El Angel


We spent our first day in Ecuador in bed in a hotel in Tulcan, still trying to recover from the past days. The next morning we were feeling better and could finally go back on the road to our first destination : El Angel Ecological Reserve.

This national park is famous for its iconic plant, populated the area: the Frailejones. Those plants can be find in altitude in the Andes of Colombia, Venezuela, and only here in Ecuador. They have a rosette crown of leaves which are covered by whitish hairs that protect from the cold, repel water and reflect solar radiation  because of its velvety texture they are also known as “orejas de conejo” (bunny ears).

The weather wasn’t on our side this time and we cycled under the rain for more than 3 hours in the middle on millions of Frailejones.

Quick stop at the guard office at the top of our climb to eat some avocado sandwich in a dry room, and try to get a bit warmer. We stayed there for a few hours, waiting for the weather to clear a little bit, and started our descent towards the little town of El Angel.

At the entry of El Angel we stopped by the fire station and asked if they would have a place to pitch our tent, and they kindly invited us to sleep in the equipment storage room. They warned us we would be awaken if the alarm would ring during the night, but thankfully, it didn’t.


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