For our next phase of the journey we moved from Colombia to Ecuador! We landed quite late at night and on the next morning we went on an early bus with GAdventures on the Highlands of Ecuador Tour.
Quito from the top
There are a huge number of National Parks in Ecuador's Highlands and we visited Pegucha National park in Otavalo. This had a very beautiful waterfall.
We met our first Llama here.
At the waterfall
We went around few lakes on our drive from Otavalo to Cotopaxi.
We also visited a handicraft shop and understood how the natives of Latin America produce the colours for the wool and cloth.
Llama wool, new wool, sheep wool & alpaca wool was all different when touched. Never knew that!
The native flags for East, North, West & South. Each square represents a Native American tribe on the continent.
Graffiti on the walls of Ecuador
We met Babsi and Elvis on the tour and they were a fun German Couple! Babsi celebrated her birthday on the trip!
We reached this beautiful lodge near Cotopaxi and it was one of the best places we had stayed on the whole trip!
Six of us from the group went on a walk in the woods and it was beautiful.
There was a waterfall near the Lodge too!
Next morning we were planning to climb Cotopaxi and we found its 5897 Meters Above Sea Level!
The fire was lit and we tucked in for next morning's climb to Cotopaxi!
Welcome to Cotopaxi National Park. Nice and sunny!
Nice and sunny all along the route.
but as soon as we stepped on the mountain, down came the rain, storm, hail and wind! it was treacherous condition for "non-mountaineers" like me! We decided to head back to the van & we were shivering in the cold!. It must be around -5 deg C with an Altitude of 4500 meters above sea level!
We found that the easier route wasn't that easy!
Next day we went to Alausi and on a train journey to see the Native Village
The train was late, but the romance wasn't! ;-)
Ha Ha! We met Wendy and Linda on the trip and they were fun! Here the 3 ladies are posing as Charlie's Angles! How childish!
The guide explained us the native lifestyle and how they are still working hard to preserve their culture.
on to our next national park. This was Cajas National Park, around 50 kms from Cuenca. The lakes to our left send water to the Amazon River which is 2000 miles away and the lakes to our right send the water to rivers that go to the Pacific. This is supposed to the dividing point of the Andes Mountains.
Lamma was here too
Flora was very different to what we see in Europe. The biggest challenge is that, there are no seasons in the Andes and the flowers and plants have evolved in such a way that they can survive in extreme cold and low oxygen!
wherever they find water, the plants start growing!
It was cold but not freezing!
Some more plants here and there.
We found the paper trees of Andes and they grow quite old. This was supposed to be around 700-800 years old.
And we also saw some wild horses. The one sitting on the ground is a very pregnant horse and the other two male horses are protecting her.
Couple of photos with the GAdventures group
Our Christmas Dinner on 24th
Our Christmas Dinner on 25th
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