places in my list. The first one The Cotopaxi Volcano that is located in Cotopaxi province. It’s approximately at 5897 meters above sea level. I always am going there on vacations with my uncle and with my cousins, the last vacations were incredible because we had to cook all our food, make our camp, you know… in brief we just have to survive by our selves modes.

The first time that I went to the Cotopaxi volcano I was completely wrong in what was really that climate. My uncle told me to wear warm clothes but I preferred wearing comfortable and light clothes; I could not sleep all the night because I was getting frozen. That’s why I preferred to go out and sleep near the fire so I could get warm.

Sleep near the Cotopaxi volcano is incredible because in the night you can hear the sounds of the nature, and if you are lucky and the sky is completely clear you may see the stars, the moon. One night I saw some very strange lights in the sky; I was very scared because the same night I hear some noises near my sleep bag and I also felt a hand or something similar that was touching my carp; so I shouted a lot. I don’t have an explanation about that. It could be a joke from my uncle or not but I prefer not to think in that, you know, it make me feel rare and scared.

My second favourite place is not a volcano, it’s just a mountain, I don’t know exactly the name but everyone call it “Ontaneda”. It is located near Conocoto, and is one of the greater places in the valley obviously where you can practice downhill. I love being connected with nature because in my way of thinking is one of the best form to relax, to stop thinking in our problems and to breath clean air, not that polluted air that you breath in Quito.

For me bicycle is like my bible, and ontaneda is my church so every single Sunday I need to go there to practice my favourite sport: Downhill, I always am going there with my group of friends called Dh Avall. The people in Ontaneda are very nice and patient because they are always waiting until we go down the mountain. One thing that is important is to be respectful because we are the visitors there, so always say we hello to everyone.

So keep in mind this: If you want to visit another country first visit Ecuador, which is our house.