Antisana Volcano

Another early start, and a trip from Quito up to the Antisana Volcano today.  

As we left a rather gray Quito , after last night’s rain the sky gradually began to clear. Quito is quite high at about 2,400m at the hotel we are staying in.  But the high point on the Antisana trip was to be just over 4,000m - and that wasn't even near the peak of Antisana which is the 4th highest mountain in the Andes. Given that we were at sea level only yesterday it was inevitable that even short walks at that height were taken very slowly.  

Along the way we saw (on the other side of the valley) a spectacled bear, the only type of bear found in South America and therefore, presumably, a relative of Paddington Bear.  The spectacled bear stands taller than a man and weighs 275Kg - that’s an awful lot of marmalade sandwiches.

I have some record shots of the bear, but it was too far away to make a decent photograph so it isn’t featured here.

At one stage we were overflown by about 30 condors - trying to pick one individual out to photograph was the problem.  The condors were quite high above us, so while I have included one as an extra its not a brilliant shot.

The real star of my day were the hummingbirds.  I’ve featured 3 in this entry, but I’m going to have to come back and name them when I have a little more time.  We’ve just got back to the hotel and I have 20 minutes to get a shower before dinner.  I’ve then got to pack because we’re travelling to the Amazon jungle tomorrow…