Cotopaxi national park & worlds highest active volcano

Embracing and protecting the monumental stature of Cotopaxi is its national park, the most visited in Ecuador. This vast wilderness of sweeping plains in the shadow of the volcano was established in 1975, encompassing some 34,000 hectares of wild, starkly beautiful rolling moor land, streaked with wisps of clouds and pockets of mist, home to a menagerie of interesting and unusual wildlife.

In Cotopaxi, you may be lucky enough to spot the world's largest flying bird with a wingspan of three metres (over nine feet), the Andean Condor, gliding across lapis skies, accompanied by highland hummingbirds, the Andean Hillster, the Sparkling Violetear and the distinctive orange face of the Caracara. Below on the páramo floor, an array of strange and interesting mammals roam, including the puma or mountain lion, the orange-bellied Jambato Toad, the rare Andean Spectacled Bear and one of the smallest and rarest deer in the world, the dwarf Andean Pudu.

Venturing in to the Cotopaxi National Park, one encounters lakes, ruins and smaller peaks. The Limpiopungo Lagoon lies at 3,800m, shimmering beneath the shadows of Mount Rumiñahui. When the clouds part in the sky above, the waters of Limpiopungo become a canvas for the great mountain above. Further afield, a natural spring fills the waters of Santo Domingo Lagoon, surrounded by vestiges of Inca stone walls, and beyond lie the magical ruins of Pucara, a Pre-Hispanic Incan fortress.