Two weeks ago (I know it's been too long) I spent time in the paramo, at Chimborazo, and in the cloud forest. The paramo is a grassland that exists at a certain elevation, and only a few plants and animals are able to thrive there. One of those animals is the vicuna, a relative of the alpaca, PICTURED HERE:
The paramo has really harsh conditions, spanning from desert-like rocky areas to lower elevations with lots of grasses, shrubs, and hummingbirds. The weather changes really rapidly there; it can go from summer to winter in just a few hours. While we were hiking, it hailed on us and then an hour later became sunny and warm. And the views from up there were amazing.
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| Valerian, which can be used as a relaxant. |
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| Paramo
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Hiking this high was pretty difficult. After just a few steps, my heart was beating really fast and I felt like I had just been running. It was really rewarding to get to our top spot, which was called the ear of Chimborazo, a cave where indigenous people went to pray to the mountain. When we reached the cave, our guide said a prayer in Quechua to help us have a safe and happy journey in Ecuador. It was really beautiful.
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| Our professor, Esteban, in the ear of Chimborazo. |
Next stop was the cloud forest. This might have been my favorite field trip so far. Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures there, so I will paint a picture with my words. The cloud forest is typically how you imagine a jungle, with plants living literally everywhere, to the point that epiphytes, or plants that grow on trees branches, cover up to 135% of branches there. When we went, it was incredibly muddy and we sank into the mud with almost every step, making the hike pretty difficult, which some people didn't like. However, I thought it was awesome and I stayed behind our guide, who wielded a machete through the forest to clear the way for us. After we finally made it to our halfway point, we swam in an ice-cold waterfall, which felt way too cold but really great at the same time. The cloud forest got its name from its higher elevation unlike that of a tropical rainforest like Tiputini; clouds roll through the forest, water condenses on the trees and flows downward, making it super wet and plant-y. I really loved all of the biodiversity and abundance of plants there, and I thought even though it was hard to hike through, it was incredibly beautiful.
On our way to the cloud forest, we saw Banos, a really cool town boasting a huge active volcano, Tungurahua. The crazy thing is, two weeks after we left Banos and the cloud forest, Tungurahua had a lot of activity and a huge ash storm resulted. Here's a picture I took of the volcano:
This is terrible for the residents of Banos because it can contaminate water, kill animals, and be an all-around nuisance for people to clean up and such. But you have to admit, it's still really awesome. Ecuador is just so awesome.
P.S. I am in Galapagos now! I will post soon about that, I just found a reliable internet connection to use!
