South & Central America

The Avenue of Volcanoes

To the south of Quito lies ‘The Avenue of Volcanoes’, which stretches down through the centre of the country. This is home to some of Ecuador’s wildest and most spectacular scenery with nine of the ten highest mountain peaks, Chimborazo at 6,310 meters and Tungurahua at 5,033 meters, just to mention a couple. There are dozens of pretty little villages inhabited by indigenous Indians who live as their forebears have for centuries working the rich volcanic soils. Traditional dress is worn by much of the population here and their hugely colourful and vibrant markets are a fascinating and hugely rewarding experience.

Cotopaxi National Park covers almost 34,000 hectares and is Ecuador’s most famous and popular National Park and is dominated by the beautiful snow-capped cone of Cotopaxi Volcano (5,897meters), which is the country’s second highest peak.

There is some excellent hiking within the park where you will enjoy some fabulous scenery and the possibility of seeing a wide variety of wildlife including white-tailed deer, red brocket deer, Andean fox and many bird species including the occasional Andean condor.

As in the north, there are a number of lovely private properties to stay where horse riding, mountain biking, fishing and trekking are just a few of the activities that you can enjoy.

Our preferred haciendas and lodges include:

Hacienda San Agustin de Callo
Hosteria La Cienega
Hacienda Chillo Jijon
Hacienda Abraspungu