He saw a blanket of snow on the slopes and the landscape around Chimborazo appeared barren and desolate. Whenever they stopped, an excited Humboldt took out his telescope. For several days as they approached, the mountain stood out against the vibrant blue of the sky with no cloud smudging its imposing outline. Then Chimborazo appeared on the horizon, standing alone on a high plateau, like a majestic dome. Then, as the men slowly ascended, these voluptuous blooms were replaced by open grass plains where herds of small llama-like vicuñas grazed. In the valleys they admired daturas with their large trumpet-shaped orange blossoms and bright red fuchsias with their almost unreal-looking sculptural petals. This majestic inactive volcano – a ‘monstrous colossus’ as Humboldt described it – was about one hundred miles to the south-west of Quito and rose to almost 21,000 feet.7Īs Humboldt, Bonpland, Montúfar and José rode towards the volcano, they passed thick tropical vegetation. First, though, he was going to climb Chimborazo – the crown of his obsession. From Lima Humboldt hoped to find passage to Mexico, which he also wanted to explore. He still intended to travel to Lima, even though Captain Baudin wouldn’t be there. Five months after his arrival, Humboldt finally left Quito on 9 June 1802.
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