Cotacachi and Laguna Cuicocha

Cotacachi is a little prretty indigenous town close to the volcano with the same name. Cotacachi is famous for its leather works. Its inhabitants make incredibly beautiful nd fine leather works which are exported to the USA and Europe. 

When I arrived at the bus station I first went through the market, which is nearby. Markets are the best places to eat good and cheap food, in Ecuador as well as in Colombia. And it is a wonderful place to watch people, especially those indigenous markets. 

They make all kind of pretty handicrafts out of totora reeds. 

and here a little look at the city itself

From Cotacachi I took the bus to Quiroga, another little  town with a beautiful church

and from there a taxi to Laguna Cuicocha. 

Volcan Cotacachi erupted about 3000 years ago, It must have been a huge eruption and as a result it collapsed and this lake was formed in its crater. Laguna Cuicocha is 3 km. wide and 200 m. deep! There is a trail leading around the lagood , 14 km. long, but as I arrived there a bit too late to walk the whole trail I walked only part of it and made a boat trip on the lagoon.

The volcano was hiding its peak in the clouds most of the time. here I got a glimpse of it. 

The boat trip was beautiful. We went around the islands in the middle of the lake, which were formed at a later eruption. They are covered with dense jungle , surrounded by totora reeds and the vegetation is beautiful. The water is cristal clear. The volcano is still active as there are gases coming out sometimes. 

the water has a fantastic color

look at this dense vegetation on the island

there are lots of birds living there. (the lagoon is at an elevation of about 3060 m.) Little ducks, swimming around,

and those gorgeous white birds  nesting in the totora reeds. 

As I walked along te trail I had the rare oportunity to see the peak  of  volcano Cayambe (5790 m. high), which is mostly in the clouds. You can see the peak covered with snow. Unfortunately it was very hazy, At the bottom you see Otavalo. 

here with the zoom

and the third gorgeous volcano near Otavalo, Volkan Imbabura, was also hiding most of the time, which made him look even more mysterious. By the way, the indigenous people call Imbabura- taita Imbabura, which means father Imbabura and the volcano Cotacachi - Mama Cotacachi. When it rains in Otavalo they say Taita Imbabura is pissing in the valley.

Here you can see him in all his majesty. Look how huge he is.

When I walked along the trail I saw so many beautiful flowers. It is amazing what grows at this height. My favorite is this green flower, I have never seen it before. It is so special.

and this white one is also so pretty, it grows very close to the ground

there are so many different kinds. Here just a few.

As I walked partly around the lake it looked different from every angle. 

and the view down the other side was also fantastic, just a bit hazy. 

this is on the way

and when I came back down, suddenly Taita Imbabura lifted its veil

The region around Otavalo is really fantastic. I am staying here for 5 days.