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higher and higher
Written by sophie et jeremy   
Thursday, 07 March 2019

Back on the mainland, we are greeted by a strong earthquake which woke us up in the morning, and again lots of rain ! So we rush out of Guayaquil to the cordilleras.

cayambe llama cayambe llama

Once again, within a few hours we climb almost 5000 meters and the landscape changes very fast, so does the temperature and we have to find and wear again our warm clothes.

going up 1 going up 1 going up 2 going up 2

After hardly seeing the summits of Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, 2 high and famous volcanoes, in between the clouds, we are more lucky with the volcano Cayambe and its ‘only’ 5790 meters high.

Cotopaxi Cotopaxi volcanoes in the clouds volcanoes in the clouds

The drive up is quite rough on very eroded roads, but it was worth it, as the sky clears up when we reach the top of the track. We have a good view on the glacier and even walk around a bit. It’s crazy that these glaciers sit less than 20 km away from the equator line.

cayambe 1 cayambe 1 cayambe 2 cayambe 2

cayambe 4 cayambe 4 cayambe 5 cayambe 5

cayambe 6 cayambe 6 cayambe 7 cayambe 7

On our way to the capital, we go through national parks where we can see paramo (some kind of high altitude steppe vegetation) and subtropical humid forest. We see there deers, foxes, one specie of rabbit, condors and some other birds.

pn cotopaxi 1 pn cotopaxi 1 pn cotopaxi 2 pn cotopaxi 2

pn antisana pn antisana pn cayambe coca pn cayambe coca

Quito is a big city, but its historical center attracts us with its small colorful houses and baroque churches with golden rich and crazy interiors. Like in Peru and Ecuador, they serve in many places guinea pig which they roast on the street...

quito 1 quito 1 quito 2 quito 2

cuy cuy

After 2 days, we leave to the north, passing by the pyramids of Cachasqui, a cluster of trunked pyramids and tombs, and Otavalo craft market where man can buy anything made from lama or with a lama drawn on it.

otavalo 1 otavalo 1 otavalo 2 otavalo 2

We then pass by the lake Cuicocha, inside an old collapsed crater, and further through a surprisingly dry area on our way to the next country : Colombia.

Cuicocha Cuicocha north ecuador north ecuador

 

Comments  

 
#1 Dmitrii 2019-03-18 06:58
are rats on a spit? :eek:
 
 
#2 jerem 2019-03-20 15:48
they are guinea pigs, the local delicacy !