Part 3: The El Reventador Volcano & Cascada de San Rafael
The next morning we picked up Sarah at her hostel in the district Mariscal Sucre ten minutes away from our hostel and headed east. Prior to that we were discussing if going is such a good idea because the weather forecast showed lots and lots of rain and a thick cloud cover what of course would’ve shipwrecked our plans to get even a glimpse of El Reventador. But we decided to try our luck nonetheless.
On the road
One hour after leaving Quito the road curled up in long turns up to 4200 m on the perfectly build E20 highway of Formula 1 quality. The road has actually been built by big oil companies who sadly pull lots of resources out of the amazon.
Warning signs of bears crossing made us curious if we could maybe see one on our way back. A few minutes after reaching the peak the scenery changes. From harsh grassy landscapes to Swiss-looking mountain pastures spotted with farms. Whenever there’s a chance we stopped the car (there’s nearly no resting places at the road) to admire the countless waterfalls that burst out of the surrounding mountains.
After another 45 minutes we found ourselves already in the jungle with lots and lots of petrol trucks crawling slowly east and people in mostly SUV’s overtaking them like maniacs. We knew from another blog that there’s supposed to be a small parking space at km 98 on the road. At that place you’ll have supposedly the best chance to see the most of the volcano. So we prepare to lookout for that.
Suddenly the road turned into a bumpy scree and we stop to have a look why. Our little Kia could only go at walking pace. One old road was either demolished by men or by the volcano. We didn’t know. Whatever it was it created this crazy looking gap between the two sides of the valley. Later we learned that in some of the previous big eruptions roads were actually moved more than 30 m but not as much as this gap. It might have been done by men.
Finally, as we saw what looks like the parking space, we stopped. Sadly no volcano was in sight and our map apps all pointed in a different directions to where the peak was supposed to be. We got out of the car and hiked up the surrounding hills for about half an hour to find another promising spot – also no volcano or peak visible. We walked back and settled to stick to the parking place for setting up the tent. But first, we went to the village to get some food and supplies for the evening (or rather night) because that’s when you can see the lumps of glowing rocks spitted out by El Reventador.
El Reventador awakes
The village is very small and only two shops and a small restaurant are open so we get some food first and stack up with snacks some beers. Just as we left and went back in the car Sarah mentions that she missed some rope for her hammock. So Katharina and her went back while I was staring at the still cloudy peak praying for the clouds to finally lift taking some pictures – and then it happened.
Out of nothing and completely silent there was a black pile of ash appearing above and through the clouds. I was yelling and calling them jumping but the girls missed it. Lucky it was not the last time we saw the volcano showing itself. The clouds lifted more and more. On the way back the light was just incredibly orange and soft creating a few rainbows. Back at the spot we set up the camp and some birds were also joining the spectacle. Quickly I pulled out the drone to get some aerial shots. We stayed there sitting on the ground in front of our little car until midnight all staring as explosion after explosion happened every 20 minutes. We were sooooo lucky!
El Reventador volcano at night and sunrise
Katharina… Stefan! Sarah shouted. It was still dark. In absence of usable trees for her hammock Sarah slept in the car and by accident she witnessed the biggest explosions so far. You could see the bright red glowing lava shoot in the air and we even heart the explosion this time. No more sleep from now on so we stayed outside until the morning. At some point the clouds were suddenly back and the volcano was gone again. We said goodbye and left the place to head back west.
Cascada de San Rafael
We planned to visit the Cascada San Rafael, Ecuadors biggest waterfall and a smaller one which Sarah found via Google on the way. Unfortunately we read on the internet that the San Rafael waterfall is completely gone (https://awarenessact.com/ecuadors-tallest-waterfall-no-longer-flows-water-source-seemingly-disappears). As the area around is still very beautiful even without the falls we went nonetheless of course. The area is officially closed but the 2 km trail is still there. As usual we found ourselves on a very pretty jungle trek with lots of huge plants, beautiful flowers, birds (also another cock of the rock), and dragonflies.
Cascada Rio Malo
The last stop before finally heading back was the Cascada Rio Malo. Just 5 minutes in direction to Quito after the San Rafael Trail a small road turns to the right and you cross a toll gate (2$ per person). Expecting nothing huge we were wondering that we could hear water swooshing in the distance. To get to the fall we walked only 5 minutes crossing some smaller side rivers. The sight is just amazing. We were just amazed by the power of the fall and Sarah and Katharina went close to get a good shower while i stayed a bit back trying to capture some long exposures.
Finally, we absolutely recommend visiting this area. There’s nearly no touristic infrastructure (except for one hosteria) which made this experience even better. Not for everyone for sure but the best experience on this trip for us so far!
Here’s a map including the coordinates of the places we visited.
Really tired but incredibly happy we decided to check out the Thermas de Pappallacta (https://www.termaspapallacta.com/) on the way back. To chill in some hot water powered by the same volcano we’ve been staring at all night long seemed like a good idea.