Volcano, Cuicocho, Ecuador 13th November

Members of the group, R to L , Shane, Stu, Maki, Rosie, Soni, Christine, Jane, Shannon and me.Shannon,

We had taken a bus from Otovalo towards the volcano and then taxis to the base. We walked up to the rim of th caldera and looked over the edge down to La laguna de Cuicocha with its twin islands in the centre although from this angle it looked like a single island. It was cool and overcast with a few spits of rain.

There was lots of birdlife but none of them were near and still enough to get a photo, unlike my recent experience of the Falklands.

The walk up to the rim was strenuous being at altitude and steep. The walk around the rim was no easier as there were still a lot of ups and downs plus a few scenic bits.

A short straight section wasn't too bad but when it is a long section with ten ties as many steps, it is hard work on the lungs and the legs.

One section of track; you can just about make out Sonia in an orange jacket centre left with Rosie and Christine lust walking from the green patch of grass into the trees centre bottom. They didn't know that they would have a couple of hundred steps to get to where I was over looking them.

The two islands in the centre of the lake.

Some purple lupins growing at the side of the track. We also saw gunnera (looks like giant rhubarb but with spikes on the stems), one of the few other species of plant that I could positively identify.

The cloud closed in around the upper sections of the rim and there would have been great views on a good day. The upside was that we weren't burnt to death or die of dehydration but at ties there was little to actually see. A lucky break through the clouds of the twin islands.

And another glimpse of the islands.

We had split into two groups, with the first group making it to the gates to the national park, about three quarters of the way around by lunchtime. After half an hour the others hadn't turned up so I walked bak up the ridge to see whether I could see them coming. From my vantage point, I could see that there was another path which had some walkers on it that we had missed. The others had taken this one and bypassed us to the main centre on the lake shore. We were eventually reunited and retraced our journey back to met our taxis back to the bus stop and home to Otovalo.