As we set off on our 5-6 hour journey to Quilotoa, our guide Marsello educated us on Ecuador, a country we knew little about. It has 42 volcanoes, 21 of which are active, including Cotopaxi (where we were headed on Saturday) which is the highest snow-capped active volcano in the world. Quilotoa, today's destination, last erupted 500 years ago, with the energy of 10 atomic bombs, reducing its own height fro 5600, to 3900m through self-destruction. Oil is Ecuador's primary export, followed by bananas. The third most important for the economy is tourism, and fourth is the export of roses. Roses were first cultivated by a famous Colombian drug baron in an effort to clean his drug money. Since then the industry has boomed and Ecuadorian roses are exported all over the world by plane, hence
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