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Cuicocha - Lake of the Gods
 This book entitled “Cuicocha – Lake of the Gods” is more than a simple Geo-Volcanic-Biologic guide as it shall help to understand this fragile bio-diversity within one of the most dangerous volcanic areas in South America. The 3.2 km long elliptic shaped lake, which is originally known as Tsui-Cocha, the lagoon of the Gods, is located some 110 km north of Ecuador’s capital Quito and some twenty of km west of Ibarra, the capital of the Province of Imbabura.
The volcano Cuicocha is part of Ecuador’s western Andean volcanic cordillera together with some 16 other active volcanoes in the countries continental territory. Cuicocha represents today the fourth most dangerous active volcano in Ecuador, after Chalupas, Pululahua and Quilotoa, but before Cotopaxi. The volcano can reactivate at any time. Plinian explosions, which can destroy the lake and would be able to change parts of the landscape of that area, are also possible some time in the future.
A unique flora and some extraordinary animals can be observed in Cuichocha’s environment. There are more than 400 plant species between the lakeshore and the islands’ mountaintops. The predominant varieties are medicinal, utilitarian and decorative plants. Wildlife is abundant with guinea pigs, mountain deer, wild rabbits, armadillos, Andean fox, skunks, weasels, and a great variety of birds, among others turtledoves, wood pigeons, humming birds, sparrows, blackbirds, owls, ducks, and occasionally the king of the Andes, the condor, can be seen.
The volcano is visited yearly by more than 150.000 tourists (up to 35% foreigners) of which we kindly ask each one of you to take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints in order to guarantee the conservation of this unique area for the next generations.
Theofilos Toulkeridis and Vlastimil Zak
Theofilos Toulkeridis
 Doctor Theofilos Toulkeridis, Ph.D. is a full time professor at the University of San Francisco at Quito (USFQ), where he has been teaching in the Polytechnic Unit since 1999. In addition, Dr. Toulkeridis is the Director of the Center of Geology, Volcanology and Geodynamics since its foundation in 2002.
Dr. Toulkeridis is Greek citizen but earned both Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Geology and Paleontology, with a specialty focus in Isotope Geochemistry from the University of Mainz and the Max Planck Institute of Chemistry (Geochemistry Division) in Mainz, Germany. His Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) in Geology and Isotope Geochemistry was completed in 1996, with the same institutions and in collaboration with the Centre for Surface Geochemistry at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Strasbourg, France. He graduated “summa cum laude”, the highest available grade. Afterwards, Dr. Toulkeridis did postdoctoral research for three years, in both France and Germany.
Dr. Toulkeridis is author or co-author of more than 25 peer-reviewed publications in international journals and has had more than 80 contributions in scientific congresses. He has been featured in a multitude of public seminars, interviews and talks on the radio, in newspapers and on both national and international television on weekly to monthly basis. Dr. Toulkeridis is the coordinator of numerous, international cooperation and has conducted research in several continents. His research in Ecuador is mainly focused upon volcanoes in the Subandean basin, the volcanic Cordilleras of the “Sierra” and the Galapagos Islands. His research at the Ecuadorian coast is focused on field instabilities, geological hazards and structural geology.
Dr. Toulkeridis is an international consultant and expert in natural disaster management. His focus is the detection and minimizing the effect from geological hazards. However, “Theo”, as everybody knows him, is a dedicated teacher in classroom, in the laboratory and in the field. Hereby, he conducted, since 1999 up to date, more than 200 fieldtrips at the Ecuadorian mainland and the Galapagos.
Vlastimil Zak Mnacek
 Vlastimil Zak Mnacek was born in Quito, in October 22nd 1959, of Ecuadorian citizenship; he speaks Spanish, English, Checz and French. He has coursed B.S studies on Biological Sciences in Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, Education Sciences Faculty, Department of Biological Sciences-Pure Biology PUCE and a Master degree in Environmental Management in Universidad San Francisco de Quito. He had also do capacitating courses about National Patrimony and Tropical Ecology in “The Nature Conservancy”, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. He has been expositor in the National Journeys of Biological Sciences over the conservation of a specie of the Myrcianthes kind and for the distribution and taxonomy of the Solanum kind in the inter Andean alley of Ecuador.
He works as an educator in Universidad San Francisco de Quito and he is a healer for the Herbarium of Economic Botanic of Ecuador (USFQ) which headquarters are located in the same University. He has done several investigations and assessments on various projects: Development of bio-degradable phito-fungicides on protected crops, assessment and direction in various botanical projects and in the conservation of the “Rio Guajalito” Protected Forest, categorization of the vegetation and actual use of the ground of Pichincha Province: FONTAG-TNC, line base study of four oil wells Block VHR-Petroproduccion, ECUAMBIENTE, vegetal study for the management plan of the Jerusalem Reserve, Provincial Council of Pichincha-Ecuambiente, 10 year monitoring of vegetation, Repsol-YPF, Yasuni National Park, ECUAMBIENTE, Taxonomy of the Solanaceae family from the West part of the province of Pichincha, USFQ-NYBG, preliminary study of the medicinal plants and their uses and posology form the Rio Guajalito Protected Forest, inventory of the Rio Guajalito Protected Forest birds, environmental impact, flora component, Ñanpaz Foundation, Co. City-Ecolap, impacts produce by the colonization in the upper and lower basin of Pacharaco, Ecuadorian Entomology Foundation-Ecolap, regeneration sequence in the empty spaces of the forest in the Station on Biodiversity of Tiputini, sponsored by Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen of Belgium, Impact and Evaluation studies of the vegetal setting, Toachi-Pilaton Project. INECEL, Environmental Impact studies based on edaphic fauna, for the extension of the Esmeraldas refinery, Ecuadorian Entomology Foundation, among others.
He has published the study on Sapling Diversity in Canopy Gaps in an Ecuadorian Rain Forest, Forest Science Vol. 49 No. 6, co-author of the preliminary study of the medicinal plants, their uses and posology from the Rio Guajalito Protected Forest, co-author of the study and inventory of the Rio Guajalito Protected Forest birds and all investigation works on environmental impacts.
To purchase the book, you can do at the Inn Cuicocha Tincuicem, or contact the following telephone number: 593 8 700 1807 / 593 2 297 1700 Ext. 1210 of Theofilos Toulkeridis / UNIVERSIDAD SAN FRANCISCO DE QUITO or e-mail:
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