ANDEAN FLORA
ECUADOR
Naturetrek offers an exciting and pioneering 16-day holiday in search of the orchids and other special plants of this beautiful Andean country, departing London 22nd September 07.
Ecuador possesses an extraordinary range of environments, and harbours the highest biodiversity for an area of its size in South America. Its orchid list is the longest of any other country, featuring over 3,700 species. During the holiday, Naturetrek visits many of the main montane habitats along the country’s central spine. The variety of plants (not to mention birds!), welcoming people, short travel distances and good accommodation make this natural history holiday a real delight. The journey begins with a drive south along the ‘Avenue of the Volcanoes’, the country’s arid central plateau. Weather permitting, there will be fantastic views of Cotopaxi, the world’s highest active volcano, en route. Further on, from Baños, past activity from another active volcano, Tungurahua, has sculpted a tortuous landscape, with recent geological lava flows covered in desert-like vegetation including a semi-arid flora, the Puya, an imposing terrestrial bromeliad. Two rare amaryllis relatives (Phaedranasa schizantha var. ignea and P. viridiflora) plus numerous orchids, mostly with inconspicuous flowers, are also found here. With luck, the flowering plant of the strange ‘slipperless’ lady’s slipper orchid, Phragmipedium lindenii, with its stringy petals up to a foot long, may be sighted. The hills to the east of Baños are covered with extremely wet cloudforest (from where over 40 new orchid species have recently been described!). The forested slopes are heavily-clad with orchids and bromeliads, including the big purple flowers of the Sobralia orchid, and the scenery is spectacular, with waterfalls on all sides. Later, flying south, Loja, one of Ecuador’s oldest cities, is an ideal base from which to explore the high-elevation cloudforests in Podocarpus National Park. Stunning alpine grasslands are evident here, rich in ericads, bromeliads and orchids. Heading back to Quito, a visit is made to the small village of Papallacta, perched high on the tree-line. Famous for its hot springs, it really is an Andean paradise. Here, curious clumps of moss-like dwarf gentians and other plants with strange growth forms are highly adapted for life in this extreme environment. Lower down the slopes, the moss-covered cloudforests, full of yellow Odontoglossum orchids, provide a fitting finale to the tour.
The tour costs £2,895 p/p including scheduled flights, transfers, accommodation in a variety of excellent hotels and lodges, all meals (except evening meal in Quito) and expert guiding.
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