Laguna/Lake Cuicocha, Ecuador, is located a short distance from the major market town of Otavalo. The Lake of Cuicocha is large enough for boating and a regular tour boat makes the rounds of the lake when there are sufficient passengers.
Cuicocha is a three kilometre (1.9-mile) wide caldera and crater lake at the foot of Cotacachi Volcano in the Cordillera Occidental of the Ecuadorian Andes. The caldera was created by a massive phreatic eruption about 3100 years ago that generated about 5 cubic kilometres (6.54 billion cubic yards) of pyroclastic flow and covered the surrounding area in volcanic ash up to 20 cm (8 inches) deep. The volcano has been dormant since that time. In combination with other eruptions from nearby Imbabura, Mojanda, Cotacachi, and Cayambe, Cuicocha is responsible for the fertile soil of the Otavalo valley.
The crater lake within the Cuicocha caldera contains four dacitic lava domes which form two steep forested islands: Yerovi, the smaller, and Teodoro Wolf, the larger. People are prohibited on both. The rim of the caldera is extremely steep – so steep, in fact, that the accumulation of sediment is insufficient for most hydrophyte vegetation. An older lava dome from the Pleistocene forms part of the eastern rim. Cuicocha Lake, which is 200 m (656 feet) deep at its deepest point, is highly alkaline and contains little life. It has no known outlet.
The intra-caldera islands, on the other hand, support some wildlife, most notably the Silvery Grebe, which lives around the reeds and feeds on algae. The bird is found in upper temperate and lower páramo zones throughout the Andes, but little is known about the species. In 1974 a census was taken of the population of grebes at Cuicocha and 44 birds were found. Cuicocha forms the southern end of the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve. During the second day of Inti Raymi (or Sun Festival) every summer solstice, indigenous shaman use Cuicocha as a bath of ritual cleansing and purification.
(Adapted from: Cuicocha. From Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)
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