Platos Tipicos

Today was the best day ever. It started with a timely pick-up from the ever-worldly and alarmingly impressive Hugo. Hugo has become our go-to driver this week, but to simply call him a driver does not do the man justice. Let's put it this way: Dos Equis made a huge mistake. THIS MAN is literally THE most interesting hombre en el mundo.

Hugo's driving skills are incomparable. Without hesitation, Hugo tackled a road that would have made Dale Earnhardt, Jr. shudder with fear. Within a span of a mere 3 hours, Hugo avoided certain death for the 15 WILD members numerous times in his thankless efforts to usher us to our first acclimatization hike to the 4,199 m volcano Pasochoa.

We had prepared for the worst. Journals we had recently read warned us that in the event of a rainstorm, we would be forced to literally swim down the mountainside. Unlike most other days, Hugo did not make it rain on this day. We were blessed with perfect weather and perfect morale. With minimal breaks, we reached out target faster than we expected to, given the altitude and low visibility.

At around noon, we reached the rim of the extinct caldera which was concealed by clouds at 3,500 m. Given the fact that we had to be back in Quito by 5 PM to be fitted for our Cotopaxi expedition equipment, we decided to turn back after a brief but delicious lunch atop the rim of Pasochoa.

In attempt to provide relief to aching knees, we shared trekking poles amongst one another on our way down the slippery, muddy, and steep descent. Everyone fell at least once, but everyone came away from the hike feeling more fit and more prepared to tackle our next WILD adventure.

Just when we thought Hugo's driving skills could not be more impressive, he felled a tree, uncovered a suspected homicide, and managed to defly avoid an escapee farm pig who successfully thwarted at least five uniformed pursuants.

Shortly after returning to Quito, we were fitted for our Cotopaxi climbing gear by the extremely hospitable staff at CarpeDM Travel Adventures. We then headed back to our hostel, where we showered and ventured out into the neighborhood for a team dinner. Not more than three blocks away, we found the perfect restaurant. We enjoyed platos tipicos such as carne al plancha, churrasco, papas mixtas, and other traditional Ecuadorian fare.

Just when we thought our night was drawing to a peaceful close, on the whim of Andrew Nourafshan, we stopped into a local jazz bar. While there, we befriended a group of neighborhood Ecuadorian soccer enthusiasts. Andrew successfully scheduled a Gringo v. Ecuador futbol match to be played tomorrow under the lights of a local soccer stadium. The boys of the WILD team intend to represent not only for Duke University, but for the entire United States of America. Stay tuned for a play-by-play recap of the epic match in tomorrow's blog entry. Go Duke. Go USA. Get WILD.