Antisana Ecological Reserve

Antisana reaches 5,704 metres under a heavy ice cap and stands in a reserve of open paramo that is one of the emptiest accessible landscapes near Quito: rolling tussock grassland at around 4,000 metres with lava flows, the Micacocha lake, and almost no infrastructure. Its reputation is ornithological. This is among the most reliable places in the country to see Andean condor, with a resident population using the cliffs, along with carunculated caracara, Andean gull and the black-faced ibis that winter here. Wild horses and white-tailed deer graze the grassland. The volcano itself is a serious glaciated climb and rarely attempted; most visitors come for the drive, the lake and the birds.

What you actually see

• Andean condors over the cliffs - one of the best sites in Ecuador.
• Micacocha lake under the ice - the water below Antisana's glaciers.
• Open tussock paramo - empty grassland at four thousand metres.
• Wild horses and deer - the grazing animals of the reserve.

When to go

June to September for clearer weather; mornings before cloud covers the volcano. A day from Quito. Binoculars are essential for the condors. It is cold and exposed.

Honest expectations

The volcano is often hidden in cloud. There are no facilities, no food and no shelter in the reserve. The road is rough in the last stretch. Condor sightings need patience and optics; they are distant.

Nearby

Pintag and Quito are north-west; Cotopaxi lies south.