Spend a day trekking on the slopes of snow covered, the highest active volcano in the world.
Walk around the glacier, or choose a picturesque lake surroundings. The tour leads into the area of Cotopaxi National Park, created to preserve the biosphere of volcano.
Cotopaxi
Surrounded by the mountains Quito is located in the area, called the alley of volcanoes, as along the road south to Riobamba
there is enormous number of high altitude volcanic peaks, and moreover most of them are the active ones.
The air-conditioned car takes you out of Quito ( 2 800 m ) for about two hours drive along the Volcano’s Valley to reach the altitude 4500 m, where the car stops, and the rest of the day is reserved for walking. After less then an hour ou will reach a Refuge at 4 800 m , from where you can do the optional walk into the glacier. Descending from the Refuge point your hike continues through the paramo highland vegetation towards Laguna Limpiopungo, a small picturesque lake, where will be the break for the picnic lunch, followed by the ( optional ) 30 minute walk around the lake.
After visiting the lake the car will take you back to Quito.
THe ecuatorial position of Ecuador and the high altitude of the Andes allows to observe different forms of plants changing with the altitude level.
The close area of Quito features orchids and tropical plants. The bottom part of the valleys is taken by the agricultural land of fertile volcanic soil, and some forests, where you can spot the freshly introduced Californian pine. Above 3000 , the landscape changes into the highland treeless vegetation of the Andean moorlands called ‘páramo’. Prepered for the colder climate he plants and bushes are the home of variety of animal species, including wild horses, white-tailed deer and Andean foxes.Among the birds one can spot Andean gull, ducks, hummingbirds and with some luck, the condor.
Duration
7 hours
Tour commences
Daily
Start
08:00 pm
Price
from € 167.18
[photo courtesy of caneladeurubu]