El Angel Ecological Reserve

El Angel protects about sixteen thousand hectares of paramo between roughly 3,600 and 4,200 metres in Carchi province, and what makes it unlike the paramo further south is the frailejones: Espeletia, a plant that grows as a thick trunk topped with a rosette of pale woolly leaves, standing waist to head high in stands across whole hillsides, giving the ground the appearance of a crowd of figures in mist. They grow about a centimetre a year, so the larger ones are old, and their felted leaves and spongy trunks capture cloud moisture and feed the streams that supply the province. Lakes, cushion bogs and polylepis woodland fill the folds, and condor and Andean fox occur.

What's there

• Hillsides of frailejones - woolly rosettes standing across the paramo.
• Cloud moisture captured by the plants - the water source for the province.
• Polylepis woodland - the twisted high-altitude trees in the folds.
• Lakes and cushion bogs - the wet ground between the stands.

When to go

June to September for the driest weather, and mornings before cloud closes in. A day. It is cold, wet and windy at 3,800 metres; full waterproofs matter. Roads in are rough.

Things to know

Cloud and drizzle are the normal condition and views are often absent. Access roads need a high vehicle and become difficult when wet. There are no facilities. Frailejones are fragile and slow-growing; keep off them.

Nearby

El Angel town is south-east; Tulcan and the border lie north.

Key facts