Ecuador Volcanoes Expedition Dispatch

November 8, 2010 – Our First Acclimatization Hike

This is Leila Silveira reporting from San Pablo. Today after breakfast we headed out for our first hike. Before reaching the trailhead, we made a quick stop at Cotacachi, a town overflowing with culture, tradition and friendly people. The people of this town are famous for their wood carvings, leather clothing. They have received numerous international awards: the town was named the first ecological district of South America in 2000, received the Dubai International Award for Best Practices on Urban Management, and was named one of the 2002 UNESCO Cities for Peace.

We then drove to Cuicocha Lake (Guinea Pig Lake), a crater lake at the foot of Cotacachi Volcano. This caldera was created by a massive volcano eruption that occured 3100 years ago.

It was a great day. We had excellent weather, it was almost too hot at times, even though we were at an elevation of 3,246m/10,650ft . We enjoyed the unique displays of wildflowers and vegetation. Hugo and Helvecio were really interested to see the similarities between certain plants here in Ecuador with vegetation in the areas that they hike in Brazil.

I really enjoyed seeing how strong David Cohn was hiking today; he looked extremely happy and full of energy. His training routine is really paying off.

We all hiked well together and enjoyed each others company as we moved quickly and efficiently along the trail.