Ecuador 2025 ~ Ecuador 2024 ~ Belize 2024 ~ Ecuador 2023 ~ Ecuador 2022Ecuador 2025Andean Páramo - Tropical Alpine above TreelineA gorgeous, and rare, clear evening view of the glaciers on Antisana volcano We were very lucky to see two Spectacled Bears, albeit at great distance, a super lucky sighting! One was sporting a radio tracking collar While the other was strolling, seemingly uninterested in Bear Number One, just a few hundred yards away and occasionally shaking its head as it chewed on delicious bromeliad plants (the ones that look like pineapple tops) A little higher up, we entered Cayambe-Coca Ecological reserve, and spied this Variable Hawk perched on a cushion plant This reserve provides a lot of water to Quito, as small mountain ponds drain into big rivers leading to the city The plant life is spectacular, with lumpy, green cushion plants here and there pierced by fireworks of color, like these Gentian flowers (Gentiana sedifolia) The next day, a bit further south in the Antisana Ecological Reserve, it was a fabulous day of bird watching. In the high, Andean plains, scavengers like the boldly-marked Carunculated Caracara, stroll over the spongy in search of a meal. When photographed, they sometimes fix the observer with a defiant and baleful stare. If pushed, Caracaras will take flight, and wing across the páramo away from the paparazzi. At this elevation, obscure plants thrive, hugging the ground to stay warm and protected from mountain winds. Here, a small cluster of Lycopodium overlook the high mountains. Flowers abound in the paramo, sometimes tiny whorls of color like this Gentian (probably Gentianella hirculus) And sometimes a sunny-looking daisy relative (Hypochaeris sp.), which today provided a temporary resting place for a bumblebee weary from flying in thin air over the high plains. Before we bid farewell to the mountains, a farewell from the gloriously decorated Sparkling Violetear hummingbird. next: Ecuador 2024© 2025 Joe Meisel |