Cotopaxi National Park, home to the perfect snow-capped cone of Cotopaxi at nearly 6000m high, it is the world's second-highest active volcano and it is breathtaking. Climbing Cotopaxi would be a great highlight of any trip.
Situated about 40 miles south of Quito in the "Avenue of Volcanoes", Cotopaxi National Park was founded in 1979 and covers about 33,500 hectares. It is an excellent place for trekking.
Limpiopungo Lake, at 3840m, is also a lovely place to walk to within the park. The landscape is of course dominated by the peaks, but the habitat is mostly the low-growing vegetation of the paramo with lycopoduims, gentians, valerian and other altitude-tolerant plants. The kind of wildlife found here includes rabbits, white-tailed deer, and foxes. Plus you may also be lucky enough to see the herds of wild horses in the park. Birdlife is also very good here and you will hopefully see the Andean Hillstar, the giant Andean Condor, with its 3 metre wingspan, orange-faced falcon, Andean seagull (at altitudes over 4000m), some hummingbirds and carunculated caracaras.
Cotopaxi rises from the surrounding highlands which are at an altitude of about 3800m and the summit crater is 600m x 800m in diameter and several hundred metres deep. ‘Cotopaxi’, means “The Neck of the Moon” in the Incan language. Cotopaxi last erupted in 1904.
If you do have the urge to climb the volcano, most successful summit trips take between 10 to 12 hours of continuous climbing to get to the top and back down. Since the midday equatorial sun softens the snow and makes it slippery and dangerous, most climbs start around midnight to ensure you are off the slopes before noon the next day.
Climbing at night by headlamp is encouraging, as it reduces the mountain to only what is illuminated just in front of you. If you could actually see the enormity of the peak looming above, you might be intimidated into giving up before you even begin!
