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2019 november: Ecuador - Paramo forests of El Angel, Laguna Coicocha

I arrived in Quito early in the morning after a two hour flight from Bogota. At the airport I was already expected by Andres, my driver and companion for the next three weeks. After a quick breakfast we drove north to the small town of Otavalo.

We crossed the equator line in Quitsa and drove along the Imbabura volcano. From Otavalo we made a short detour to the Lagunas San Pablo and Coicocha. Back in Otavalo we visited a local market and the Cascadas de Peguche.

The next day we continued north to the Colombian border to Tulcan, a small provincial town. Tulcan was the starting point for two day tours to the cloud forests of the "Paramo del Angel". A large number of Frailejónes grow and flourish here. These are extremely hardy perennials with velvety hairy leaves and yellow, sunflower-like flower heads.