We travelled south from Quito to the 'Avenue of the Volcanoes'. Stopped at the town of Sangolqui to visit the traditional Andean market, then continued on to the Cotopaxi region. The town market was vibrant and noted for smoking hot roasted pork and pigheads, - shoppers would just ask for so much to be pulled off the carcass by the vendor, who kept the meat warm with embers beneath. Also lots of nice looking avocados!

Cotopaxi National Park is Ecuador's finest mainland national park, the area covers 85,000 acres and is dominated by the magnificent presence of Cotopaxi Volcano. The volcano is a steep, snow-capped and symmetrical cone. At 5,897 metres, Cotopaxi is the second highest mountain in Ecuador and is the highest active volcano in the country.

It is also the most destructive volcano in Ecuador having erupted on several occasions during the 1700s and 1800s including the two occasions when it completely destroyed the town of Latacunga. The last major eruption was in 1903/04 with some relatively minor activity in 1942.

We walked around some of Limpiopungo Lagoon and saw many birds, and nine inch lizards basking in the sun. We had lunch at the visitor's centre looking out to Cotopaxi as hummingbirds buzzed about, said goodbye to Monica and our driver, and carried on with a new guide, Sylvia, and driver Carlos, to our accommodation.

Hacienda San Agustin de Callo is an exclusive 15th century hacienda situated at the base of the Cotopaxi volcano. The property is built on a former Inca palace and contains many Inca walls. There are 8 rooms that are individually decorated with hand painted murals and have fireplaces and free standing baths.

After we were welcomed into traditional hacienda style rooms, a clatter in the courtyard signalled the hooves of at least a dozen hungry llama, wanting us to feed them, a basket of carrots ready and waiting. Great hilarity, they weren't shy!

Beautiful meal and wines in the ancient dining room with Inca walls topped off a great day.