Today was another bright and clear day. We really are being blessed with the weather. Today we are heading out along The Avenue of Volcanoes to the highest active volcano in the world, Cotapaxi.
We got our tour guide friend from yesterday, Benecio, to pick us up at 8am and drive us again. Lovely guy.
We headed south this time along the Pan American hwy. Benecio gave us a thorough history of the road and all the volcanoes along the way.
Along the 2 and a bit hour drive you see so many volcanoes. We were apparently very lucky to be able to see them all however, as more often than not clouds cover them. Here's hoping the clouds stay away. Quito's weather can change in an instant. So temperamental.
We stopped at a streetside fruit market and picked up some snacks for lunch. Unbelievable value. 3mangoes for $1, 6mandarins 50c and a whole branch of bananas (I'm talking 15or so) for $1. Crazy. Apparently Ecuador is the leading exporter of bananas in the world.
We arrived at Cotapaxi National Park with perfect weather. You could see the mountain so clearly. We got a quick lesson as to the volcanoes history and the wildlife of the park, then headed for the lagoon and the mountain.
We drove up to 4500m above sea level and then walked up a further 200m to reach the start of the snow cap. This was the highest either of us had ever been and the altitude made it difficult to walk up. The actual summit of the volcano is 5898m above sea level. From where we were howver, the view out over the valley and back to Quito was still pretty amazing!!!
It was quite weird being up that high, not even trees grow up there. The dirt was sandy and walking back down felt like you were walking on the moon.
We got to the bottom then drove back down to a fruity lunch picnic in the park.
We headed back on the long journey home. Was interesting now to see the volcano completely shrouded in cloud. The weather had lived up to reputation and changed dramatically. We really were very lucky to get such great weather when we went up.
We finally got back into town around 4, and quickly headed down to Plaza Foch to do some washing.
We then went on quite a long walk and wander looking for a nice Sunday afternoon bar/restaurant. We failed in our attempt to find somewhere, but saw a lot of the town in the process. The winding, steep streets are beautiful... tough to walk up, but beautiful.
We got back to the hotel and decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. The food was actually really good, more of a western flavor, which was just as well, as our stomachs were struggling again with the rich food, Simi especially.
Quite a tiring day actually - looking forward to a rest.
- Blog from iMat
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