Day 149 - Chimborazo, Ecuador

VOLCAN CHIMBORAZO (30/05/09)

Our record with mountains and their changeable weather has not been good so far. The taxi ride up to Volcan Chimborazo was a little depressing since this was our only view of the huge mountain.

However half way up our luck changed, the clouds parted and our moods lifted.

Finally almost all the clouds cleared leaving us with a fantastic view of the volcano. Mount Chimborazo is 6310 metres high making it the highest mountain in Ecuador. Also due to the Equatorial bulge the peak is about 2km further from the centre of the earth than the peak of Mount Everest so the top of Chimborazo is technically the closest you can get to the moon whilst still being on land.

We didn´t climb right to the top but we did climb to over 5000 metres which is still closer to space than Everest´s peak.

Climbing up was very hard work because the air was so thin. It becomes more easy to believe your proximity to space when you see alien looking beings like this one!

The blue sky, white snow and black, volcanic rocks made fantastic contrasting scenery.

When we reached the higher of the two climbers refuges someone had made this rather sorry looking snowman with a rock for a head.

The red colour of the volcanic ash made views away from the volcano almost as spectacular as the volcano itself.

About as high as we, the unfit, could go. We were both so happy that the weather was clear whilst we were so high up.

The line between snow and rock.

As we descended the clouds blew in just as suddenly as they had cleared, obscuring the mountain in about two minutes flat.

The views in the opposite direction, however, remained clear and we spotted this herd of vicuñas in the distance.

Our taxi driver was very cooperative and sped up to get close to the herd. Vicuñas are the wild cousin of domesticated Llamas and Alpacas.

Their relationship to Llamas is obvious but they are smaller and skinnier. This is probably partly due to their decision to live in this desolate landscape where there are hardly any plants to eat.

On the road back to Riobamba we stopped to look at these alpacas on a farm. They are kept for their exceptionally warm wool.

As the road wound away from the mountain the clouds briefly cleared once more giving us a final glimpse of the volcano.