Cotopaxi

From Latacunga we hired a local guide (Christian) and took his pipsqueak of a 4WD into the stunning Cotopaxi National Park. The park itself is massive but its centrepiece which attracts the tourists is the Cotopaxi volcanoe - standing at just a few pompadoms below 6 000m.

We took a stroll around the wetlands in the park, from where we had a perfect view of Cotopaxi and the hills around.

Don´t be fooled by the photos below, in truth we drove most of the way up (to 4 500m) and walked the remaining hour to the refuge at 4 800m. The walk was reasonably difficult in pretty chilly winds and there was a noticable lack of oxygen at that altitude.



We had a funny old lunch of chips and banana chips and then strolled a bit higher to get a better view of the valley below.