Thursday 1st February - looking back"After a late night last night, we had breakfast at 8am and were on the coach to the town of Otavalo, about two hours drive from Quito. We were there to see the local market there, which was an excellent opportunity to buy presents for those at home. Then we were taken slightly north of the town to a very nice restaurant situated midway between two extinct volcanoes, a fabulous setting. Then it was back to Quito for our official celebration dinner at a very nice roof top restaurant. "Brian our expedition leader made a nice speech and then we took it in turns to speak about the highs and lows of the trip. I said that my most challenging moment was at about 4am Wednesday morning, climbing Cotopaxi in the dark, cold and struggling to reach the top, but that what kept me going was knowing that not too far below me were three amputees also climbing the mountain and that I wasn't going to give up whilst there was a one legged farmer still climbing. "My highest point was about three hours later, seeing the joy on the faces of the team members who hadn't made it, once they saw each successful climber arrive back in to the climbing hut. It wasn't about individual success, but about the success of the team as a whole." Charles Murray's Cotopaxi climb is in aid of STEPS Charity Worldwide and Reach. Read previous instalments of his online diary > | 
