And I thought I was tall here! I was impressed with how well these poncho wearing guys were walking on their stilts.
Horses & Cowboys were used frequently to hold up banners or maintain crowd control (by making a circle while moving towards the crowd).
Out of nowhere, these "rooster head" costumes wavered back and forth from above the crowd.
Little did we know that the person that was sporting this costume was entirely covered in feathers, complete even with wings!
There were lots of women dancing, singing and twirling their skirts. Usually, Ecuadorian pueblos have a specific colour for their skirts... but this groups seems like quite the mezclar (mix).
Another a participant wearing the cloth mask and furry chaps. In addition to taking part in maintaining crowd control by whipping the ground near the thick crowd, his dance includes whipping in the middle of the street as well.
Another picture of the fella in a very confident pose.
These older gentlemen, adorned with horns, bells, scarfs and the ever popular furry chaps, were dancing around and blowing conch shells.
Even the kids joined in... with miniature furry chaps, translucent painted masks, and musical horns.
Finally, we enjoyed toasty warm Biscoches (corn biscuits - see right side) and ginger cookies (with an anis flavour! argh!).
Welcome to Cotopaxi, the world's tallest active volacano (alledgedly, someone used a new method of calculating the height of mountains and this is no longer true... as well I don't know which active volcano is now supposed to be the tallest. If anyone knows I would be curious to find out.)!
One of the views from the Cotopaxi National Park.
Should the Cotopaxi Volcano erupt, there are some helpful instructions displayed in the park's museum to help you find your way to safety. (NOTE: Cotopaxi has been under a higher state of activy in the last three months or so and it is due to erupt soon! How exciting!)
A panoramic view of Cotopaxi from down below in the park. In this picture, you can see the tunnels created by molten lava from the previous major eruption in 1877).
A close up of Cotopaxi and its clearly defined crater.
The walk up to the volcano's refuge (where climbers usually begin their ascent at 2am after a brief nap) from the parking lot was steep and slow.
Looking back down the trail from the refuge, you can see the tiny parking lot (lighter coloured part at the end of the trail)
Awe-inspiring views of Cotopaxi National Park from the refuge.
You can even see the road winding up the volcano.
The "much talked about" yellow refuge. We were quite happy to reach it, particularly as they were offering hot tea with honey!
The highland vegetation in the Cotopaxi park consists of various paramo plants, which grow in small little spurts here and there, like these brightly coloured red flowers.
