Ecuador 2009»Cotopaxi National Park

On our visit to Parque Nacional Cotopaxi it was quite cold and wet. The drive into the park was fascinating with its vast area of flat terrain littered with huge boulders that had been blasted from the volcano when it erupted thousands of years ago. They now formed a permanently feature of the landscape. After our drive through the park we stopped for lunch at a lovely restaurant called Tambopaxi and had the best table with panoramic views of Cotopaxi. However, Cotopaxi was shrouded in cloud so our view was frustratingly obscured. After lunch we took a stroll around the peaceful lagoon that lies in the valley below the volcano. The clouds did start to break up a little giving us a tantalizing glimpse of Cotopaxi's summit but it soon clouded over again. Nevertheless, we were treated to a much better view the following morning as we set off for the Quilotao crater.