Frailejones and Polylepis

The border crossing, both in Colombia and Ecuador, presented no problems and was faster than expected. In Tulcán, I took the bus to El Ángel, which took around 90 minutes and cost 1.50 USD. From El Ángel, or Los Ángeles as locals call it, I took a taxi to the Polylepis Lodge, a nice rustic hotel set amid two acres of ancient polylepis trees and surrounded by stunning mountains filled with frailejones.

It is quite hard to describe how beautiful nature here is. The youngest polylepis tree is 1,000 years old, and the oldest is over 3,000 years old; they are unique in the whole world and can only be found in the El Ángel Ecological Reserve.

I spent one night at the lodge, using the afternoon of the first day and the morning of the next to take long walks through the forest and the surrounding paramos. Within half an hour, one reaches an altitude of 3,900 meters, and from there, the views are absolutely breathtaking. The frailejones spread over the hills of each mountain, giving them a yellowish-green hue. Far on the horizon, one can see extinct and active volcanoes, small towns, and multicolored farming lands. The tranquility and peace are overwhelming, with nothing but the wind to be heard.

I have had the chance to see some impressive landscapes in my life, but I would put this one right there at the top with the Annapurna range in Nepal or Cape Le Grand in Western Australia—I couldn’t have wished for a better start in Ecuador.