Visit a volcano in Ecuador

I'll give a late answer for those who may want an alternate or to visit the tallest mountain or volcano on earth and get closer to space than any terra firma on the planet. Ok so Cotopaxi is a great answer, no doubt! It is beautiful and close to Quito. Actually many people do not realize if you get up with the sunrise in Quito and get high enough you can often get a beautiful view of Cotopaxi before the clouds roll in. Imagine this, viewing an ice glacier while on the Equator! Just awesome. Just to correct Peter's answer though it IS active. Actually very active. It has spewed Ash and rumbled while I was their in 2015 and it is actually an explosive volcano. Anyay it is awesome but it has one major downfall. It is too close to the capital city and the mountain and the area are just too overcrowded for me.

My advice, head to Chimborazo. Now check out this awesome fact. It is the tallest mountain on earth if you measure from the center of the earth as opposed to MSL.

Chimborazo is not the highest mountain by elevation above sea level, but its location along the equatorial bulge makes its summit the farthest point on the Earth's surface from the Earth's center (Wikipedia). Chimborazo, at it’s peak, is the furthest point from the center of the Earth. Our planet bulges at the equator, making Mount Chimborazo even futher out there than Everest. It has the distinction of being the closest point to the sun on the planet, and yet still the coldest place in Ecuador (http://xtremesport4u.com/extreme-land-sports/a-little-more-on-mount-chimborazo-ecuador/).

Now this is not some crazy claim. GPS now measures the x,y coordinate as an angular measure of unit from the center of the earth but for some reason elevation (z) has remained at the rather arbitrary and changing MSL. Geologists agree it is the highest mountain from the center of the earth. Indeed, as we have switched from surface datums to earth-centered datums it now makes far more sense to list Chimborazo as earth's highest mountain.

So we take latitude (y) and longitude (x) from the center of the earth but not elevation (z)!!!

It is very quiet, and you will only see a few people. No tour groups, no tourists, and just you and the mountain.

This is a series of pictures I took on my last trip.

The Mountain.

Base Camp.

Markers for those dead on the mountain.

The Drive up with the mountain and the Llama or is it an Alpaca , I can never tell...

Go south from Quito on the Pan American Highway. ~ 4 hours by car and 5 by bus. Pass the town of Amabato and it is the huge snowy mountain on your right. As you drive into the park a truck may chase you down. Do not be afraid they want $$$$. It is the park entrance fee. They do not have a building as so few people come they just drive around.

Do be careful. In "Extreme Dreams" British explorer Ben Fogle said,

that Chimborazo was one of the most extreme journey’s he’s ever been on – and he has done some incredible things, so it is a mountain worthy of a challenge, but also a mountain which can exact it’s revenge on you – so please beware if you are thinking of summiting it. http://xtremesport4u.com/extreme-land-sports/a-little-more-on-mount-chimborazo-ecuador/

Stay around here and you may never see another non-Andean once off the main road. This place is very quiet. Yes it is a Volcano. I think that answer your list of questions.