Day 122 - Quito, Ecuador

COTOPAXI VOLCANO, NEAR QUITO, ECUADOR (03/05/09)

Despite being less than 30km from the equator Quito is one of the coldest places that we have been. When we decided to climb even higher up Cotopaxi volcano we had to unpack our winter clothes for the first time.

Entering Cotopaxi National Park was quite a rough ride. It was an interesting change to see the different trees and plants that grow at high altitude.

It was very cold, the clouds were thick and what appeared to be snow lay all over the ground.

On closer inspection the "snow" was actually a thick carpet of lichen spreading for miles around. There were also many different varieties of mountain flowers.

Throughout the mountains we saw many wild horses, although we didn´t brave riding these ones.

Our first proper view of Cotopaxi. Unfortunately we never did see the top.

Underneath the snow the rocky flanks of the volcano were a deep red.

According to our guide this plant, Andinista, when boiled in a tea is better than coca leaves for relieving altitude sickness.

It felt really good standing in the middle of such an untouched wilderness.

Everywhere we looked there was a stunning variety of colour and texture in the landscape.

One of the signs of clean pure air is lichen growth. Judging by the amount that we saw the air must be about as clean as you can get. Still it doesn´t seem to make breathing at this altitude any easier.

Fast moving clouds seem to be a feature of the Andes. These clouds obscured the volcano in less than five minutes and we didn´t see it again for the rest of the day.

The landrover got to a point where it could go no further. We continued up the mountain side on foot. It was extremly hard work - the volcanic ash meant that it was like climbing sand combined with the thin air and a blizzard blowing in.

The snow was not in soft flakes but was almost as hard as hailstones.

One of the very few smiles that either of us had the energy to give on the way up. It was only 300m up but took us over an hour to climb.

Due to the dense clouds there were no views whatsover from the top. This picture was taken on the way down, considerably easier.

It was hard to believe that less than a week before we had been almost the hottest that we have ever been.

The landscape was similar to some of the recent pictures that have come back from Mars. But with fog!

Once off the volcanic slopes there was a dramatic change in the scenery and the weather.

Andinista flowers with some of the smaller volcanoes in the background.

The furry leaf buds of this plant are collected by the indigenous people for food. If you break one open they smell exactly like runner beans.

It was amazing that in these desolate plains we saw more colours and shapes of flowers than we have seen anywhere else.

The lagoon at the bottom of the mountains.

We stayed here for half an hour admiring the view.

Proud of her new hat and pleased to be going home to rest her tired legs.