Cotopaxi - The highest active volcano in the world

DSCN2760,
originally uploaded by Hol Riz.

After a couple of days in northern Equador we headed south of the capital towards Cotopaxi, thought to be the highest active volcano in the world. When we arrived the volcano was covered in clouds and we could only see a small part of its snowy peak. That was actually the most we saw of the peak for our entire visit! We stayed in a dull town nearby called Latacunga where we based ourselves for our visit to the volcano. We set off in the morning in the rain and drove up to 4000 metres on the side of the volcano before setting out on foot. At that altitude the air is so thin that every step upwards takes extreme effort and you have to stop every five paces or so to catch your breath. The rain didnt stop but the walk was still amazing as we climbed to 4500m up an old lava flow. The rocks were all red and it looked like a martian landscape! Overall a cool trip and amazing scenery but shame it wasnt sunny so we could see the full splendour of the snowy peak! Check out the photos coming soon. I will include a photo as it would have looked on a sunny day...