Cotapaxi: shrouded in clouds

We were at 10853 ft last night and temperature was in the 40s but we were surprisingly warm in the RV.  It is free to enter the park but we needed to register our passports and license plate number.

The road was washboarded and potholed and reminded me of the Dalton highway. We tried to drive to the upper parking lot but couldn't make it; the RV slowed to a crawl and the road was steep so we turned around. 

We drove back to a lake where the glacier melted and met up with David and Francine who invited us to their Man truck for tea. Dd was feeling the altitude and felt dizzy and had a headache. We gave him some Tylenol, meclizine, and zofran. 

The Man truck was spacious and we talked for the next 3 hours. They gave us advice about the road ahead and we did the same for them. They planned on selling their truck in a couple years when they finish. Their truck was used by a family of four who used it on the Panamerican highway, around Africa, and across the silk road over a four year period.

The kids wanted to go for a hike around the lake and we hiked a bit but then it started pouring rain and it was already 2 pm and we wanted to drive back to CoDa Vista, just over an hour away, so we said goodbye to David and Francine and thanked them for their hospitality. 

We passed through a few more dressed up blockades and gave some loose change. 

Back at CoDa vista the Belgium Man truck was already there. We chatted with Gigi and her husband and Sean and Peter and Andy and Gabi and played with the dogs. Gigi and her husband were planning on shipping their Man truck back to Europe to get some warranty work done on the part that attaches the box to the chassis. Then they will ship to Halifax. They bought their chassis new, a 2019. 

We had a early wake up tomorrow for a flight to the Amazon.