In the shadow of Cotopaxi volcano

The city of Quito is surrounded by volcanoes. Makes it very interesting to fly into (amazing turbulence). The people just seem to accept that the mountain will one day erupt again, the last time it was active was 2002-4. Then it sent a towering column of ash and dust into the air but the wind blew the other way and very little fell on the city.

The last major eruption was 1940s, when Quito was a much smaller city than today. Today over a million people are in the eruption zone, and the feeling seems to be that it is overdue for a big eruption, there are signs of activity and heating.

People seem to have a love hate relationship with the mountain, being proud it's there and defining the city but also being aware that at any time it could wreak havoc.

the town of Latacunga is directly in the flow path and could potentially be wiped out in an eruption