The first picture is of Cuicachi, a crater of an active volcano. The lake is freezing so you wouldnt want to swim in it. Also of interest is there are no fish due to the chemicals that come from the volcano.
The others are of Cotopaxi one of the highest active volcanos snow capped!! The actual hike itself was probably one of the hardest things I have done.We made a slow drive up to 4500m. From there there is a steep incline to 4800m to a refuge, for a short break and then made a further hike to 5000m. All in all we were walking (or in my case falling) for around two and half hours. The altitude had an effect on my balance, so the higher I went the more time I was on my bottom, to the amusement of my fellow trekkers.
I was really impressed with Cotopaxi it is very beautiful volcano. Hiking at the angles we did is hard normally but combining that with an altitude of 5000m enough to make you breathless and weak at the knees and high winds with a freeze factor to have the tip of your nose numb.
The daytrip back from Cotopaxi also was my first hand experience in a car accident. We were heading back on the Panamerican and a car (the culprit car) decided to drive straight into us from the side of the road. I was in the passenger seat and I can now fully appreciate how things can move in slow motion....or it may have been the fact that we did slow down quiet a bit as it actually felt like being in a dogem car. We bounced off his car and onto the other side of the road. Our luck held out as there were no cars coming the other way, and the gap in traffic was big enough for the cars to stop and go around us!!
Was all very surreal. We all walked out from the car and it was pulled to the side of the road. There were another two cars in our group who were behind us and stopped to help out. Our main guide dropped us off to a nearby hostel and returned to the accident site to help with the police. Our driver stayed by his car wreck until the police arrived. When they arrived the car who crashed into us was moved by the drivers into a nearby forest. The police then said yes they agree the car was in the accident but couldn't confirm how it happened. I felt sorry for our driver, who had to negotiate his way to moving his car. This was my first moment of feeling far from home, how different things worked here.
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