If you’ve ever wondered why cielo means both sky and heaven, you can find the answer 13000 feet up Volcán Pichincha.
Veró and I shelled out eight bucks apiece, one of the more expensive excursions of our trip, to ride
El TelefériQo up into the sky to just this side of heaven. I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite experience from Ecuador, but high on my list would be the view from
Cruz Loma: mountains flush with pastels, voluptuous cloud cover, and fields stitched together like patches from Frankenstein’s monster.
With a view like this, I wasn’t even the least bit disappointed that the volcanoes were once again cloaked in clouds.
It’s amazing that a scene so muted can at the same time be so dramatic.
All aboard El TelefériQo!
I loved the foreboding crags.
If the altitude doesn’t leave you breathless, the scenery will.
Veró took candid photos of me taking photos, at least until I caught on.
Simply incomparable clouds!
The view at ground level was likewise enthralling.
(Above and below) The best part about cloud cover is when it breaks, dappling the canvas with spotlights.
Pampas grasses defined the verticle.
(Above and below) Every time I turned around the quality of the light had changed to reveal new palettes.
I like focusing on the overlooked details of a place, and then being asked, “What are you photographing?” as passersby try to follow my camera lens to its unusual target.
(Left) So few colors, such visual impact. (Right) Veró sporting one of her Otavalo bargains.
And I think that’s enough distracting captions for now: you can navigate the rest of the way on your own . . . just take your time, okay?
As always, stunning photos. When are you going to work for National Geographic already?!
Wouldn’t that be amazing?! Baby steps, and maybe someday (soon!). Thanks for the encouragement, Michelle–it means A LOT to me!!