While visiting grandma in Quito, we took a trip up the Teleferico.
This is a glass cable car ride that takes one from 9,415 feet to 13,450 feet in approximately 10 minutes. The aerial lift ride offers exquisite views of the “City of the Heavens” aka Quito,as well as the surrounding farmlands, the Pichincha Volcanoes, and of the 2nd highest active volcano in the world; Cotopaxi. Reports say that the Spectacled Bear of the Andes still live in the volcano lands and can sometimes be seen from the teleferico.
At the top, there is an extensive hiking trail that takes you up to the peaks of the volcanoes, the signs say that the trail is difficult and takes approximately 5 hours. That certainly wasn’t an option for us with the high altitude and our very young kids, but I’m sure it would be quite the adventure for the hiking and trekking crowds.
On a clear day, or even in a clear moment, you have the opportunity to View the Ruca de Pichincha and Cotopaxi Volcanoes.







The kids really enjoyed playing the cool and breezy highlands, they had little interest in the city below and only wanted to investigate nature!
I got altitude sickness when I was there, but it was worth it for the view. Hopefully you didn’t. 🙂
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No, luckily I was well prepared with the regional natural remedies: all things Coca Leaf!
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Wow! The altitude must have been pretty daunting for all of you. What an amazing experience!
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I’m really the one that has previously experienced any issues with altitude, the other three must be part-mountain! Haha! But, I did over hear several tourists mention being mildly dizzy, short of breath, or with a headache.
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How did we miss the teleferico??!!! I would have love to see Quito from up there. We didn’t have a wonderful time in Quito, being very travel weary at that time, but we did climb most of the way up Cotopaxi. Thanks for bringing back some good memories.
Alison
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My first time in Quito was awful too, I had terrible altitude sickness. This time, I followed the advice of the locals and took the traditional medicine that they use. It worked like a charm!!When were you in Quito? The teleferico is relatively new, it opened in 2005 I believe. How wonderful that both of you got to experience Cotopaxi! Hopefully we will do that to when our kids are a few years older 🙂
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We were there in 2014, so well after the teleferico was built. But also it didn’t show up in any of our online research. I’m sure we’d have done it if we’d known about it. We didn’t have altitude sickness, just feeling a bit travel weary. Cotopaxi was cold and foggy but still an amazing hike!
https://alisonanddon.com/2014/06/24/oh-oh-oh-quito-otavalo-volcano/
A.
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Well you know, Ecuadorian tourism has some very odd methods in my opinion! I often wonder where they gather their insights and planning, as much of it doesn’t make sense and they forget to mention many incredible places that I would imagine would be huge tourist attractions! Going to read your post now…thanks for sharing!
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Nice!!!
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We went there yesterday!! It was rainy, foggy, and sometimes hailing up there. So, no amazing photos for us. We went to Ecuador in a whim so we didn’t do any research, but this was on our tourist map.
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Oh bummer! The weather can definitely be unpredictable in Ecuador, especially around Quito. How long are in the country?
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