El Angel Ecuador Andes Ecological Reserve

The Humid Moorlands (or páramo) of El Angel are located 170 kilometers (105.6 miles) to the north of Quito – the capital of Ecuador --, in the Province of Carchi. This type of moorlands is protected within the Ecological Reserve of El Angel and is found only in northern Ecuador and southern Colombia. The temperature varies between 5° and 18° C (41° to 64° F) during the day.

The terrain is very irregular, characteristic of the high Andean zones, in an area with many lakes of different sizes, teeming with trout, which were introduced several decades ago. What makes this reserve so special are the frailejones (Espeletia pycnophylla), bushes that reach up to six feet high, with long hairy leaves. They grow at altitudes between three and four thousand meters (9850 to 13,123 feet) above sea level.

This ecosystem also has several species of plants shaped like pillows that hold large amounts of water; these plants are specially adapted to resist high concentrations of water, and their leaves are very resistant to the cold and heavy rainfall. Animal life found here includes deer, rabbits, and wolves, several species of mice – among them a marsupial mouse--, weasels, wild cats and Andean pumas. Among the birds are caracaras (curiquingues), gulls, ducks, glosdy-black thrushes (Turdus Serranus), doves and quail.

At a lower altitude, in the flanks of the mountains there are remnants of native tree forests like the Aliso or Alder (Almus sp.), Pumamaqui (hand of the puma), Arrayanes or Myrtle (Luma apiculata) and Polylepis or paper tree (Polylepis incana ssp icosandra). Polylepis trees grow up to twelve meters tall (36 feet); their trunks are twisted and have a flaky reddish-brown bark that peels off like paper.

The leaves and flowers are often covered with hairs. The trees are covered by fungus and ferns and epiphyte plants like bromeliads and orchids. These elements, together with many creeks, cascades and lakes, turn this ecological reserve into a paradisiacal place, unique and special, where there is no spring or winter, no summer or autumn, but eternally the same. This complex ecological community is unique in the world with spots that seem magical, secret, almost untouched.

Authors
This article was developed by Metropolitan Touring, for their newsletter, and was wrote by a team of travelers, field guides, operations and marketing staff inside the company, all of them has more than 10 years working in the Galapagos cruises and tours guiding and sales, Sylvia Moncayo, Francisco Dousdebés, Santiago Tamayo, Gonzalo Alvarez are the team who produce our articles, Email info@metropolitan-touring.com Article Copyright Metropolitan Touring Corporation 2005 - 2006

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