Tourist attractions in Ecuador
Las Cochas Lagoon
Las Cochas Lagoon
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F24C+227, Las CochasNearby attractions
Places to visit within 30 km.
Historical center of Guaranda
The Historic Center of Guaranda, the capital of the Province of Bolívar, is made up of houses built with indigenous materials and with their own engineering from the beginning of the 20th century, each house keeps in its design and structure the ingenuity and taste of the builders of the era, which took full advantage of the materials of that time: Tapial, adobe, adobón, tile, wood for floors, doors, windows, handrails, stairs. From any of the Seven Hills you can see a city of tiles that give it a colonial air and a sensation of uniform brown upholstery, typical of Guarandeña tiles.This architectural peculiarity served as the basis for Guaranda to be declared a Cultural Heritage of Ecuador in 1997. What to see in the Historic Center of Guaranda? Guaranda is a city that gathers the Spanish influence, around its central park, the Libertador Park, there are the Cathedral Church, the Municipal Palace, the Government, the Provincial Court of Justice. Its narrow streets, mostly paved with stone, give it an appearance of solemnity, sobriety and unique elegance, very attractive to behold both during the day and at night. Moving through its narrow paths and meeting the warmth and transparency of its people is a real pleasure. Some streets such as the Convention of 1884, García Moreno, May 7, April 9, August 10, Sucre, Rocafuerte, Olmedo, keep the charm of cobblestone, narrowness and unparalleled elegance, typical of a city in the Ecuadorian highlands. In Guaranda there are traditional neighborhoods such as La Pila, the Caliente neighborhood, Guanguliquín, 15 de Mayo, Hospital de Jesús, among others, which have captured the best of the city in their architecture. Guaranda is a city of “charms and dreams”.
5.74 Km.
Guaranda Carnival
The Major Festival of the canton and province; cultural expression of popular tradition, which mixes traditions originating from the Catholic religion and Inca rites. To the rhythm of couplets and songs, the "Fiesta Mayor" lights up, the most popular and famous in Guaranda and the Bolívar province. Declared intangible heritage of Ecuador on October 31, 2002. Visitors are encouraged to drink the chicha (typical drink) and the popular Blue Bird aguardiente, to get in tune with the joyful and community spirit of the festivities. To speak of carnival is to speak of aromas, of flavors, the extensive gastronomy of the season has become one of the main attractions of Guaranda. Songs sprout so spontaneously in the province that it gives the impression that it is not the people who compose them, but that the songs are there. Thousands of couplets run on the lips of the troubadours, from the low subtropical zones of the mountains to the snows of the Cordillera, because also there in the moors of the Andes, our indigenous people sing their Carnival songs in Quichua. Date of realization Carnival holiday each year Location Located in the Chimbo basin, in the heart of Ecuador, Guaranda is located in the northwest of the Bolívar Province. The highlights of the Guaranda Carnival Comparsas full of music and the joy of the dancers who wear colorful clothing. Parades, The floats circulate decorated with flowers and structures that emulate hummingbirds and characters taken from urban legends and the seventh art, the cinema. Gastronomic festival Festival of Jorgas and Carnival Coplas Artistic shows and popular dances
6.28 Km.
Sanctuary of the Virgin of Guayco
There is a museum where fragments of wood from the altarpieces and doors of the first chapel of Guayco are exhibited, there are also bells that some distant day rang in the bell tower of this same sanctuary. This sanctuary is a great attraction for those who enjoy religious tourism, and you can attend mass, as well as participate in different religious acts. The field where the sanctuary is located is large, in miniature it resembles the Sistine Chapel. On the anniversary of the Virgin, on September 8, masses are held at all hours. Legend of the Creation of the Guayco Sanctuary It dates back to September 8, 1708, when a descendant of the Caciques Chela of the Pacatones bias, was brutally beaten by her mother, who, thinking that her thirteen-year-old daughter María de la Luz was having an affair, punished her. in such a way that it caused some trauma to his entire body and a broken head. María de la Luz, with her wounds still bleeding, took refuge in the Guayco ravine, as she did as usual, and returned home a short time later with her wounds fully healed and without traces indicating that she had never been there. wounded, when her mother saw her, she asked who had healed her wounds and the little girl replied that a beautiful lady had healed her using the water that flowed from the rock, the mother amazed at what she had told her, they went to the local priest They immediately went to the place that María de la Luz took them and found an image of the Virgin Mary, at whose feet a stream of crystalline water sprouted. The miracle spread quickly, the sick began to arrive at this place to be healed of their ailments. After some time a chapel was built. Location It belongs to the Province of Bolívar, in the parish of La Magdalena, 11 kilometers from San José de Chimbo, it is crossed internally and externally by the stream called Guayco.
15.85 Km.
Tiagua cliffs
They are two large parallel blocks of rocks that run north-south, separated by a small intermediate valley where the tours take place. Several shallow caves have been formed in the walls in which the pre-Columbian natives used them as a refuge due to the remains of ceramics and other archaeological artifacts found.On the route there is a beautiful landscape and on both sides with rocky walls. There is a small stream that is used to provide water for the community of Salinas. Highlights of the Tiagua Caves The geological phenomenon is easily accessible from the center of the community of Salinas by a small entrance path, in the central square the vehicles are parked to start the tour. In addition to the rocky landscape that the site presents, you can easily climb to the top of the eastern rocky block, where the residents of Salinas have chosen a cross and it is a viewpoint from which you can see a good part of the Salinas River basin. Hikes through the Tiagua Caves: Walks and local tours are carried out with national and foreign visitors. Archaeological remains: Archaeological remains that belonged to the Valdivia culture have been found in the caves.
16.44 Km.
Chimborazo volcano
The Chimborazo is the highest volcano and mountain in Ecuador and the furthest point from the center of the Earth because the Earth's diameter at the equatorial latitude is greater than at the Everest latitude (which is approximately 28 ° north) . Its last known eruption is believed to have occurred around 550 n.e It is located in the central Andes, 150 km southwest of Quito and 20 km northwest of Riobamba. Measured from the center of the earth, it is the highest mountain on the planet exceeding the height of Everest by two km. Until the 19th century, Chimborazo was considered the highest mountain on the planet. This reputation led to many attempts to conquer its peak, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1802, Baron Alexander von Humboldt, accompanied by Aimé Bonpland and the Ecuadorian Carlos Montúfar tried to climb to the summit, but gave up at 5875 masl because of the soroche (discomfort felt at the heights due to thinning of the air, also called pointing). At that point, the Baron was at the highest altitude reached by any European in written history. The first man who reached the summit was Edward Whymper with the brothers Louis and Jean Antoine Carrel in 1880. As there were many people who doubted this success, Whymper climbed again, on a different path the same year with the two Ecuadorians David Beltrán and Francisco Campaña. Chimborazo Volcano Location The top of Mount Chimborazo is only one degree south of Ecuador, so even though its elevation above sea level, which is 6,268 meters above sea level, 2530 m lower than Everest, is 6384.4 km from the center of the planet, which represents 1.5 km farther than the top of the Asian colossus. It is located 150 km southwest of Quito and 20 km northwest of Riobamba. The Chimborazo is surrounded by the Chimborazo Wildlife Reserve, which forms a protected ecosystem to preserve the habitat of the native camelids of the Andes such as vicuña, llama, and alpaca. How to get to Chimborazo Volcano? To get from Riobamba to the first Carrel refuge there is a distance of 50 km; Those who have private transportation must take the Panamericana Sur until the “Cemento Chimborazo” Factory, continue to San Juan and from there in 40 minutes you will reach the Carrel Refuge By public transport you can travel by bus, from the land terminal depart buses from the Bolivar Fleet twice daily (8:45 and 13h15) that pass through the Carrel refuge. Chimborazo Volcano Glaciers The upper part of Mount Chimborazo is completely covered by glaciers, with arms to the northeast that descend to 4,600 meters above sea level. Its glacier is the source of water for the population of the Ecuadorian provinces of Bolívar and Chimborazo. The Chimborazo glacier has declined in recent decades, apparently due to the combined influences of climate change, ash as a result of the recent volcanic activity of Tungurahua and the Phenomenon of the Child. As in other glaciers in the Ecuadorian highlands, the ice from the Chimborazo glaciers has been extracted by ice makers to be sold in the markets of Guaranda and Riobamba. In ancient times, people transported ice to coastal cities, such as Babahoyo and Vinces. Volcanism in the Chimborazo Volcano Chimborazo is predominantly a stratovolcano. About 35,000 years ago the eruption of Chimborazo produced an avalanche of rubble, the deposits of those underlying Riobamba. Then it erupted several times during the Holocene, the last time around 550 AD ± 150 years. The Geophysical Institute of Ecuador (IGE) considers the Chimborazo volcano as potentially active. Chimborazo Volcano Elevation With a height of 6,268 meters above sea level, Mount Chimborazo is the highest mountain and volcano in Ecuador. The summit of Mount Everest reaches a greater height above sea level, but the summit of Mount Chimborazo is the furthest point on the surface of the center of the Earth with Huascaran in second place. This is because the Earth's shape is a geoid of revolution, a sphere flattened by the poles, resulting in a bulge around the Earth's equator. This bulge is caused by the rotation of the Earth, and causes the diameter at the equator to be 43 km longer than the diameter of one pole to another. The Chimborazo is one degree south of Ecuador and the diameter of the Earth at the equator is greater than at the latitude of Everest (8848 masl), about 28 ° north. Despite being 2580 m lower than the height above sea level, it is 6384.4 km from the center of the Earth, 2168 m higher than the summit of Everest (6382.3 km from the center of the Earth). Point closest to the Sun Chimborazo Volcano The one who colloquially is known as "the point closest to the Sun" does not make it such. The inclination of the earth axis achieves, beyond the differences in height between the different points on the earth's crust, that the points closest to the Sun are, depending on the day and year, from those around the Tropic of Cancer (20- June 21, summer solstice in the northern hemisphere) to those bordering the Tropic of Capricorn (December 21-22, summer solstice in the southern hemisphere); on the other hand, the points of the globe on the equator are only candidates to be closest to the Sun in intermediate periods, of equinoxes (March 20-21, September 22-23). Such is the case, so little is the terrestrial topography compared to what influences the inclination of the axis of the Globe in the calculation of which points are closer to the Sun, than during some days, around the summer solstice in the hemisphere North, the point of greatest depression on the planet, located somewhere in the Mariana Trench (northern hemisphere), will be closer to the Sun than the top of Aconcagua itself, the highest point above sea level of the entire southern hemisphere. Chimborazo Volcano Climate Being at the foot of the Chimborazo its climate is cold, however, at noon the sun almost always shines on the city and sometimes the temperature reaches 13 degrees Celsius. Chimborazo Volcano Flora Regarding the best known plants are ferns, Azorella pads, gentians, chuquirahua, architect, chocho flower, achupallas, mosses and lichens. But the important thing about this ecosystem is the property of storing large amounts of water that seep into the earth because of the permeability of its soil, which leaks feed nearby lands by regulating the microclimate of the Sierra. Chimborazo Volcano Fauna The outstanding fauna is typical of the moor, mainly represented by dwarf deer, llamas, vicunas, deer, small rabbits, marsupial mice, wolfs of the moor, the cervicabra. Among the birds that are generally observed are the white-chested, long-beaked and long-tailed quindes, the curiquinges, the common piggy or eaglet and the king of the Andes the condor, in addition there are the animals introduced by man such as sheep, llamas, vicuñas and horses. Chimborazo's last ice maker The old tradition of the Chimborazo ice makers that still remains. Every Tuesday and Friday, the farmers of the town of Cuatro Esquinas go on donkeys from 06h00 to the Carlos Zambrano glacier. There with picks and shovels they remove the earth and discover the ice. They get blocks that weigh up to 30 kilos. They immediately wrap them with straw and begin their journey to the San Alfonso de Riobamba market where they sell them at a price between eight and ten dollars. The Chimborazo Volcano Landscape In the access road you can see unique landscapes such as the sunset in the moor while crossing, at full speed, a flock of vicuñas. In addition, from this volcano you can observe with patience the crossing of the train that descends between rocky alleys from Huigra and pinking the "Devil's Nose", towards Bucay, warm coastal canton. Mountaineering on the Chimborazo volcano This sport is practiced, by preference, in the King of the Ecuadorian Andes thanks to its imponderable beauty. The Liberator, Simón Bolívar, was the first to practice it. Snow Hostel At present, with the construction of the “Snow Hostel”, visitors have the facilities to spend the night in the volcano. Source: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volc%C3%A1n_Chimborazo https://www.ecured.cu/Volc%C3%A1n_Chimborazo Images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VolcanChimborazo.JPG https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AMA_Volc%C3%A1n_Chimborazo_3_(8226318049).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Volc%C3%A1n_Chimborazo_Chuquiragua.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chimborazo_01.jpg
17.96 Km.
Sanctuary of the Virgin of Lourdes
This attraction is located in a break in the mountain range, where the faithful placed a replica of the virgin that appeared in France at the beginning of the century. Next to it, the Poor Clare nuns built a convent.The sacred image that exists there was brought in the year 1902 by the venerable parish priest Dr. Leonidas Verdezoto Rivadeneira, who on February 2 of the same year in the company of Don Juan Pío de Mora who was a very devout man. Once the image was placed, the sanctuary was declared inaugurated with the name of Lourdes, on February 2, 2002, the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the most holy mother of the canton.The devotion is not only of the Sanmigueleños, they come on pilgrimage from all over the country, there is a natural water source that the pilgrims affirm is prodigious and healing. Location The Sanctuary of Lourdes is located on the western peak of the San Miguel canton in the province of Bolívar. To get to the Sanctuary, take the road that leads to Yahui, and 7 kilometers from San Miguel we will find said attraction.
20.76 Km.