Highlands

Some photos from our June/July 2007 Ecuador immersion Spanish trip. This section focuses on the highlands around Quito. The Teleferiqo tram ascends from Quito’s 9,300 ft. elevation to almost 13,500 ft. At 19,347 ft., Cotopaxi is one of the world’s highest active volcanos. The area around the Imbabura volcano near Otavalo includes the fabulous Hacienda Cusin and San Pablo Lake. The museum at the “Mitad del Mundo” (equator) is interesting. The huge Hacienda Porvenir is in the high, cold country near Cotopaxi.

: and Ingrid’s ready to ride them. It’s cold up there!

: Porvenir horses, ready to ride.

: Llamas at Porvenir.

: Hacienda El Porvenir, near Cotopaxi, is a great place to relax or ride horses.

: Hacienda El Porvenir.

: Wild horses in a high, dry valley.

: They cling to the mountain and appear to generate more than move.

: I’ve never seen anything quite like the dynamic clouds near the summit of Cotopaxi.

: Fried meat!

: Fried meat, anyone?

: A hike to a waterfall in the Andes.

: A Silvery Grebe swimming on the Cuicocha (crater) Lake at 10,650 feet.

: Shopping at the equator.

: Big Pink.

: Don’t know that I believe it, but it’s supposed to be particularly hard to walk the equator line.

: Ronda, with one foot in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the Southern Hemisphere.

: A hummingbird at La Mitad del Mundo.

: Our group at the Hacienda.

: At Cusin.

: Ronda likes the Hacienda.

: Cusin horse.

: This guy seemed to be in charge of the Hacienda.

: At Cusin.

: More of it.

: Bougainvillea is native to the area.

: Church, from Hacienda Cusin.

: A sculpture on the roof of Hacienda Cusin.

: Hacienda Cusin, a restored, 17th-century Andean estate at 8,500 feet, is an absolute gem!

: Balsa wood logs.

: This chicken may have been the Grand Marshall.

: A parade engulfed our van in some small Highland town.

: Ronda meets a llama above Imbabura Valley.

: The Imbabura Valley, an important agricultural area, owes its rich soil to ash from the adjacent volcano.

: The inactive Imbabura volcano rises 15,190 feet above northern Ecuador.

: Cotopaxi through the trees.

: The Cotopaxi volcano, rising 19,347 feet above nearby Quito, is one of the highest active volcanos in the world.

: Another view of Quito from above.

: Quito, at 9,300 feet, seen from 13,500 feet.

: View from the Teleferico, which rises to nearly 13,500 feet.

: Aboard the Teleferico.

: The Teleferico.

: Clouds above the Ecuadorian capitol, Quito.

: 2 for 1 Martinis!

: The Coffee Tree, across the street from school.

: Quito: Rocafuerte, our Spanish school.