We booked a trip to Cotopaxi and really didn’t know what we were getting into!
It started with a bus ride through the city and a chance to see many neighborhoods. Then we progressed to the countryside & the beautiful fields and green hillsides. Breakfast was at a Hacienda in the country – yum.
Along the way – we saw 12 volcanoes 🌋 and it was a sunny day- clouds only occasionally interferred.
As we approached Cotopaxi National Park – we picked up Paolina our indigenous guide. She is amazing! We saw wild horses, llamas,cattle& deer, the wildlife was not amazing -/ the landscape is amazing! We travelled from green fields to barren rock scrabble when we reached the parking lot. And while the road is a climb – the parking lot is just the beginning. Cotopaxi is Ecuador’s second highest volcano at about 19,347ft. It is an active volcano- spewing sulfur while we were there! And it last erupted in 2016. We hiked to the bottom of the glacier at 16,400ft – whew! Who stole the oxygen! It was a climb of a little over 1000ft and it was all about the altitude! That is the highest elevation that Greg & I ever climbed. Paolina our guide brought hiking sticks & gave them to me – a lifesaver. I would not have made it to the top without them.
The first photo is Cotopaxi from our hacienda- breakfast. This is the essential Ecuadorian countryside.
The rest are on the volcano- I am a lot more oxygen deprived than the photos indicate 😁
Camino Venture 