Cuicocha Lake

Yesterday's post told you about meeting the tour group I got to share time with.  On Thursday we started out by going to Cuicocha Lake.

Cuicocha Lake is a volcanic crater--very deep (300 meters/almost 1000 feet) and very cold.  It got its name because this particular island vaguely resembles a guinea pig (cui) and cocha means lake.  We were at the "back" side of the lake.  The touristy location is directly across the lake from us.  It's pretty impossible to see on the small version of the photo but it's at the lowest point of the shore across the lake.  From that side you can see another island on the far side of this one.  In the distance is Imbabura volcano.
Unfortunately the day was very hazy.  We've had some wind lately so there has been a bit of dust stirred up into the air.  I'm really going to have to try to get back up here on a clear day.

Below are some photos of Cotacachi volcano and Imbabura volcano.  Again, it's too bad it was so hazy but it's still pretty impressive.

If you squint, you can see a wee bit of Cotacachi in the valley above.  Trust me when I tell you that it's really not at all like L.A.  It's just the dust in the air.

There's our bus.  Lovely, isn't it?  No, really, it is a very nice bus--very comfortable.  This is taken from the trail back down from our viewing spot of Cuicocha Lake.

Here's part of our group coming back to the bus from the hike up to the lake.

From here we're on our way to a pilot program day care center.  More about that tomorrow.