Quito Day 7, Cotopaxi

This was our last full day in Quito. We woke up early to drive to the active Cotopaxi Volcano. Unfortunately, there was a lot of traffic getting out of the City and Andre had never driven there before. We missed the entrance a few times. The signs are very confusing and when we asked for directions (twice) they sent us in the opposite direction. We knew that the Cotopaxi gets cloudy in the afternoon. The roads were extremely nice and in very good condition. The problem was that we kept seeing the volcano, but could not find the entrance. Our only reference was that if we reached the town of Latacunga, we had to turn around. 

Getting out of Quito

Getting cloudy

Getting close to our destination

We finally reached the entrance by 1:00 PM. We started to drive towards the base of the volcano. We decided not to drive the extra hour to the base of the volcano because it was raining. I was sad to turn back but I knew that it was a bad idea to drive a small car in a muddy road. 

The entrance to the Cotopaxi National Park

Tour guides anyone?

This is where we turned back. From this point is 1 hour drive to the base

Restaurant offering Coca tea for the high altitude sickness

My failed attempt to visit the Cotopaxi

Cloudy Cotopaxi

Zoom in of the Cotopaxi

This is what the Cotopaxi is supposed to look like. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see it up close. I had a glance when we were driving on the highway before it started to rain. We will return in our next trip and hopefully we will have better luck with the weather.

First sight of the Cotopaxi from the highway. Photo Credit: Alan Falcony

Cotopaxi. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

After we got back, the storm was already in Quito. This was very heavy rain and we were lost again. This was our last night and we had plans to go out with some of Andre's friends and his 2 sisters. While we were waiting to be picked up, there was an earthquake. It was only a 4.0 magnitude, but I haven't felt one in a LONG time. I got dizzy, then scared, and I couldn't stop my nervous laugh. This is very annoying to every one who is really scared. Thankfully nobody was scared as mild earthquakes are common in South America. 

On our last night we went to a restaurant/bar called La Naranjilla Mecanica. This was a hip place with unique decorations and comfortable couches. We order food, had a few drinks and went to sleep at around 1:00 AM. I found this bar in the list of Lonely Planet's things to do in Quito.

We only had a half day left in Quito and we did not want our trip to end.