We departed Banos this morning to the low pitched grumbles of Tungurahua and a lot of ash still in the air. A short way along the road out of Banos we stopped for one last look at the volcano and what do you know, she erupted again!! Because it was daylight we could not see the glow of the lava but the smoke and ash plumes were going very high into the air. It was very cool to see in daylight as well!
Our route back to Quito took us along the Pan American highway which is known in these parts as “The Avenue of Volcanoes” as it is lined on either side by the East and West Andes which consists of many volcanoes, quite a number of which are still active, but not erupting at this moment. We got to see remnants of partly buried towns and villages which in the past have been devastated by these volcanoes and also saw where some of the roads used to be, approximately 10m below the current road.
On our way back we passed through Atambo and Latacunga, capitals of their respective provinces, and we stopped at Yambo Lake and Cotopaxi National Park. Cotopaxi National Park is named after Cotopaxi Volcano whose crater sits at 5897m, is no longer active, and is the main attraction. We viewed the museum and then drove up to the parking area for base camp at 4500m. We were planning on walking up to base camp and then on to the snow line but the parking area was already in the snow, the track had been snowed over, and the visibility was terrible so we decided to abort that idea. We returned down to 3800m to Lake Limpiopungo for lunch.
After lunch we made our way to Quito where we said our goodbyes to our driver, George, and tour guide, Alexandro, and then enjoyed our last group dinner.
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